Thiền

[1] According to traditional accounts, in 580, an Indian monk named Vinītaruci (Vietnamese: Tì-ni-đa-lưu-chi) who is considered the founder of Thiền, traveled to Vietnam after completing his studies with Sengcan, the third Patriarch of Chan.

After a period of obscurity, the Vinītaruci School (Diệt Hỉ Thiền phái; 滅喜禪派) became one of the most influential Buddhist groups in Vietnam by the 10th century, particularly so under the patriarch Vạn Hạnh (died 1018).

Information about these schools can be gleaned from a Chinese language hagiographical work entitled Thiền uyển tập anh ("Compendium of Outstanding figures of the Chan Garden" c.

[4] A careful study of the primary sources by Cuong Tu Nguyen however concludes that the legend of Vinītaruci and the accounts of Vô Ngôn Thông are probably fabrications, a version of Vietnamese Buddhist history that "was self-consciously constructed with the composition of the Thiền uyển in medieval Vietnam.

"[5][6] Cuong Tu Nguyen notes that the kind of Buddhism which was practiced in Vietnam during the Chinese occupation period and before the writing of the Thiền uyển was "a mixture of thaumaturgy, asceticism, and ritualism" which was "very worldly engaged.

Trần Thái Tông (1218–77) was known as the "Great Monk King" and wrote various important Buddhist works including Instructions on Emptiness (Khóa Hư Lục), A Guide to Zen Buddhism and a Commentary on The Diamond Sutra, as well as poetry.

This was the Trúc Lâm or "Bamboo Grove" school, which evinced a deep influence from Confucian and Taoist philosophy.

Thông Giác Thủy Nguyệt's successor was Thiền master Chân Dung Tông Diễn (真融宗演, 1640–1711), who became famous for his piety and critical role in resolving the Buddhist problem during the Lê Trung Hưng dynasty.

[14] The main temple is the Hòe Nhai pagoda (also called Hồng Phúc tự), located in Ba Đình district, Hanoi.

[15] During the 1930s, a Buddhist reform movement led by intellectual clergy of "engaged Buddhism" focused on non-violent social and political activities such as peacemaking, promotion of human rights, environmental protection, rural development, combatting ethnic violence, opposition to warfare, and support of women's rights.

Another influential teacher in the West was Thích Thiên-Ân, who taught philosophy at University of California, Los Angeles and founded a meditation center in L.A.

This modernist form of Thiền has become quite popular at home and abroad, in spite of the fact that there is still no complete freedom of religion in contemporary Vietnam.

According to Thích Thiên-Ân: Most Buddhist monks and laymen in Vietnam traditionally obey the disciplines of Hinayana, recite mantra, learn mudra, practice meditation, and chant the Buddha's name (V. niệm Phật, Ch.