'Buddhist Education in Vietnam\r'

'Al near 85% of the entire population of Vietnam is Buddhistic . The main lawsuit for this vast acceptance of Buddhism is its actu all toldy early immersion in Vietnam. Buddhism entered Vietnam in the show clipping of second century. This was the prevalentality Era and git be called as the root configuration of the Buddhist bringing up in Vietnam .The real first Buddhist didactics was given by a Taoist named Meou-Po, who later converted to Buddhism . gibe to more historians, even forward this Taoist, close to mold of Buddhist education could be seen when the Chinese missionaries came to Vietnam .The Chinese missionaries came in Vietnam during the rule of Si-Nhiep. Later, dickens Indian monks as well came from India to Vietnam, in launch to practice and preach Buddhism. Ma Ha Ky Vuc and Khau Da La stayed in Vietnam for some while, later Khau Da La left whereas Ma Ha Ky Vuc stayed. Ma Ha Ky Vuc was a really religious man and used to fast for some(prenominal) da ys. According to him this back uped purify his body and soul. These two Buddhist monks first came to Northern Vietnam, which was called as Giao-Chi at that time. Mau-Bac, a Chinese Buddhist later came to Vietnam, in order to preach his faith.At that time China was the centre of a serious political conflict, and so galore(postnominal) scholars in order to learn and preach at peace, came to Vietnam. This was a breakthrough for the Buddhism. These were the first volume ever to submit in Buddhism in Vietnam. They were refugees from China and Pilgrims from India. As time passed by Buddhism became more accepted and most dear theology in Vietnam. BEGINNING OF BUDDHIST procreation A Hindu price, Gautama who did not like the intellect of Hindu caste system, was the founder of Buddhism.Gautama did not study that any man could be superior to the early(a) and as Hinduism Brahmans ar considered superior, he left this religion . Gautama had spent umpteen years wandering and meditatin g. In the end he found answers to all his questions and because found the path of enlightenment, â€Å" promised land”. According to Buddhism, nirvana is the path to endless serenity. It is free from the cycle of birth, destruction and rebirth. Moreover, a soul ordain achieve redemption if he believes in the quaternity noble truths.These 4 noble truths are that a man suffers in all his consecutive lives; the reason for his sufferings is his wants for earthly things, when the person frees himself from all the wants of earthly things he then achieves deliverance. The run low noble truth says that a person can achieve deliverance by following the multiple noble path . So how did Buddhism actually banquet? During the time Si-Nhiep ruled Giao-Chi, it was considered as a undecomposed place. Mau-Bac came to Vietnam looking for peace and tranquility. After coming to Vietnam, he studied Buddhism from an Indian monk named Ksudra .Ma Ha Ky Vuc who in like manner came to Viet nam got together with Mau-Bac and started preaching their religion. Ksudra also started helping them, accordingly people in Vietnam, who never k spick-and-span what Buddhism was, started learning and evaluate it. These were the actually first people to start preaching and indoctrinateing Buddhism. Their teaching is the real early fake of teachings found in Vietnam. After these, legion(predicate) a(prenominal) Buddhist monks came to Vietnam. Khang Tang Hoi and Cuong Luong Lau were two monks who made a banding of difference. They translated numerous Buddhist books into Chinese.As Vietnamese culture at that time was influenced a lot by Chinese and Chinese was the official language used , thereof translating these books made a lot of difference to people who could not read or write different languages . PHASES OF VIETNAMESE BUDDHISM The accounting of Buddhist education in Vietnam can be studied by dividing it into four separate phases or stoppages. †The formation of Buddhism in Vietnam. This started from the common era and lasted till the end of Chinese principle †Climax of Buddhism. Buddhism was at its peak during the independence †The decadence after the Le Dynasty†Revival period. This started in the number 1 of the 20th century and has not ended yet. The period before the Common Era lays the foundation for the beginning and development of Buddhist education in Vietnam. It was the time when Siddhartha Gautama, who will later pretend enlightenment and will be called as ‘Buddha’ was born(p). As he was born in India, Indians were the first to learn Buddhism. Later when Buddhism came to China, many Chinese monks went to Vietnam in order to spread Buddhism. However, it believed that the Chinese and Indian merchants came to Vietnam for job.They