Thích Thiện Tâm

Most Venerable Thích Thiện Tâm was born in 1949 in Vinh Long, Vietnam. He entered monastic life and received novice ordination in 1962 in Tra Vinh, full Bhikkhu ordination in 1971 in Soc Trang, and full Bodhisattva ordination in 1973 in Nha Trang. He pursued Buddhist studies at the Phuoc Hoa and Luong Xuyen Buddhist Schools (1968-1972).

Graduated as a Dharma teacher in 1973, he became a Professor at Bodhi High School, specializing in Buddhist Studies (1974-1975). He served as the General Secretary of the Representative Board of the Unified Vietnamese Buddhist Church in Vinh Binh Province (1975-1979), and initiated a General Buddhist Education program in temples for elementary school students in Vinh Binh Province.

He left Vietnam and settled in Canada in 1988, coming from a Thai refugee camp.

In 1989, he founded the Edmonton Buddhist Studies Institute and subsequently established affiliated institutions such as Bamboo Forest Monastery (Edmonton, AB), Westlock Meditation Centre (Busby, AB), Đông Độ Monastery (Windsor, ON), and Okanagan Buddhist Cultural Centre (Kelowna, BC).

He served as the Chairman of the Executive Council of the Unified Vietnamese Buddhist Church of Canada (1992-2000) and was a member of the Second Office of the Institute for the Propagation of Dharma (2000-2013).

He established the Golden Age Manor Elderly Care Home in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada in 2008, and initiated the establishment of the Golden Age Village Elderly Care Home in Ontario from 2012.

In 2011, he founded the Dallas Buddhist Studies Institute in the United States and initiated the establishment of the Golden Age Manor Elderly Care Home in Dallas from 2013.