Theravada in Vietnam

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vudcnh
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Re: Theravada in Vietnam

Post by vudcnh »

Hi Paul.
I guess because I was dealing with really strong emotions in high school esp 9th grade.
I was reading the blog zenhabit because I like the aesthetic of a simple life.
My family is going through trouble and I suffer a whole lot with my own mind. I was and probably still is this shy, super smart gay kid. It's hard to fit in and you sometimes don't see the point of fitting in. What people pursue just don't make sense to me. so I try to find a framework or a system to judge myself against.
So from there I start my little adventure around Hanoi. I was practicing meditation in a yoga studio. Going on little 3 days retreat. Read a ton of books from two library. Attend talk. All that makes me feel really inspired but I'm not very impressed with the practice they set up here. I want to travel to Thailand for ordination. But that's not my priority now.
The focus is to graduate and enter job market.
I have been really lax with my dhamma practice since college. I think what drag me back is this conspicuous dukkha I experience when I'm infected with a common STD. The fear of death, the separation and the dispassion with the human body.
vudcnh
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Re: Theravada in Vietnam

Post by vudcnh »

Also I have to add that I'm forever indebted towards the man who translate the work into Vietnamese in your link.
His name is Pham Kim khanh, a lay man in Canada. He translate a still forest pool by Ajahn Chah. That book touch my heart and move me beyond words.

:bow:
I remember in my adolescent year, in one incident running from home for a day or two to go to a monastery with that book. I would sleep in that bed , holding that book and know that I would be fine.
I have read a few English books about Ajahn maha bua and the Mae chee. The library I used to go to have them for free from some organizations. The print quality is extraordinary.
I am slowly stepping out of my adolescent and albeit it was such a tultumous experience, I feel like I owe Lord Buddha my sanity. Or at least for a while, I am a high-functioning insane person. ,😃
mal4mac
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Re: Theravada in Vietnam

Post by mal4mac »

vudcnh wrote: Sun Nov 26, 2017 6:00 pm Also I have to add that I'm forever indebted towards the man who translate the work into Vietnamese in your link.
His name is Pham Kim khanh, a lay man in Canada. He translate a still forest pool by Ajahn Chah. That book touch my heart and move me beyond words.
Yes, he is impressive. You can find many of his teachings free on the web:

https://www.amaravati.org/dhamma-books/ ... jahn-chah/
- Mal
paul
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Re: Theravada in Vietnam

Post by paul »

This is what I deduce from your information.“Setting up a framework to judge yourself against” is a good beginning to Theravada practice, but at the same time you express dissatisfaction with conventional reality. The challenge contained in this duality, that is on the one hand the ideal found in the doctrine to keep striving towards, while on the other simultaneously having to live in conventional reality (you have opted for a career), is what keeps the practitioner moving forward on the path: the duality is a necessity. The processing instrument is mindfulness. Whether a monk or a lay person, conventional reality provides the raw material when seen with right view, so only enough should be taken in as can be processed, and the rest of the time should be devoted to contemplation, preferably in a wilderness situation and minimising the home life. From the position of faith and devotion, the movement to the work of insight cannot be accomplished until conventional reality has been relegated both in lifestyle and mentality. In Ajahn Maha Bua’s book ‘Samana’, he relates his emancipation to “overcoming conventional reality”.
The ideal found in the doctrine requires constantly increasing knowledge of the internal integrity of the dhamma to match the progress. In this integrity, the connection between sila and successful samadhi should not be overlooked in favour of the equally necessary but more discussed dynamic between serenity and insight. There are three trainings and two dynamics, but sila is the foundation and it requires an act of will.

https://www.accesstoinsight.org/ati/tip ... .than.html
The last three factors in this sequence relate to the development of insight, the preceding group to samadhi.
vudcnh
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Re: Theravada in Vietnam

Post by vudcnh »

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 From the position of faith and devotion, the movement to the work of insight cannot be accomplished until conventional reality has been relegated both in lifestyle and mentality. In Ajahn Maha Bua’s book ‘Samana’, he relates his emancipation to “overcoming conventional reality”.
The ideal found in the doctrine requires constantly increasing knowledge of the internal integrity of the dhamma to match the progress. In this integrity, the connection between sila and successful samadhi should not be overlooked in favour of the equally necessary but more discussed dynamic between serenity and insight. There are three trainings and two dynamics, but sila is the foundation and it requires an act of will.
Wow. Thank you for pointing that out. A Dhamma friend of mind ( much older in age) tell me to stay where I am and not rush thing.
I live in the middle of a metropolis and have quite a busy life. I'm trying my best to wind down and have time for meditation. But I don't have much interest to go to Buddhist gathering. It's quite frightening. Maybe I should meditate in some meditation group in the rural part of Hanoi. It's hard to find wilderness here.
I realized with my intention of cooking healthier food so that I can keep myself in good shape this year, I started to become entrenched in household life. :rofl:

I do believe in the importance and necessity of samadhi.
Can you elaborate on " sila is the foundation and it requires an act of will" ? I understand the notion but fail to realize how to apply that truth to me.
vudcnh
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Re: Theravada in Vietnam

Post by vudcnh »

https://www.accesstoinsight.org/ati/tip ... .than.html

So I guess that keeping sila is really important for a meditation practice and is the thing that require the most will. Other things come more naturally when that is set in place. Is that what you are implying, Paul ?
Thanks for your concern and answers. It's much appreciated.
:reading:
paul
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Re: Theravada in Vietnam

Post by paul »

So based on the reading you link, I should focus on my conduct and behavior to achieve a remorseless state before I can process to other lofty ideal.
Do you attend any kathina here, do you practice with a group or you do it alone?
I wonder what practice in wilderness mean? I have little experience with this. Like a weekend trip to the forest?