brought monks with them saying that the monks were the â€Å"calmer of the sea” These monks started preaching their religion in Vietnam. It was easy for them to teach their religion to many people at a time, as Luy-Lau, later k promptlyn as Ha-Bac was the centre of all trading activities. All the merchants who came here to trade, and merchants who were travelling between India and China, halt here to rest, in that respectfore, monks were able to spread their religion very easily. many an(prenominal) missionary activities were started as a result. Monasteries were create and Buddhism became important.This was the first time ever in the history of Vietnam, that monasteries were create . The next period or phase prove to be best for Vietnamese Buddhism. In this period Buddhist studies were at their peak and many famous people and rulers converted to this religion. It was when King Dinh Tien Hoang came in to power. Buddhism has its own hierarchy of monks and priests who were accepted by the court. Buddhism was now supported by the royal court and this helped many positive changes to take place. Buddhists were now respected and were considered a s learned people.They were asked advice by the royal court and the rulers before taking decisions. This helped them get involved in many political and religious decisions and hence providing many decisions to be taken according to them. This era truly proved to be the best for Buddhist studies and it became one of the most predominant religions. After this, many kings and emperors converted to Buddhism. Many laws came into practice in this era, which were influenced by Buddhism, and hence were in favor of the Buddhists. Van Hanh became a Buddhist in this period.He is get laidn as the meditation master and has influenced many people to convert to Buddhism. Any ruler who was not Buddhists was at least the supporter of Buddhism and this was a very positive point for the Buddhists. In 1010 A. D, almost eight-spot monasteries were built in Ha Bac. All new(prenominal) monasteries and Buddhist temples were also repaired. Tripitaka texts, which were in China initially, were brought in Vi etnam. Thousands of Buddha statues and paintings were made and set up. Festivals were set up. Many new monasteries such as Sung Kharh monastery and monastery at stack Ba were built. In 1086 A.d Dai Lam monastery was built in Ha Bac. Later in 1118 A. D Thien Phat was built which had almost 1,000 Buddha statues . BUDDHIST STUDIES The entire Buddhist education comes from the studies of Buddha, who is the supreme teacher. All of the studies root from saddha, which is the faith in triple Gem. Depdnding upon these studies the bookmans are taught according to the five rules. The students should distinguish the rules, their reason and their appliance in daily lives. approximately importantly, they should appreciate all these rules and believe in them. The students should know what is generosity and self sacrifice.These are essential elements that help the students overcome their worldly desires, their selfishness and greed. These five moral rules are dependent on each other. A student ca n gain by suta, which is by protracted reading of Buddhism texts. According to Buddhist studies the knowledge of a person is dependent on his inside picture of truth i. e. Dhamma. Calm and insight are the two main elements of any Buddhist teaching. In Buddhist education tasks and lore are dependent on each other. A student can attain wisdom by deep investigation, discussion and intelligence.This wisdom was the basic instruments which lead Buddha to salvation. This wisdom is the crown of all educations of Buddhism. Without wisdom, education is incomplete. Before French, people were chosen ground on their education. These were officials known as â€Å"mandarins”. Learning was very important in those times. It was not just education but it lead a person to skilful understanding, social standing, wealth and power. Buddhism came straight off from India, hence there are many words in Vietnamese Buddhism which are influenced or are taken directly from India. The word Buddha is also taken as it is.However, as the Vietnamese culture is influenced a lot from the Chinese, hence when Chinese monks came to Vietnam, the word Buddha was replaced by the word Phat. In those days, Buddhism in Vietnam was influenced by Theravada Buddhism. It was seen as religion which helped in effect(p) people and punished the bad. It was very difficult to teach Buddhism at that time as very slender literature was available. Vietnamese had no written record book; hence a few translations were made in Chinese. The era between 544 and 602 was an independent era and was encouraging in spreading Buddhism\r\n'