Thích Chân Thật

Thích Chân Thật (1884–1968) was the fourth ancestor of Từ Hiếu Temple and the direct teacher of Thích Nhất Hạnh. He received dharma transmission from Venerable Tuệ Minh and belonged to the forty-first generation of the Linji school and the seventh generation of the Liễu Quán line.

As abbot of Từ Hiếu Temple, Chân Thật was known as a person of genuinely truthful nature, very compassionate. He participated daily in monastery work, wearing a large-brimmed hat and walking with a staff, leading by quiet example rather than imposing authority. In 1942, the sixteen-year-old Nguyễn Xuân Bảo (the future Thích Nhất Hạnh) entered Từ Hiếu as a novice under his guidance, receiving the lineage name Trừng Quang ("Clear Light").

On May 1, 1966, at Từ Hiếu Temple, Chân Thật performed the "lamp transmission" ceremony for Thích Nhất Hạnh, making him a dharma teacher of the Liễu Quán dharma line. His transmission gatha read: "When we are determined to go just in one direction, we will meet the spring, and our march will be a heroic one. If the lamp of our mind shines light on its own nature, then the wonderful transmission of the Dharma will be realized in both East and West." His will appointed Thích Nhất Hạnh as his successor as abbot of Từ Hiếu. Chân Thật passed away in 1968, shortly after a bomb damaged the temple during the Tết Offensive.