These Buddhists fled communist Vietnam. Now, in a temple in New Britain, they are celebrating decades in Connecticut.

The Vietnamese Buddhists of the Hai An Pagoda in New Britain have much to celebrate

Many of the members are refugees from the country that was ripped apart by war until the south fell to the communist north in 1975. The temple was founded in Bloomfield that year by those who had escaped.

Then as the boat people escaped, peaking in 1978 and 1979, the temple grew, moving to their pagoda on Cherry Street.

Van Bang, secretary of the Buddhist Association of Connecticut, was a boat person who fled with her parents and three siblings in 1981. She was 17.

They left on the perilous voyage with “bare hands,” she said. “I get rescued by the oil rig in the open sea in the Thailand area.” She stayed in Thailand twice for three months, as well as Indonesia and Singapore, before coming to America.

“I don’t know if I die or I live on the open sea when I left my country,” Bang said. “That’s a gamble that we took.”

Now, the Buddhists pray for those who made it out of Vietnam, those who didn’t and those who are still there. They also pray for anyone who has died unexpectedly, helping them to a new life, according to their belief in reincarnation.

“Lots of people lost their life on the street and nobody know about it,” Bang said. “Lots of people they escaped Vietnam by walking to Cambodia, to Laos and Thailand.

“So lots of people lost their life for no reason, unexpected, and no one helping them to pray for them. And this is part that we do for all.”

They also pray for the Vietnamese women who “will be hiding a lot of stuff they don’t think can be announced or people [will] know about their private life,” such as a pregnancy outside of marriage.

“Now it gives you a chance to chant for them and pray for them, so hopefully they will get a better life,” Bang said.

She said she is grateful to this country, where she has earned three master’s degrees, including two in engineering, and has been able to take care of her family. She also is thankful for being able to worship freely.

“We all want to have Buddhism. We all want to have a temple around us,” Bang said. “We want to keep our tradition with our religion. We don’t want to lose that. Our group carried this so that’s why we keep building the temple and with different people helping make it stronger until today. We have our temple there for 42 years.”

The members will hold a celebration Oct. 10-17, which goes to different temples and includes 28 monks, including one from Vietnam. It will include a special event Oct. 16, a three-hour Trai Dan Chan Te ceremony.

“Sunday we do the big event,” said Bang. “... We also want to use this opportunity to thank you for everyone who’s been supporting us.”

Hai An began in Bloomfield in 1978, in space donated by developer David Chase, although the community had met in people’s homes since 1975, when they fled South Vietnam as it fell to the communist north.

In 1995, the pagoda opened on Cherry Street in New Britain. In between, they met in Hartford.

The plain building would not be mistaken for a Buddhist temple except for the Buddha outside the front door. Inside are three large and many small Buddhas, each representing a different aspect of the Buddha, and other colorful decorations.

Recently, the large Buddhas were painted in more lifelike colors rather than the single bronze hue they had originally. The one in the center, Gautama Buddha — founder of the faith — is male and all are male Buddhas, Bang said. They also have three neon halos now, instead of just one.

The Vietnamese members practice a sect of Buddhism called Pure Land, a branch of Mahayana Buddhism that is the most widely practiced in Southeast Asia.

At the beginning of each ceremony, a large Buddhist bell and drum are played in a particular rhythm, called Thinh Dai Hong Chung, an “awakening for the people,” Bang said. Then the abbot, the Venerable Thich Quang Phap, kneels on cushions on the altar, out of sight of the congregation, to begin the chants.

The abbot, with Bang interpreting, said Buddhism is “like a road for you. Follow with your heart and we are stressed out enough.”

The main precepts, according to the abbot, are no killing, no stealing, no sexual impropriety, no lying and no drinking.

All are welcome at the pagoda, where sutras are prayed on Tuesdays and Thursdays, mediation in English is held on Wednesdays, the great compassion mantra is prayed on Saturdays and the main service is held on Sundays, when up to 100 people attend.

The upcoming celebration, which travels around the country, will include the special event Oct. 16, a three-hour Trai Dan Chan Te ceremony, which only certain monks are able to perform.

Trai Dan Chan Te focuses on relieving “the unjust sufferings for all of us, those who have suffered the harsh consequences of the war, whether dead or alive,” Bang said, as well as for “those who are still suffering injustice and for all of us to have the opportunity to heal the bleeding wounds that have not healed for a long time, to reconnect the brotherhood and alleviate the sufferings and grievances that have been stored for a long time.”

“It’s a very, very traditional, it’s like spiritual for Buddhism,” Bang said of the ceremony.

“That’s very important. We do this for everyone. … Normally you don’t do this every year. You do it on a very special occasion. Or you have enough people [who] know how to perform this ceremony. Not everyone can do it. … You have to be specialized in something.”

Eight monks, dressed in special robes, accompanied by two musicians, will perform the ceremony, which also celebrates everyone alive and dead, Bang said.

“In Buddhism, we stress people who also have been alive and who pass away or die and who’s still alive,” she said. “So we care about them and not only the people who are alive.”

Ed Stannard can be reached at estannard@courant.com or 860-993-8190.