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Thiền Buddhism (Vietnamese:Thiền tông,禪宗,IPA:[tʰîəntəwŋm]) is the name for theVietnamese school ofZen Buddhism. Thiền is theSino-Vietnamese pronunciation of theMiddle Chinese word 禪 (chán), an abbreviation of 禪那 (chánnà; thiền na), which is a transliteration of theSanskrit worddhyāna ("meditation").
ChineseChan Buddhism was introduced during the earlyChinese domination of Vietnam, 111 BCE to 939 CE, which also accommodated local animism andCham influences.[1] According to traditional accounts, in 580, anIndian monk namedVinītaruci (Vietnamese:Tì-ni-đa-lưu-chi) who is considered the founder of Thiền, traveled to Vietnam after completing his studies withSengcan, the third Patriarch of Chan. However, Chan was already present in the country before his arrival. "Thiền Buddhism was already established in Vietnam before Vinītaruci's arrival, for Phap Hien studied under and was ... After Vinītaruci's death, Phap Hien built the Temple of Chung-thien at Mount Tu, about twenty miles northwest ofLuy Lâu."[2]
The sect that Vinītaruci and his lone Vietnamese disciple founded would become known as the oldest branch of Thiền. After a period of obscurity, the Vinītaruci School (Diệt Hỉ Thiền phái; 滅喜禪派) became one of the most influential Buddhist groups in Vietnam by the 10th century, particularly so under the patriarchVạn Hạnh (died 1018). Other Thiền schools were founded during this time, such as the Pháp Vân Temple lineage.[3] Other early Vietnamese Thiền schools included that of the Chinese monkWu Yantong, called Vô Ngôn Thông in Vietnamese, which was associated with the teaching ofMazu Daoyi. Information about these schools can be gleaned from a Chinese languagehagiographical work entitledThiền uyển tập anh ("Compendium of Outstanding figures of the Chan Garden" c. 1337).[4]
A careful study of the primary sources by Cuong Tu Nguyen however concludes that the legend of Vinītaruci and the accounts of Vô Ngôn Thông are probably fabrications, a version of Vietnamese Buddhist history that "was self-consciously constructed with the composition of theThiền uyển in medieval Vietnam."[5][6]
Cuong Tu Nguyen notes that the kind of Buddhism which was practiced in Vietnam during the Chinese occupation period and before the writing of theThiền uyển was "a mixture ofthaumaturgy,asceticism, and ritualism" which was "very worldly engaged."[5]
Buddhist culture, literature, arts and architecture thrived during the period of peace and stability of the four Vietnamese dynasties of theEarly Lê,Lý,Trần and theLater Lê (980-1400).[7][8]
During the early Lê andLý periods, Buddhism became an influential force in court politics and the dynastic elites saw Buddhist clergy as useful assistants in their political agenda which they provided in return for patronage. They were eventually integrated into the structure of the imperial state.[9]
During the Lý andTrần dynasties, a "new" court Buddhism arose among the elites which was aligned with Chinese Chan and influenced by Chan literature.[10] Some of the Trần rulers were quite involved in the development of Thiền Buddhism.Trần Thái Tông (1218–77) was known as the "Great Monk King" and wrote various important Buddhist works includingInstructions on Emptiness (Khóa Hư Lục),A Guide to Zen Buddhism and aCommentary on The Diamond Sutra, as well as poetry.[7]
The first truly Vietnamese Thiền school was founded by the religious emperorTrần Nhân Tông (1258–1308), who became a monk. This was theTrúc Lâm or "Bamboo Grove" school, which evinced a deep influence fromConfucian andTaoist philosophy.[1] It seems to have been an elite religion for aristocrats and was also promoted by Chinese monks who traveled to Vietnam to teach.[6] Nevertheless, Trúc Lâm's prestige waned over the following centuries after the Ming conquest (1413-1428) which led to a period of Confucian dominance.[1]
In the 17th century, a group of Chinese monks led by Nguyên Thiều established a vigorous new school, theLâm Tế, based on theLinji school, which mixed Chan andPure Land Buddhism.[1] A more domesticated offshoot of Lâm Tế, theLiễu Quán, was founded in the 18th century by a monk by the name ofLiễu Quán. Lâm Tế remains the largest monastic order in the country today.[11]
Beside theLinji school, theCaodong school was first introduced toNorthern Vietnam through Thiền master Thông Giác Thủy Nguyệt (通覺水月, 1637-1704), who traveled toChina and practiced under Chan master Yiju Zhijiao (一句智教, 30th generation of Caodong school) inHuzhou region,Zhejiang province,China. After three years of practice there, he achieved enlightenment and receivedinka from Master Zhijiao. He then returned to Vietnam and began to preachBuddhism.
