Abstract:
Introduction: Vietnam is now a predominantly Mahāyāna Buddhist country
but with some influences fromTheravāda Buddhism. There are two Theravāda
groups in Vietnam, namely Khmer Theravāda Buddhism (KTB) and Vietnamese
Theravāda Buddhism (VTB). Both of them study and practice the Pāli-Tipitaka.
They are commonly called Theravada Buddhism in Vietnam (TBV)
KTB has been practiced since the 3rd B.C during King Asoka’s period. It
has since undergone several changes in the Mekong Delta under the Nguyen
Court. They harshly forced the Khmer population to abandon the Theravada
tradition. It included forcing theTheravāda monks to become Mahāyāna monks.
However, they love the TheravādaBuddhism as if it were their own blood and
bones. The Khmer temples secretly organized Dhamma classes for monks,
although facing serious difficulties. As a result, KTB gradually developed in
Vietnam, the Dhamma classes were allowed by the Vietnamese government
many years ago; even a Khmer Theravāda Academy for Buddhist Studies was
established in 2005.
For Vietnamese people, the first opportunity when Vietnamese monks, who
were ordained according to the Theravāda tradition in Cambodia, led by the
Ven. Ho Tong (Vamsarakkhita), together with the Cambodian Sangharāja, the
Ven. ChuonNath (Jotaññāno) and 30 Cambodian Bhikkhus, came to Vietnam to
establish the Sīma for the first Vietnamese Theravāda temple in 1939. Since that
time, the Vietnamese people have gradually believed in Theravāda Buddhism.
Besides this, there was asignificant contribution by Ven. Narada from Sri
Lanka in 1930. Hecame to Vietnam and planted young Bodhi trees brought
from Sri Lanka in many places around the country. During his subsequent
visits in the 1950s and 1960s, he attracted large numbers of Buddhists to the
Theravāda tradition.
There are now 529 Theravāda temples and 8,919 Theravāda monks in total
throughout Vietnam. This clearly proves a large presence of the Theravāda
Buddhist sect has been established in a country,which is predominantly of the
Mahāyāna Buddhist tradition.
