THE GROWTH OF THERAVÂDA BUDDHISM IN VIETNAM

Ven. Dhammavamso, Principal, Theravāda Buddhist College, Hue, Vietnam

Dear Venerables, Sirs and Friends in the Dhamma,

It is really not only a great pleasure but also an anxiety for us to be here today, in the presence of the most reverend devotees of the development of Theravâda Buddhism in the modern world.

It is a great pleasure because this is the first time we have obtained a golden opportunity to attend such a large-scaled conference held in the community of Theravâda Buddhism in the world. In addition, this important event truly helps us to drive away some loneliness and uncertainty that have ever been felt by us in our efforts of preserving and developing Theravâda Buddhism in our own country for the past decades. Although Buddhism may have been introduced into our country very early, at least in the centuries following the departure of Buddhist missionaries sent by the Emperor Asoka to East Asia, the Theravâda teachings could not spread so widely there as in some other countries. There are two major reasons for this: one is that the aspirants to the Theravâda teachings were not formed into a community for any possible development of this tradition; and the other is that Vietnamese culture was much more influenced by Mahâyâna countries than by Theravâda countries. The Chinese script, for instance, was so widely adopted by the Vietnamese for many centuries as a factor of their cultural development that the Chinese Buddhist Canon was eventually regarded as the only authority in their studying and practising Buddhist teachings. This also points to the fact that the Pāḷi language, which is the principal means of conveying and spreading the Theravâda teachings, hardly became familiar to most of Vietnamese Buddhist monks. As a result, Theravâda Buddhism, though being introduced so early into Vietnam, remained nothing other than a pure belief for a minority of the population for centuries. Indeed, it is not until the early 1950s that the first Theravâda Buddhist Saàgha was founded in Vietnam. This may be considered to be the greatest achievement implemented by the Elders in the Vietnam Theravâda community in the last century, among whom was the Most Venerable Gioi Nghiem (Thītasīla Mahāthera).

The Most Venerable Gioi Nghiem is not only a co-founder of the Theravâda Saàgha in Vietnam, but also the founder of Theravâda community in Hue. After nine years (1944-1953) of studying and practising Buddhist teachings in many different viharas in Cambodia and Thailand, he went back with the mission of reviving and developing the Theravâda tradition right in his homeland. It was thanks to his attempts at reviving the Theravâda tradition that the first vihara named Tang Quang was built in Hue in 1954, which made possible the building of many other viharas in Central and Southern Vietnam in the years that followed. Nevertheless, the fact that a Saàgha came into being together with a number of viharas built does not mean that the propagation of Early Buddhism could be carried out far among the masses. Without an institution for training Saàgha members systematically, it was hard for all the Theravâda viharas, which are geographically scattered throughout the country, to work together to produce a community of qualified members in cultivating and spreading the Buddhist teachings. As a result, the training of Saàgha members was still carried out; yet it depended completely upon the individual capability of each vihara rather than a system of education conducted by the Saàgha. This situation lasted until the year 2003, when the first Theravâda educational institution was officially founded at the Huyen Khong Vihara in Hue. It is from this institution that we have come here to report to you the situation of Theravâda Buddhist education in our country.

Our present institution is part of a two-storied building which was originally the dwelling-place of the vihara's members. In order to put the institution into action shortly after we were permitted by the government to found the first Theravâda educational institution, we have decided to use temporarily three rooms of the building, of which the two larger rooms are for teaching and the smaller one for the office of the Staff. Apart from the building mentioned above, we had some thatched houses built for the residence of female students coming from other parts of the country. This is how we started our mission of training competent Saàgha members for the future of Theravâda Buddhism in Vietnam: a building with its 15 rooms and two separate thatched houses which are being used at the same time as classrooms, office, lodging, kitchen, public conveniences, etc., for nearly 50 Saàgha students.

Regarding the training of Saàgha students, we can afford only a four-year course of studies, during which an entrance examination is held every two years. So the curriculum at our present institution may be regarded as being divided into two consecutive grades: one of primary training and the other of higher training. For more information about our syllabus, we would like to invite you to refer to the annex. Now in the limit of a conference lecture, let us present in brief the main direction of our training as follows.