Thông Giác Thủy Nguyệt's successor was Thiền master Chân Dung Tông Diễn (真融宗演, 1640–1711), who became famous for his piety and critical role in resolving the Buddhist problem during theLê Trung Hưng dynasty.[12] Similar to Chan Buddhism in theMing andQing dynasties, this lineage also focuses on both Zen and Pure Land practice, of which Zen practice is the major thread.[13] The first supreme patriarch of the Vietnam Buddhist Sangha, Venerable Thích Đức Nhuận (1897-1993), was a disciple of the school.[14] The main temple is the Hòe Nhai pagoda (also called Hồng Phúc tự), located inBa Đình district,Hanoi.[12]
Vietnamese Buddhism suffered from political oppression during the colonial era ofFrench Indochina, both by pro-Confucian mandarins andFrench colonial policies.[1]
Modern Vietnamese Thiền was influenced by theBuddhist modernism of figures likeTaixu andD. T. Suzuki, who saw Buddhism in terms of social and personal transformation, rather than in supernatural terms.[15] During the 1930s, a Buddhist reform movement led by intellectual clergy of "engaged Buddhism" focused onnon-violent social and political activities such aspeacemaking, promotion ofhuman rights,environmental protection,rural development, combattingethnic violence,opposition to warfare, and support ofwomen's rights.[16] The modernization movement also protested against popular devotion, arguing that Buddhism should be "purified from superstition".[17] In 1963, in response to a hostile government, Vietnamese Mahayana and Theravada Buddhists formed theUnified Buddhist Sangha.[1]Thích Trí Quang led South Vietnamese Buddhists in acts ofcivil resistance in protest of the South Vietnamese government's repression of Buddhists during the "Buddhist crisis" of '63.
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Thiền masterThích Thanh Từ (1924–2022) is credited for renovating Trúc Lâm inVietnam. He was one of the most prominent and influential Thiền masters of the 20th and early 21st century. He was a disciple of MasterThích Thiện Hoa. The most famous practitioner of modern Thiền Buddhism in the West wasThích Nhất Hạnh (1926–2022) who authored dozens of books and founded thePlum Village Monastery in France together with his colleague, Thiền MasterbhikkhuniChân Không.
Other influential Vietnamese teachers in the West includeThích Thiên-Ân, who taught philosophy atUniversity of California, Los Angeles and founded a meditation center in L.A, andThích Thiện Tâm author of several books in English such asBuddhism of Wisdom & Faith: Pure Land Principles and Practice.
In recent years, the modernization of Thiền has taken a new global dimension, as Vietnamese Zen is becoming influenced by the teachings of influential overseas Vietnamese Buddhist leaders such asThích Nhất Hạnh who have adopted Thiền to Western needs, focusing onmindfulness. As a result, Vietnamese Buddhists have also now begun to practice these modernized forms of Thiền.[17]
This modernist form of Thiền has become quite popular at home and abroad, in spite of the fact that there is still no completefreedom of religion in contemporary Vietnam.[18] Commenting on the current situation in Vietnam, Philip Taylor writes:
The flow of Buddhist practitioners, texts and ideas throughout Vietnam and across national boundaries sets the context for another recent development in Buddhism in Vietnam, the increasing prominence given in northern Vietnam to Zen (Thiền) as the quintessential Vietnamese Buddhist tradition....Southern Vietnam's intense transnational connections have enabled the repatriation and the circulation to elsewhere in Vietnam of the markedly meditative form of Buddhism developed by Vietnamese emigre monks based in the United States and France...Ironically, this recently imported purified form of Buddhism has come to be taken as a national tradition, a view which receives endorsement from the state, motivated, as are many lay Buddhists, to attach itself to an authentic national tradition that is not sullied by the taint of superstition....Today, the Communist Party seeks to boost its legitimacy by endorsing Zen a version of Buddhism promoted by a transnational movement, as an authentic national tradition.[19]
Thiền draws its texts and practices mainly from the Chinese Chan tradition as well as other schools ofChinese Buddhism. According toThích Thiên-Ân:
Most Buddhist monks and laymen in Vietnam traditionally obey the disciplines ofHinayana, recitemantra, learnmudra,practice meditation, andchant the Buddha's name (V.niệm Phật, Ch.Nien-fo, J.Nembutsu) without any conflict between the practices. We may say, in short, that Buddhism in Vietnam is synthetic and unified rather than divided and sectarian. At present the popular method of practice is meditation during recitation and recitation during meditation - meditation and recitation being one and the same for Vietnamese Buddhists.[20]
This practice is known as the "union of Zen and Pure-Land recitation".[20] The chanting of sutras, such as theLotus sutra, theVimalakirti,Surangama Samadhi andMahaparinirvana sutra is also a very widespread practice, as in all schools of Zen.[21]
Due to the presence ofTheravada Buddhism in Vietnam,Thiên has also been influenced byTheravada practices. The intra-religious dialogue between Vietnamese Theravada and Mahayana following the formation of the Unified Buddhist Church also led to a more inclusive attitude in the Vietnamese Buddhist community.[7] An example is the widely influential figure ofThích Nhất Hạnh, who, as John Chapman notes, though being part of the Lam Te school, also included Theravada as part of his studies.[22] Thích Nhất Hạnh also wrote commentaries on the TheravadaSatipatthana sutta and theAnapanasati sutta. According to Chapman, Hạnh sought to "promote the idea of a humanistic, unified Buddhism."[22] He founded theOrder of Interbeing as a new modernist and humanistic form of Vietnamese Zen.
McHale also notes that Vietnamese Buddhist practice has always been inclusive and accepting of popular beliefs and practices, includingfolk religion,Taoism andConfucianism.[23]
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