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Theravada Buddhism
in Vietnam Binh
Anson Buddhism came to
Vietnam in the first century CE [1]. By the end of the second century,
Vietnam developed a major Buddhist centre in the
region, commonly known as the Luy-La^u centre, now in the Ba('c-Ninh province, north of the present Hanoi city. Luy-La^u was the capital of Giao-Chi?,
former name of Vietnam, and was a popular place visited by many Indian
Buddhist missionary monks on their way to China, following the sea route from
the Indian sub-continent by Indian traders. A number of Mahayana sutras and
the Agamas were translated into Chinese scripts at that centre,
including the sutra of Forty Two
Chapters, the Anapanasati,
the Vessantara-jataka, the Milinda-panha, etc. In
the next 18 centuries, due to geographical proximity with China and despite
being annexed twice by the The
southern part of the present Vietnam was originally occupied by the Champa (Cham) and the Cambodian (Khmer) people who
followed both a syncretic Saiva-Mahayana Buddhism and Theravada Buddhism [2],
although Champa probably had a Theravada presence
from as early as the 3rd century CE, whilst Cambodia received the Theravada
as late as the 12th century. The Vietnamese started to conquer and absorbed
the land in the 15th century, and the current shape of the country was finalised in the 18th century. From that time onward, the
dominant Viet followed the Mahayana tradition whilst the ethnic Cambodian
practiced the Theravada tradition, and both traditions peacefully co-existed. In
the 1920s and 1930s, there were a number of movements in Vietnam for the
revival and modernisation of Buddhist activities.
Together with the re-organisation of Mahayana
establishments, there developed a growing interest in Theravadin meditation
and also in Buddhist materials based on the Pali Canon. These were then
available in French. Among the pioneers who brought Theravada Buddhism to the
ethnic Viet was a young veterinary doctor named Le Van Giang.
He was born in the South, received higher education in Hanoi, and after
graduation, was sent to Phnom Penh, Cambodia, to work for the French
government [3]. During
that time, he developed a growing interest in Buddhism. He started to study
and practice the Pure Land and Tantric ways but was not satisfied. By chance,
he met the Vice Sangharaja of the Cambodian Sangha
and was recommended a book on the Noble Eightfold Path written in French. He
was struck by the clear message in the book, and decided to try out the
Theravada way. He learnt meditation on the breath (Anapanasati)
from a Cambodian monk at the Unalom Temple in Phnom
Penh and achieved deep samadhi states. He continued the practice and after a
few years, he decided to ordain and took the Dhamma name of Ho^.-To^ng (Vansarakkhita). In
1940, upon an invitation by a group of lay Buddhists led by Mr Nguyen Van Hieu, a close
friend, he went back to Vietnam and helped to establish the first Theravada
temple for Vietnamese Buddhists, at Go` Du+a, Thu? Ddu+'c (now a district of Saigon). The temple was named Buu-Quang (Ratana Ramsyarama).
