Iu Mien Buddhism - what tradition does it resemble?

Exploring Theravāda's connections to other paths - what can we learn from other traditions, religions and philosophies?
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JMGinPDX
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Iu Mien Buddhism - what tradition does it resemble?

Post by JMGinPDX »

I have a colleague whose uncle is a monastic here: http://iumienbuddhalighttemple.org/Home.html
I did some checking and while they identify as "Mahayana" I don't see any other details on their tradition, or if they have their own tradition, what it most closely resembles.
I'm mostly just curious for no other reasons than idle curiosity about something I shouldn't care about and should spend this mental energy and time on my own practice instead :)
Right now, it's like this...
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pilgrim
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Re: Iu Mien Buddhism - what tradition does it resemble?

Post by pilgrim »

Clearly traditional Chinese Mahayana. It appears the temple is also a community hub for a small tribal group so you can expect some folk elements too.
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Dhammanando
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Re: Iu Mien Buddhism - what tradition does it resemble?

Post by Dhammanando »

It seems to be just regular mainland East Asian Mahayana. Iu Mien is not the name of a Buddhist tradition but rather of the Sino-Vietnamese ethnic group that founded the temple. In Thailand they're called Yao.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iu_Mien_Americans
Rūpehi bhikkhave arūpā santatarā.
Arūpehi nirodho santataro ti.


“Bhikkhus, the formless is more peaceful than the form realms.
Cessation is more peaceful than the formless realms.”
(Santatarasutta, Iti 73)
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