Vietnam Buddhist Academy marks 35th founding anniversary
9/12/19
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Delegates at the ceremony |
The Vietnam Buddhist Academy in Ho Chi Minh City marked its 35th founding anniversary with a ceremony on December 8 with the attendance of many local officials, dignitaries of the Vietnam Buddhist Sangha and the Great Supreme Patriarch of Cambodia Tep Vong.
Delivering his congratulations to the academy, head of the Government Committee for Religious Affairs Vu Chien Thang stressed that the achievements during the academy’s 35-year operation testify to the development of Buddhist education and training, as well as reflect the care of the Party and State for the Vietnam Buddhist Sangha’s human resources training.
The official expressed his hope that the academy will expand international cooperation towards becoming a Buddhism study centre of the world and the Southeast Asian region.
Over its 35-year history, the Vietnam Buddhist Academy in HCM City has trained 8,621 monks and nuns, with 4,739 already graduating. Most students who graduated from the school are teaching at Buddhist schools nationwide or holding positions in the Vietnam Buddhist Sangha. Many of them have become deputies of the National Assembly, People’s Councils and Vietnam Fatherland Front committees at all levels.
The academy has also actively joined in the organization of several major international Buddhist events in Vietnam, including the three UN Vesak Day celebrations and the 11th Sakyadhita International Conference for Buddhist Women.
On the occasion, the academy received several certificates of merit from the Prime Minister, the People’s Committee of Ho Chi Minh City, and the Vietnam Buddhist Sangha./.
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Vietnamese Buddhism has made big strides forward in international integration
Buddhism was brought into Vietnam from India and China. With unique and practical principles for integration into secular life, Buddhism has intermingled with folk beliefs and cultures and become a religion full of life in Vietnam.
The more Buddhism develops and takes roots in society, its attachment to the nation become more profound.
In its long history, Buddhism has become the nation’s religion
The Buddhist cultural influence in Vietnam culture has been profound and broad, so this paper will only raise and discuss several aspects of this role influence.
with a history of almost two thousands of years, Buddhism had deep influence on cultural life of peoples in Vietnam, stayed closely attached to the nation.
Within the field of Buddhist studies, Vietnamese Buddhism has received insufficient attention from academics in the Euro-American sphere.
Vietnamese Buddhist textual culture has not developed quite to the same extent it has in other Buddhist locales and has subsequently been given less scholarly attention.
Việt Nam is a multi-religion country in which Buddhism arrived quite early in history,
Since its very first days in this country, Buddhism with its philosophy on the four immeasurables of loving -kindness, compassion, empathetic joy and equanimity - has been well received and has accompanied this nation in the spirit of joining the earthly life, combining the religion and the material life for man's happiness and peace.
Throughout history, Vietnamese people and the nation have seen the emergence of great Buddhist dignitaries offering their talents and virtues to help protect the country and pacify the people.
Other religions rely on their respective canons and dogmas but Buddhism teaches practice.
Buddha is in the mind. The Mind is Buddha. The Buddha is the Mind. Once the Mind is pacified, one attains Buddhahood.
Since Buddhism entered Vietnam from India and China thousands of years ago, it has mixed with the nation’s traditions and beliefs, while contributing to shaping the nation’s cultural heritage.
Buddhism has made significant contributions to Vietnam’s culture, with its legacy prominent in the nation’s ethics, philosophy, literary, architecture, sculpture, rituals, and paintings, among others.
With careful selection and mingling, Buddhism has become localised.
Vietnamese Buddhism is, to some extent, different from general Buddhism or Chinese and Indian Buddhism
Buddhist deities worshipped in Vietnam are described in ways that fit Vietnamese people’s belief and expectations.
Many international delegations from Buddhist nations have been surprised at the fact that Vietnamese pagodas are not just dedicated to Buddhist deities.
Buddhist dignitaries, monks, nuns, and followers have been uniting and standing by the nation and its people, making significant contributions to the nation’s Doi Moi (reform) as well as the cause of national construction and protection, thus enhancing Vietnam’s reputation on the international arena
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