After the bell signals the lecture time, Buddhist students at the Vietnam Buddhism Institute in Soc Son district, Hanoi, hurriedly go to the lecture hall with books and laptops. At the Buddhist institute, students who are also Buddhist monks not only study but also have a merry life.

The path to the Vietnam Buddhism Institute in Phu Linh commune, Soc Son district. The institute
has an 11 hectare campus, with nearly 300 students. There are 217 students who attend
the four-year course and 79 with 3-year course.

All students stay in the institute’s dormitory and they study in the morning and the afternoon.

After the bell signals the lecture time, students leave their rooms on the mountain to the lecture hall.

To study at this institute, students must be at least 20 years old, have high-school diploma,
and be recommended by local Buddhist Shanghas.

Annual school fee is VND1.5 million (USD70). All students are subsidized with food and accommodations.
They study about Buddhism and similar subjects of normal universities.

Students study seriously.

Students have to study ten months a year. They have one-month summer holiday.
They are not allowed to return home during the course, except for the first and the fifteen
day of lunar months or when their parents are sick.

After lecture time, students gather at Non Nuoc pagoda in the institute’s campus to
practice meditation and other subjects of Buddhism.

Senior monk Dao Man from the institute’s training board said that students are very
cheerful and close with each others.

“It is thought that people become monks because they are tired of the world or they do wrong
things but it is not true. Many students here become Buddhist monks because they
like it. There are many reasons that urge them to become monks,” Dao Man said.

Funny time of Buddhist students.