1.KHƯƠNG TĂNG HỘI
Khương Tăng Hội (?-280)was born and brought up in Giao Chỉ (North Vietnam now). His parents may have come from Khương Cư (Sogdiana, the region that is now called Uzbekistan and Tajikistan). It was also said that his father was from Sogdiana, and his mother from Giao Chỉ (Vietnam). His parents died when he was ten. He later became a monk who excelled in Dharma practice, and mastered both Chinese and Pāli. Later he traveled, and spent some periods of time in China and in India. He came to Kiến Nghiệp (Nankin, China)in 247. He passed away in 280, after staying in China for 33 years. He was considered the founder of Thiền in Việt Nam, and expounded the Dhamma in Luy Lâu, the famous Buddhist Center at that time. He also contributed to the development of Chinese Chan. He was famous for his Collection of Sutras about Lục độ (the Six perfections,Skt. pāramitā: donation, discipline/precepts, tolerance/forebearance, effort, meditation, and wisdom). According to Nguyễn Lang, this work not only contained sutras about the Six perfections (Skt. pāramitā), but in it there are passages written by Khương Tăng Hội himself. Khương Tăng Hội's next important work was his translation of the The Ānāpānasati Sutta (Pāli)/the Four-Object Mindfulness Discourse Sutra. It was he who clearly explained the Mahayana meditation, which emphasized Emptiness and Buddha Nature in practice.
2.TỲ NI ĐA LƯU CHI
Tỳ Ni Đa Lưu Chi was from South India. He traveled to China. In 562 he came to
Trường An. When Buddhism was suppressed in 574, he traveled to the land of Nghiệp (Hồ Nam). He met the Third patriarch of Chinese Ch'an, Tăng Xán (Sengcan), who took refuge on Tư Không Mountain. Tăng Xán told him to go South immediately. In 580 he came to Quảng Châu, and entered Giao Châu (Vietnam), where he stayed at Pháp Vân Temple (Dâu Temple now),in Luy Lâu. He later chose Pháp Hiền as his disciple, and founded a school of Vietnamese Thiền. This school continued for 19 generations of masters, from 580 until 1213. It was influenced by Tăng Xán's teachings, and at the same time mixed with some local rituals and spiritual traditions in Giao Châu.
3.VÔ NGÔN THÔNG
Vô Ngôn Thông was from Quảng Châu. His last name was Trịnh. He became a monk at Song Lâm Temple, Vũ Châu. In 820, under the Tang Dynasty, Vô Ngôn Thông came to Việt Nam, stayed at Kiến Sơ Temple, Phù Đổng Village (Gia Lâm, in the suburbs of Hà Nội nowadays). Vô Ngôn Thông often sat meditation, facing the wall, in complete silence for many years. Nobody paid attention to him, except a monk named Lập Đức, who could understand him. Later Vô Ngôn Thông accepted Lập Đức as his disciple, and changed the latter's name to Cảm Thành, and taught the Dhamma to him. Vô Ngôn Thông passed away in 826, after 6 years at Kiến Sơ Temple.
Vô Ngôn Thông School continued its practice through 17 masters until the 13th century. This school was influenced by Chinese Ch'an more than the Tỳ Ni Đa Lưu Chi, in its monastic organization, the use of koan, and the influence of the Pure Land tradition. It used many sutras, the Prajnaparamita, the Viên Giác, and the Lotus sutra, with an emphasis on Mind-Buddha in sudden enlightenment, and had profound and practical influences in society.
4.THẢO ĐƯỜNG
Thảo Đường was a Chinese monk, who lived in Cham (South of Đại Việt/Vietnam). He became a prisoner of war during the Cham occupation led by the Vietnamese King Lý Thánh Tông in 1069. In Đại Việt, Thảo Đường was discovered by the religious King himself, and was highly respected. King Lý Thánh Tông invited him to become the abbot of Khai Quốc Temple, and promoted him to be the Royal Advisor (Quốc sư). He became the first patriarch of another Thiền school in Đại Việt, which bore his name. King Lý Thánh Tông would later become the second patriarch.