Out of some practical requirements in Vietnam, there are four languages a Saàgha student should master for the purpose of preserving and developing Theravâda Buddhism in Vietnam. They are Vietnamese, Pāḷi, English, and Chinese.

Vietnamese: as being the mother language, it is rather easily mastered by most students. So, through their mother language it will not take new students too much time to acquire general knowledge of Theravâda teachings. Such general knowledge is necessary for them to study the Pāḷi texts in higher training. Furthermore, this is the main language for them to introduce the Theravâda teachings to the public later.

Pāḷi: it is studied through the four years of the course as the pivotal language for students first to master some basic original texts in Pāḷi and then to find themselves less difficult if entering Buddhist colleges and universities in the Theravâda countries after graduation. The textbook that is being used is "The New Pâéi Course" by Buddhadatta Aggamahāpaṇḍita Mahāthera. In the last two years of the course, some texts in Pāḷi will be used for further reading.

English: It is considered by us to be of the same importance as Pāḷi, especially for those students who would be sent to some international university such as the ITBMU, etc., after graduation.

-          Chinese: Due to the influence of the Chinese language upon Vietnamese culture, it is very necessary for students to master this foreign language in improving their mother language and understanding fully their own culture, which can make their propagation of Buddhist teachings easier among the masses. 

The main points of our syllabus just mentioned have been drawn up from our own experience of training Saàgha students in Vietnam. As has been said above, prior to the foundation of our present college, we had to undertake the training of Saàgha students of our own vihara by ourselves. That is to say, we had to open courses of Buddhist studies as well as scientific subjects planned by ourselves; we had to invite Saàgha teachers from some other viharas in the region. The curriculum at that time was not so much different from that we are applying to the present training at the institution. As a result of such efforts in the past, those graduated students who have continued with their study at some colleges and universities in Thailand, Myanmar and Sri Lanka have shown that they are capable of attending most of academic courses there rather easily and effectively. At present many of our graduated students are continuing their studies in other Buddhist countries: eight are studying at Wat Paknam Bhasicharoen, Wat Raj Orot, and Mahachulalong Korn in Thailand, two at the International Theravâda Buddhist Missionary University in Myanmar, and one at Post Graduated University of Kalenya in Sri Lanka.

Regarding those who could not continue with their advanced studies, they are undertaking many different tasks entrusted by the Saàgha, such as taking charge of new viharas, guiding Buddhist followers to study and practise Buddhist teachings every week, and so on.

The above presentation is an outline of how the Theravâda Buddhist community in Vietnam has tried their best to revive a Buddhist tradition that has existed with the Vietnamese people through centuries. In spite of some modest fruits reaped from our lonely and incessant efforts for the past decades, there are still innumerable difficulties we have to overcome in the process of integrating ourselves into the Theravâda Community of the world, particularly in the educational field. This is the reason why we have professed, at the beginnning of this lecture, an anxiety while attending this conference. As you have known, merely with such a young and modest educational institution we should not have accepted the invitation by the Ven. Dhammasami to attend a large-scaled conference on Buddhist education like this. How may we discuss with many other Dhamma-friends about the level of a PhD programme whereas our present syllabus should be considered to be merely a preparatory stage for such a level in some universities abroad? What may we discuss on the Vipassanâ Meditation, though merely as an academic subject, while we cannot yet afford a meditation hall for our Saàgha students? ... Yet, whatever happened, we have decided to participate in this conference after all. Why? That is because we believe in the contribution of Theravâda Buddhism to the peace of the world, we believe in the collaboration of the Theravâda Communities all over the world; we believe in the potential of our Saàgha students; and we believe in ourselves. It is with such firm belief that we have not lost this opportunity to meet with all the Venerables and friends in the Dhamma in the conference today.

Please let us wish the conference a great success.