I will answer your PM questions on the forum, as they may be of value to others. Keep the discussion on the forum.


From your previous information it can be seen that the influence of conventional reality is too dominant in your life causing some mental disturbance and you need to rein it in, as samsara is a hallucination and if you afford it too much credibility it must naturally lead to suffering. This is not just doctrine, it’s a cosmic law, but because people are blinded by the appearance of authority in CR, they don’t see that the things they are doing are leading to suffering, and this delusion must be penetrated. The way this is achieved is to separate lifestyle from conventional reality as far as possible, and to develop a mentality which isolates CR and downgrades its influence, to treat it for what it is, a functional network based on name with no inherent reality apart from the maintenance of the body. This is what renunciation means and it is a basic Theravada attitude, included in the second link of the noble eightfold path.

“The Buddha describes his teaching as running contrary to the way of the world. The way of the world is the way of desire, and the unenlightened who follow this way flow with the current of desire, seeking happiness by pursuing the objects in which they imagine they will find fulfillment. The Buddha's message of renunciation states exactly the opposite: the pull of desire is to be resisted and eventually abandoned. Desire is to be abandoned not because it is morally evil but because it is a root of suffering.[17] Thus renunciation, turning away from craving and its drive for gratification, becomes the key to happiness, to freedom from the hold of attachment.”—-‘The Noble Eightfold Path’, Bikkhu Bodhi.

Internally this involves transferring the source of gratification from feelings of the flesh to feelings not of the flesh, and the initial way of doing that is to substitute the experience of wilderness for perceptions related to human society as instructed in MN 121. The way individuals implement this by restructuring their lives will depend on their insight into how necessary and urgent it is. As AN 11.2 says, virtue (renunciation) causes the factors of samadhi to arise spontaneously, and a tranquil mind is a necessary basis for insight.

I don’t need to practice with any group these days, but earlier I went through a stage of living in monasteries in Sri Lanka and Thailand. One of the most valuable practical benefits I derived from that is the observation of the monastic routine, including noble silence and the eating schedule, both of which I continue to pursue in lay life. Noble silence means not talking unless you have some definite information to impart, which takes a little for others to get used to, but it’s a necessary implementation in order to maintain mindfulness.
sgns
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Re: Theravada in Vietnam

Post by sgns »

In the US there are a handful of Vietnamese-American Theravada communities. From what I understand the most senior monastic in these communities is Bhante Khippapanno, who grew up in Southern Vietnam and practiced for many years with Munindra and Mahasi, and later U Tejaniya.

Here's a link to the Binh Anson's writing about Vietnamese Theravada in English, to supplement the one pilgrim posted--
https://www.budsas.org/ebud/vn_thera.htm

Binh also put together a list of Theravada Vietnamese temples outside of Vietnam:

Chùa Pháp Vân, Pomona, California
Thích Ca Thiền Viện, Riverside, California
Như Lai Thiền Viện, San Jose, California
Chùa Phật Pháp, St Petersburg, Florida
Pháp Đăng Thiền Viện, Spring Hill, Florida
Chùa Pháp Luân, Houston, Texas
Chùa Đạo Quang, Garland, Texas
Chùa Hương Đạo, Fort Worth, Texas
Chùa Liên Hoa, Irving, Texas
Chùa Bửu Môn, Port Arthur, Texas
Chùa Kỳ Viên, Washington DC
Bát Nhã Thiền Viện, Montréal, Québec
Chùa Kỳ Viên, Paris, France
Chùa Phật Bảo, Paris, France

I learned about Binh Anson through reading the Angry Asian Buddhist blog, written by Aaron Lee who recently passed away. He wrote a handful of posts about Vietnamese Theravada (read all the way through, as this tag also has some Mahayana) http://dharmafolk.org/tag/vietnamese/
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pilgrim
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Re: Theravada in Vietnam

Post by pilgrim »

There is also a small but thriving bhkkhuni sangha in Vietnam.
https://www.facebook.com/Nivienvienkhong/
http://www.khemarama.com/
http://www.trungtamhotong.org/
vudcnh
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Re: Theravada in Vietnam

Post by vudcnh »

:candle:
I have met the nun that lead Khemarama. She was in Hanoi last week. Her name is Dhammanand.
I also have met Binh Anson, an incredible lay man who is doing great work.
I think ( tho not sure) the occasion of meeting Binh Anson was when ven khippapano arrive.
So in term of punna, I guess I have good blessings of seeing those people for a short while in the past.
There is much interest here and more monks and nuns are staying in the north.
Tho the Buddhist lay groups are quite chaotic and not very harmonious.
I saw one of my dhamma friend who not belong to this cultish group, they recite some weird mantra and go to the North of Thailand.
The seeds are being planted. May it grow to big tall tree.
vudcnh
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Re: Theravada in Vietnam

Post by vudcnh »

:reading:
Thank you, Paul.
Yet another great answer.
Concise and to the point.
:namaste:
paul
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Re: Theravada in Vietnam

Post by paul »

Buddhism contributes to national defence, construction and development:
http://en.nhandan.org.vn/politics/item/ ... vesak.html
paul
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Re: Theravada in Vietnam

Post by paul »

Khmer-Krom conference:
http://unpo.org/article/20747
User1249x
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Re: Theravada in Vietnam

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