This panel explores Buddhist ideas and practices across five new religious movements in contemporary Vietnam. It starts by comparing the teachings of Thích Nhất Hạnh and Thích Thanh Từ, founders of the Plum Village and Bamboo Grove traditions. Despite promoting their traditions as part of traditional Thiền (Zen) Buddhism, the founders integrate diverse philosophical ideas and practices from various sources. Next, it examines the modern perceptions and practices of Mật Tông (“Esoteric School”), including “revived” Sinitic traditions and newly introduced Tibetan Buddhist practices. The third paper addresses Hòa Hảo Buddhism, which blends Confucianism, Daoism, and Buddhism, including the latter’s “other-help” practices of Pure Land and “self-help” practices of Thiền. Finally, the panel discusses Cao Đài, characterizing it as a syncretic religion that partly incorporates “Way of the Buddha.” Collectively, these papers demonstrate how modern Vietnamese religious movements adopt and adapt synthetic Buddhist doctrines and practices to address contemporary spiritual needs.
Like many Buddhists across Asia, Vietnamese Buddhists have long focused on accumulating merit and engaging in devotional practices. In present-day Vietnam, there is also a growing presence of meditation-based Buddhist schools that deserve attention in academia. This article compares two influential Vietnamese Buddhist figures, Thích Nhất Hạnh (1926−2022) and Thích Thanh Từ (1924−), and the two traditions they created. Although both grew up in Vietnam during French colonization and the conflict between the North and the South, their Buddhist paths are distinct. Làng Mai was established by Hạnh in the West and then “imported” to Vietnam, while Trúc Lâm was established by Từ in Southern Vietnam and subsequently “exported” to the West. This article primarily compares the teachings of the two traditions to demonstrate how they are similar yet distinct in many respects, despite being formed within the same religious and socio-political circumstances.
This paper addresses five interrelated types of Buddhist views and practices that are labeled Mật Tông (literally “Esoteric School”) by contemporary followers of Buddhism in Vietnam: different dhāraṇī that were circulating independently or comprised parts of Buddhist sūtras and have been recited by Vietnamese for centuries; self-conscious traditions of rituals, visualizations, etc. with their own lineages and initiations that flourished in Vietnam during the Lý (1009–1225) dynasty, if not earlier, allegedly disappeared after the Trần Dynasty (1225–1400), and are currently in the process of “revival”; Tibetan tantric practices currently flourishing in Vietnam; tantric ritual practices based on teachings received by contemporary Vietnamese monastics in what can be described as pure visions; and such “spiritual tourism” sites as Samten Hills Đà Lạt. The paper also explores specific attitudes, practices, and types of study and training undertaken by groups and individuals currently following different types of esoteric Buddhism in Vietnam.
Hòa Hảo Buddhism is a New Religious Movement that emerged in Vietnam in the first half of the 20th century. Despite its understudied status, the tradition has played an important role in Vietnamese history, as evidenced by its dynamic socio-political activities and its role in the preservation of Vietnamese religious culture during the colonial period. This paper will explore the syncretic nature of Hoà Hảo, a tradition that blends Buddhism, Confucianism, and Daoism into its doctrine. The present study places particular emphasis on Buddhist elements, thereby underscoring an understanding, from an emic perspective, of the self-identification of its adherents as Buddhists, notwithstanding the presence of several non-Buddhist elements. The objective of this study is to elucidate the integration of the orientation of other-help in Pure Land Buddhism and self-help in Thiền Buddhism within Hòa Hảo teachings. This is a subject that has not been previously examined.
This presentation will briefly discuss the changes in certain aspects of Vietnamese Buddhism as seen in the teachings of Đạo Cao Đài. In an attempt to find a new spiritual way of life in the specific socio-historical conditions of the early twentieth century (French colonization), Cao Đài followers, guided by spirits, adopted elements of Vietnamese Buddhism to develop their own philosophy of religious life, embracing the "Way of the Buddhas" as one of the five paths to salvation. Buddhist elements have been adopted and adapted to align with the teachings of religious unification and guide believers in a new socio-historical environment placing emphasis on spiritual cultivation leading to salvation defined as union with the Supreme Being Cao Đài. Thus, alongside Confucian and Daoist concepts, Buddhist ideas constitute one of the main pillars of Đạo Cao Đài teachings, which are rooted in the Vietnamese religious traditions.