HCM City (VNA) – Situated
along Nhieu Loc Canal in HCM City’s District 1, Van Tho (Longevity) Pagoda has
been a trusted place for free traditional cures for sprains, fractures and
muscle and bone injuries for more than 30 years.
Highly
skilled and experienced herbalist monks treat nearly 200 patients
every day, most of them poor labourers and old people.
The
small clinic on one side of the pagoda operates from 2pm to 5pm every day
except Sundays and major Buddhist festivals.
Lai
Khac Chung, 37, a printing worker from Tan Binh district, fell down a stair and
sprained an ankle, which swelled up rapidly and very painfully.
“Now,
after I visited the clinic two times, I can walk normally and my leg is not
swollen or painful anymore,” he said.
A
monk applied some herb on the sprained ankle and bandaged it and asked him to
return after three days to get the herbs replaced.
“When
I was young, my mother used to take me there to treat twisted ankles. This is
the second time I went there to treat a sprain,” he said.
Almost
all his relatives go to this pagoda if they have a sprain, fracture, arthritis,
or back pain, he said.
The
monks use secret recipes made by fermenting herbs in wine.
Patients
who want to can donate money to the pagoda’s charity fund.
The
highly effective treatment despite being free means the clinic is famous and
even attracts people from other provinces.
Most Venerable Monk Thich Thanh Son, 88 years old, head
of the pagoda, founded the clinic in 1980.
“At
first people did not trust the clinic. But within five or six years it had
become famous due to the efficacy of its methods. Now it is too crowded”.
“The
biggest happiness of my life is to see people recover from illness,” he said.
He
has handed down his knowledge and experience to other monks in the pagoda,
enabling them to run the clinic.
Most Virtuous Monk Thich Dong Thien, one of the herbalists in charge,
started working at the clinic in 2006 following a six-year apprenticeship
after graduating in
traditional medicine from Pham Ngoc Thach University of Medicine in HCM City.
He
and Most Virtuous Monk Thich Dong Thuan take turns to replace Son, when he is absent.
Patients
come from all walks of life, but most of them are poor, Thuan said.
Local
residents and people from neighbouring provinces know about the reputation of
the clinic through word of mouth, he said.
Many
people with arthritis and back pain have switched to traditional medicine
after many years of trying treatment at hospitals, he said.
Many
patients come with back pain and have herbs applied on their back twice a week,
Diu Bach, a volunteer at the pagoda, said.
Besides
the monks who are in charge of examination and treatment, there are five or six
Buddhist volunteers who perform such tasks as handing out tokens, preparing
herbs and bandaging injuries.
“We
want to help disadvantaged people with health problems,” Bach said.
Nguyen
Van Thuan, 72, of Tan Binh District brought his wife Vo Bich Ngoc, 68, who
had had back pain for many years, to the pagoda.
He
said despite going to several hospitals and taking lots of medicines she did
not feel any better.
Their
relatives had told them that the clinic was reputed for treating back pain, he
added.-VNA
Source: VietnamPlus