 

 

 

Annex

 

 

 

THE CURRICULUM

THE THERAVĀDA BUDDHIST COLLEGE
(Intermediate Level)

 

 

THE FIRST YEAR

 

A. BUDDHIST SUBJECTS: (20 periods per week, 4 weeks per month, 9 months per year. Totally, 80 periods per month; 720 periods per year)
1. Sutta: (4 pers. a week, 16 pers. a month, 144 pers. a year)
- Enumeration of Dhammas.
- Dhammapada.
- Jatakas.
2. Vinaya: (2 pers. a week, 8 pers. a month, 72 pers. a year)
- Everyday Conducts and Manners.
- Fourteen Dhammas of Practice. (Cuddasa Khandhakavattāni )
- The Ten Contemplations on Sâmana Conducts. (Dasa dhammā pabbajitena abhinham paccavekkhītabbā).
*  further instructions on 'A Manual of Vinaya in Everyday Application'
3. Basic Buddhist Teachings: (2 pers. a week, 8 pers. a month, 72 pers. a year)
- The Triple Gem (Tiratana)
- The Triple Refuge (Tisaraúa), the Five Precepts (Pañcasîla)
- The Way to Worship the Buddha (Buddhavandana)
- The Practice of Repentance, Reciting suttas, Recollecting the Buddha's virtues.
- The Faith of a Buddhist Follower.
- Ten Good Kammas (Kusala-kammapatha).
- The Beings' Realms (Bhûmi).
- The Six Principles of Harmony.
- The Four Integrative Methods (Saàgaha-vatthûni).
- The Principles of Causality and Kamma.
- The Four Immesureable Minds (Brahmavihara).
- The Three Seals of Dhamma (Tilakkhaúa).
- The Three Studies of Sîla, Samâdhi, Paññâ (Tisikkhâ).
4. History of Buddhism: (2 pers. a week, 8 pers. a month, 72 pers. a year)
- A Brief History of Buddha Sakyamuni and His Great Disciples.
- A Brief History of the Historical Buddhist Councils.
5. Pāḷi: (4 pers. a week, 16 pers. a month, 144 pers. a year)
- Textbook: New Pāḷi Course I (Part 1)
6. Chinese: (2 pers. a week, 8 pers. a month, 72 pers. a year)
- Vocabulary, Grammatical Structures.
7. English: (4 pers. a week, 16 pers. a month, 144 pers. a year)
- Basic English.

B. FURTHER ACTIVITIES: (2 pers. a month, 18 pers. a year)
-The Activities of the Vietnamese Buddhist Congregation:
Charter and Regulations.

 

THE SECOND YEAR

 

C. BUDDHIST SUBJECTS: (22 periods per week, 4 weeks per month, 9 months per year. Totally, 88 periods per month; 792 periods per year)
1. Sutta: (4 pers. a week, 16 pers. a month, 144 pers. a year)
- Summary of Dîgha-nikâya.
- Some Passages of Dîgha-nikâya.
- Summary of Aàguttara-nikâya.
- Summary of Samyutta-nikâya.
2. Vinaya: (2 pers. a week, 8 pers. a month, 72 pers. a year)
- Vinaya rules for Novices (Sâmanera sikkhâpada).
- Qui Son Canh Sach (Exhortations by Most Ven. Qui Son).
3. Basic Buddhist Teachings: (4 pers. a week, 16 pers. a month, 144 pers. a year)
- The Milindapañha.
- The Four Noble Truths (Cattâri ariyasaccâni).
- The Principle of Dependent Origination. (Paticca-samuppada)
- The Four Foundations of Mindfulness (Satipaííhâna).
- The Four Right Efforts (Padhâna).
- The Four Bases of Miraculous Powers (Iddhipâda).
- The Five Faculties (Indriya), the Five Powers (Bala).
- The Seven Branches of Enlightenment (Bojjhaàga).
- The Noble Eightfold Path (Ariya aííhaàgika magga).
4. History of Buddhism: (2 pers. a week, 8 pers. a month, 72 pers. a year)
- A Brief History of Thravâda Buddhism in Vietnam.
- A Brief History of Mahâyâna Buddhism in Vietnam.
5. Pāḷi: (4 pers. a week, 16 pers. a month, 144 pers. a year)
- Textbook:  New Pāḷi Course I (Part 2)
6. Chinese: (2 pers. a week, 8 pers. a month, 72 pers. a year)
- Vocabulary, Grammatical Structures.
7. English: (4 pers. week, 16 pers. a month, 144 pers. a year)
- Basic English.