Thảo Đường originally was a disciple of Tuyết Đậu, a subsect in Chinese Chan, which belonged to the Vân Môn sect. Tuyết Đậu subsect had an academic characteristic, for its frequent use of poetry to express Thiền spirit, and its incorporation of both Confucianism and Buddhism. That was why Thảo Đường School was the best fit to the Ly dynasty, a time when Buddhism was well developed and began to have a profound influence on Vietnamese Buddhist scholars. According to “Thiền uyển tập anh” ("A Selection of Thiền Garden Poems"), there were 6 generations in the Thảo Đường School, including 19 partriarchs , of whom 10 were monks, and 9 were lay Buddhists, chiefly from the royal family and their subordinates. Thảo Đường has been considered an academic Vietnamese Thiền school that had a great influence in Vietnam, and that led to the birth of an authentic Vietnamese Thiền school in the a Trần dynasty, the Trúc Lâm-Yên Tử (Bamboo Forest-Yên Tử Mountain).
Thiền Founders in Vietnam:
Khương Tăng Hội, Mâu Tử
Tì-ni-đa-lưu-chi School:
Pháp Hiền, Huệ Nghiêm, Thanh Biện
Định Không, Đinh La Quý, Vô Ngại
Pháp Thuận, Thiền Ông, Sùng Phạm
Ma Ha, Pháp Bảo, Vạn Hạnh
Định Huệ, Đạo Hạnh, Trì Bát
Thuần Chân, Đạo Pháp, Huệ Sinh
Minh Không, Bản Tịch, Thiền Nham
Quảng Phúc, Khánh Hỉ, Giới Không
Pháp Dung, Thảo Nhất, Trí Thiền
Đạo Lâm, Chân Không, Tịnh Thiền
Diệu Nhân, Viên Học, Viên Thông,
Y Sơn
Vô Ngôn Thông School:
Cảm Thành, Thiện Hội, Vân Phong
Khuông Việt, Đa Bảo, Định Hương
Thiền Lão, Viên Chiếu, Cứu Chỉ
Bảo Tính, Minh Tâm, Quảng Trí
Lý Thái Tông, Thông Biện, Đa Vân
Mãn Giác, Ngộ Ấn, Biện Tài
Đạo Huệ, Bảo Giám, Không Lộ
Bản Tịnh, Bảo Giác, Viên Trí
Giác Hải, Trí Thiền, Tịnh Giới
Tịnh Không, Đại Xả, Tín Học
Trường Nguyên, Tĩnh Lực, Trí Bảo
Minh Trí, Quảng Nghiêm, Thường Chiếu
Trí Thông, Thần Nghi, Thông Thiền
Hiện Quang, Tức Lự, Ứng Thuận
Thảo Đường School:
Lý Thánh Tông, Bát Nhã, Ngộ Xá
Ngô Ích, Hoằng Minh, Không Lộ, Định Giác
Đỗ Anh Vũ, Phạm Âm, Lý Anh Tông, Đạt Mạn
Trương Tam Tạng, Chân Huyền, Đỗ Thường
Hải Tịnh, Lý Cao Tông, Nguyễn Thức, Phạm Phụng Ngự
Thiền Trúc Lâm Yên Tử School:
Đạo Viên, Thông Thiền, Nhật Thiển, Tức Lự
Chí Nhàn, Ứng Thuận, Tiêu Dao
Tuệ Trung Thượng Sĩ, Trần Thái Tông
Trần Nhân Tông, Thạch Kim
Pháp Loa, Hương Sơn, Pháp Cổ
Huyền Quang, Cảnh Huy, Quế Đường
Hương Hải
(To be continued)
Sources:
http://vi.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khương_Tăng_Hội
Lê Mạnh Thát, A History of Vietnam Buddhism (Lịch sử Phật giáo Việt nam), published by NXB Thuận hóa, 1999.
Nguyễn Hưng, "An Overview of Thiền Schools in Vietnam" ("Sơ lược các dòng Thiền Việt Nam"), posted on August 20,2008. http://www.phattuvietnam.net/2/16/4000.html
Nguyễn Lang, A Treatise on the History of Vietnam Buddhism(Việt Nam Phật giáo Sử Luận), published by NXB Văn Học, 1979.