Later, the Cambodian Sangharaja, Venerable Chuon Nath, together with 30 Cambodian bhikkhus
established the Sima boundary at
this temple [4]. The temple was destroyed by French troops in 1947, and was
rebuilt in 1951. Here
at Buu-Quang temple, together with a group of
Vietnamese bhikkhus, who had received training in Cambodia, such as Venerables Thie^.n-Lua^.t, Bu+?u-Cho+n, Kim-Quang,
Gio+'i-Nghie^m, Ti.nh-Su+.,
To^'i-Tha('ng, Gia'c-Quang,
A^'n-La^m, Venerable Ho^.-To^ng
started teaching the Buddha Dhamma in Vietnamese language. He also translated
many Buddhist materials from the Pali Canon, and Theravada became part of
Vietnamese Buddhist activity in the country. In
1949-1950, Venerable Ho^.-To^ng
together with Mr Nguyen Van Hieu
and supporters built a new temple in Saigon, named Ky`-Vie^n
Tu+. (Jetavana Vihara). This temple
became the centre of Theravada activities in
Vietnam, which continued to attract increasing interest among the Vietnamese
Buddhists. In 1957, the Vietnamese Theravada Buddhist Sangha Congregation (Gia'o Ho^.i Ta(ng
Gia` Nguye^n Thu?y Vie^.t
Nam) was formally established and recognised by the
government, and the Theravada Sangha elected Venerable Ho^.-To^ng as its first President, or Sangharaja. During
that time, Dhamma activities were further strengthened by the presence of
Venerable Narada from Sri Lanka. Venerable Narada had first came to Vietnam in the 1930s and brought
with him Bodhi tree saplings which he planted in many places throughout the
country. During his subsequent visits in the 1950s and 1960s, he attracted a
large number of Buddhists to the Theravada tradition, one of whom was the
popular translator, Mr Pha.m
Kim Kha'nh who took the Dhamma name of Sunanda. Mr Kha'nh translated many books
of Venerable Narada, including The Buddha
and His Teachings, Buddhism in a Nutshell, Satipatthana Sutta, The Dhammapada,
A Manual of Abhidhamma, etc [5]. Mr Kha'nh, now in his 80s, lives in the USA and is still
active in translating Dhamma books of well-known meditation teachers from
Thailand, Burma and Sri Lanka. From
Saigon, the Theravada movement spread to other provinces, and soon, a number
of Theravada temples for ethnic Viet Buddhists were established in many areas
in the South and Central parts of Vietnam. As at 1997, there were 64
Theravada temples throughout the country, of which 19 were located in Saigon
and its viccinity [6]. Beside Buu-Quang
and Ky-Vien temples, other well
known temples are Bu+?u-Long, Gia'c-Quang, Tam-Ba?o
(Da`-Na(~ng), Thie^`n-La^m
and Huye^`n-Kho^ng (Hue^'), and the large Sakyamuni Buddha Monument (Thi'ch-Ca
Pha^.t Dda`i) in Vu~ng Ta~u. In
the 1960s and 1970s, a number of Vietnamese bhikkhus were sent overseas for
further training, mostly in Thailand and some in Sri Lanka and India.
Recently, this programme has been resumed and about
20 bhikkhus and nuns are receiving training in Burma. Historically,
there has been a close relationship between the Cambodian and the Vietnamese
bhikkhus. In fact, in 1979, after the Khmer Rouge were driven out of Phnom
Penh, a group of Vietnamese bhikkhus led by Venerables
Bu+?u-Cho+n
and Gio+'i-Nghie^m came to that city to re-ordain 7
Cambodian monks, and thus re-established the Cambodian Sangha which had been
destroyed by the Khmer Rouge when they were in control [7]. Dhamma
literature in the Vietnamese language comes from two main sources: the Pali
Canon and the Chinese Agamas, together with a large collection of
Mahayana texts. Since 1980s, there has been an ongoing programme
to publish these materials by scholar monks of both Mahayana and Theravada
traditions. So far, 27 volumes of the first 4 Nikayas,
translated by Venerable Minh-Cha^u, and the 4 Agamas,
translated by Venerables Tri'-Ti.nh, Thie^.n-Sie^u and Thanh-Tu+`, have been produced. Work is under
way to translate and publish the 5th Nikaya. In
addition, a complete set of the Abhidhamma,
translated by Venerable Ti.nh-Su+.,
has been printed, together with the Dhammapada, the Milinda-Panha, the Visudhi-Magga,
the Abhidhammatthasangaha and many
other work. In
summary, although Buddhism in Vietnam is predominantly of the Mahayana form,
the Theravada tradition is well recognised and is
experiencing a growing interest especially in the practice of meditation, in Nikaya-Agama literature and in Abhidhamma
studies. Binh Anson, References [1]
Nguye^~n Lang, 1973. Vie^.t Nam Pha^.t Gia'o Su+? Lua^.n,
vol 1 (A Critical History of Buddhism in Vietnam) |