A.  FURTHER ACTIVITIES: (2 pers. a month, 18 pers. a year)
- The Vietnamese Buddhist Congregation: Plans of Activities; Resolutions.

 

THE THIRD YEAR

 

D. BUDDHIST SUBJECTS: (24 periods per week, 4 weeks per month, 9 months per year. Totally, 96 periods per month; 864 periods per year)
1. Sutta: (4 pers. a week, 16 pers. a month, 144 pers. a year)
- Summary of Majjhima-nikâya.
- Some Passages of Majjhima-nikâya.
- The Path of Purification (Visuddhimagga).
*  practice of reporting before the class.
2. Vinaya: (4 pers. a week, 16 pers. a month, 144 pers. a year)
- The Four kinds of Precepts consisting of purification (catupârisuddhi-sîla)
- Sarvastivada Discipline for Bhikkhu.
3. Abhidhamma: (2 pers. a week, 8 pers.  a month, 72 pers. a year)
a) -The Outline of Abhidhamma.
    -Minds and mental factors (Citta and cetasika).
b)  Meditation in the Abhidhamma.
4. History of Buddhism: (2 pers. a week, 8 pers. a month, 72 pers. a year)
- A Brief History of the World's Buddhism: India, Sri Lanka, Thailand, China, Myanmar, Laos, Cambodia, Japan.
- The Outline of Buddhism in the West.
5. Pāḷi: (4 pers. a week, 16 pers. a month, 144 pers. a year)
- Textbook:  New Pāḷi Course II (Part 1)
6. Chinese: (2 pers. a week, 8 pers. a month, 72 pers. a year)
- Grammatical Analysis, Translation.
7. English: (4 pers. week, 16 pers. a month, 144 pers. a year)
- Buddhist English.

A.  FURTHER ACTIVITIES: (2 pers. a month, 18 pers. a year)
- The Vietnamese Buddhist Congregation: Resolutions of The Central Buddhist Congregation and the Provincial Buddhist Congregation.

 

 

THE FOURTH YEAR

 

E. BUDDHIST SUBJECTS: (22 periods per week, 4 weeks per month, 9 months per year. Totally, 88 periods per month; 792 periods per year)
1. Sutta: (4 pers. a week, 16 pers. a month, 144 pers. a year)
- Summary of Khuddaka-nikâya.
- Summary of the Principal Texts of Northern Buddhism.
- Comparison of Dîgha-nikâya and Corresponding Âgama, Majjhima-nikâya and Corresponding Âgama.
*     Practice of preaching.
2. Vinaya: (2 pers. a week, 8 pers. a month, 72 pers. a year)
- The Four kinds of Precepts consisting of purification (cont'd).
- Introduction to the Four-Divisioned Discipline.
3. Abhidhamma: (4 pers. a week, 16 pers. a month, 144 pers. a year)
- Rûpa and Nibbâna.
- Abhidhamma and Vijñaptimatravâda.
4. History of Buddhism: (2 pers. a week, 8 pers. a month, 72 pers. a year)
- A Brief History of Vietnamese Buddhism in the Dinh, Le, Ly, Tran Dynasties.
- Introduction to the Doctrinal Aspect of the Sects of Buddhism.
5. Pāḷi: (4 pers. a week, 16 pers. a month, 144 pers. a year)
- Textbook:  New Pāḷi Course II (Part 2)
6. Chinese: (2 pers. a week, 8 pers. a month, 72 pers. a year)
- Translation.
7. English: (4 pers. a week, 16 pers. a month, 144 pers. a year)
- Buddhist English (practice of writing and translation).

A.  FURTHER ACTIVITIES: (2 pers. a month, 18 pers. a year)
- The Vietnamese Buddhist Congregation: Introduction to the Formal Structure of the Central Buddhist Congregation.



[1] Presented at The International Conference of All Theravâda Buddhist Universities held at International Theravâda Buddhist Missionary University, Yangon & Woodlands Hotel, Poppa Mountain Resort, Bagan, Myanmar, 9-12th March 2007