On April 6, 1996 Most Venerable Thich Thanh Tu gave a talk titled "Some Characteristics of Vietnamese Buddhism" at the Vietnam's Popular Arts and Culture Association in Hanoi. In this talk he mentioned six characteristics of Vietnamese Buddhism, which are essentially related to Thiền schools and practice in Vietnam. The six charateristics are:
1.Thiền plays a fundamental role in Vietnamese Buddhism. At the beginning of the history of Buddhism in Vietnam, there were three Thiền schools: a. Tì-ni-đa-lưu-chi [(zh. 毘尼多流支, sa. vinītaruci), ?-594, also called Diệt Hỉ (滅喜), an Indian monk who came to China, and became Sengcan's enlightened disciple, and who founded the Vinītaruci School in thiền Việt Nam in the 6th century.] b.Vô Ngôn Thông [(zh. 無言通), 759?-826, was a Thiền master in China, and disciple of the famous Thiền master Bách Trượng Hoài Hải. In 820, he came to Việt Nam, and stayed at Kiến Sơ Temple(zh. 建初寺), in Hà Nội nowadays, and founded Vô Ngôn Thông School. He demised in 826, and his school lasted for 17 generations.], and c. Thảo Ðường Thiền School. [In 1069 when King Lý Thánh Tông conquered Chiêm Thành, according to An Nam chí lược by Lê Tắc, there was a monk among the war prisoners. The monk came to Chiêm Thành from China to disseminate Buddhist Dharma. His name was Thảo Ðường, and he was a disciple of Master Trùng Hiển (980-1052), the third generation of the Vân Môn Thiền Sect in Tuyết Đậu Mountain (Chiết Giang, China). Vân Môn and Tuyết Ðậu (or Minh Giác the Great Master) were scholarly monks who introduced Thiền and Buddhism to Chinese scholars and Confucians. This incorporation between Confucianism and Buddhism dominated Chinese thinking at the beginning of the Song Dynasty. This characteristic had a strong influence on Vietnamese Buddhism in the Trần Dynasty in Việt Nam. King Lý Thánh Tông assigned Thảo Đường National Master (Quốc sư) in 1069, and invited him to become the abbot at Khai Quốc Temple (Trấn Quốc Temple nowadays)in Thăng Long, the ancient capital which is Hanoi today. Thảo Ðường Thiền School, therefore, came into existence with some characteristics different from the previous two schools.]
Masters in these schools disseminated Buddhist teachings to the Vietnamese multitudes. During the Ly and Tran dynasties Thiền had a leading role in Vietnamese Buddhism. However, there were periods when Thiền lost its leading position to Confucianism, for example, at the end of the Tran Dynasty and the beginning of the Second Le Dynasty. During those times when Thiền was not favored by the royal and prestigious social classes, it mingled with the multitudes in the countryside.
After that decline came another period when Thiền regained its popularity among the royal circles. By the end of the Second Le Dynasty and during the Trinh-Nguyen Divisive War there were quite a few Thiền masters who came from China to disseminate the practice methods of their schools or subsects, such as Linji (Lam Te) or Caodong (Tao Dong).
Even when the Pureland practice was popular in Vietnamese Buddhism, for example in the 19th and twentieth centuries, in temples in Vietnam, altars to worship the partriarchs, who were Thiền masters, and their lineage continued to exist.
It is worth noticing that in Vietnam history when the nation was dominated by foreigners, Thiền usually mingled with the multitudes in the countryside, while the Pureland became more popular. When the nation regained independence, however, Thiền reestablished its dominating position in Vietnamese Buddhism.
2. Another special characteristic of Vietnamese Buddhism is that it has its own Thiền school, the Trúc Lâm Yên Tử (竹林安子). Its existence marked the incorporation of the three previous Thiền schools in Vietnam. It was founded by a famous king who later became an enlightened ascetic monk, King Trần Nhân Tông.
3. Vietnamese Buddhism, as it is influenced by the Trúc Lâm Yên Tử, focuses on the mind, liberation or enlightenment through meditation practice and wisdom, not on forms or rituals or academic studies.
4. It confirms that one may practice the Dharma and attain liberation and enlightenment even when one leads a busy life and as a lay person. Examples: King Trần Nhân Tông and some other Trần kings, Tuệ Trung Thượng Sĩ (慧中上士).
5. It incorporates all three religions (Taoism, Confucianism, and Buddhism) harmoniously.
6. It mingles with the multitudes while it was highly respected and favored by the ruling classes. King Trần Nhân Tông went out of his royal palace in order to disseminate the Dharma, and introduced Buddhist teachings to the rank and file. When he demised, he passed down the lineage transmission to Pháp Loa (法螺), 1284-1330), a disciple who was from the masses, and not in the upper classes.
Sources:
http://vi.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thảo Đường
http://vi.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tì-ni-đa-lưu-chi
http://vi.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vô Ngôn Thông
Thich Thanh Tu. A Talk at the Vietnam's Popular Arts and Culture Association in Hanoi on April 6, 1996.
http://vi.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trúc Lâm Yên Tử
