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VIETNAM ACADEMY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES GRADUATE ACADEMY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES TA THI LE ACTIVITIES OF THE NUNS’ CONGREGATION OF MENDICANT BUDDHIST SECT IN HO CHI MINH CITY Major: Religious Studies Code: 22 90 09 SUMMARY OF DOCTORAL THESIS ON RELIGIOUS STUDIES Ha Noi, 2020 The work has completed at : GRADUATE ACADEMY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES VIETNAM ACADEMY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES Academic supervisors: Assoc Prof Ph.D Tran Hong Lien 2: Assoc Prof Ph.D Nguyen Thi Minh Ngoc Reviewer 1: PGS.TS Ngô Hữu Thảo Reviewer 2: GS.TS Đỗ Quang Hưng Reviewer 3: PGS.TS Nguyễn Hồng Dương The thesis will be defended before the Dissertation Review Board at the Academy level, at… hours……minutes………, ate……… moth……year…… The thesis can be found at: Library of Vietnam Academy of Social Sciences National Libarary LIST OF THE AUTHOR’S SCIENTIFIC WORKS RELATING TO THE THESIS TOPIC Or der Name of work Name of Author Name of Journal ISSN Process of establishment Ta Thi Le and development of the Nuns’ congregation of Mendicant Buddhist Sect in Ho Chi Minh City Religious Studies Review 1859 0403 Activities of nuns of the Ta Thi Le Mendicant Buddhist Sect in Ho Chi Minh City Religious Studies Review Number: 09, 2017, Page.72 Number: 03, 2018, page.92 1859 0403 INTRODUCTION Necessity of the thesis topic Process of estblishment and development of the Nuns’ Congregation of Mendicant Buddhist Sect in Ho Chi Minh City has taken place for a long period of Buddhist renewal in the South of Vietnam in general and in Ho Chi Minh City in particular Religious life, religious facilities, Dharma propagation, education of monks and nuns, and social activities of this congregation have played a very important role for development of Mendicant Buddhist nuns in the country in general and Mendicant Buddhist nuns in Ho Chi Minh City in particular In addition, activities of Mendicant nuns have influenced more and more on community of followers, contributed to orientation of awareness and behaviour of followers towards values of truth, love and beauty as well as a lifestyle that highlights values such as compassion and wisdom of Buddhism Social activities of the Nuns’ Congregation of Mendicant Buddhist Sect in Ho Chi Minh City have been contributing to share difficulties with the society Above all, these activities of Mendicant Buddhist Nuns in Ho Chi Minh City, which have been manifested in both aspects of “religious life” and “earthly life”, have spreaded great human values of Vietnamese Buddhism and the Mendicant Buddhist Sect as well In the renovation period of country and Vietnamese Buddhism, the Nuns’ Congregation of Mendicant Buddhist Sect in Ho Chi Minh City needs to continue promoting results attained in the past, coming firmly to the future in both of “religious life” and “earthly life” for doing well the way of religlious practice of Vietnamese Buddhist Sangha: Dharma – Nation – Socialism However, activities of the Nuns’s Congregation of Mendicant Buddhist Sect in Ho Chi Minh City has not been considered to research There has been a few of small relating works which only mentioned one or some contents of the Congregation’s activities So that it may be said that this subject has lacked of a comprehensive and systematic work discussing on activites of the Congregation From aforementioned significance and research situation, PhD Student chose the subject: “Activities of the Nuns’ Congregation of Mendicant Buddhist Sect in Ho Chi Minh City” for the doctoral thesis topic on Religious Studies The thesis has described and analyzed some key religious activities and social activities, then has given comments and made some recommendations for promoting advantages of the Congregation Aims and tasks of the thesis 2.1 Aims of the thesis After researching general information of the Mendicant Buddhist Sect and proccess of Mendicant Buddhist Nuns in Ho Chi Minh City, the thesis has analyzed some main activities of the Nuns’s Congregation of Mendicant Buddhist Sect in Ho Chi Minh City, then it has pointed out characteristics of the Congregation In the end, the thesis has raised the author’s viewpoints and important recommendations to promote advantages of the Nuns’ Congregation of Mendicant Buddhist Sect in Ho Chi Minh City 2.2 Tasks of the thesis Clarifying process of establishment and development of Mendicant Buddhist Nuns in Ho Chi Minh City Analyzing various types of religious actitives of the Nuns’ Congregation of Mendicant Buddhist Sect in Ho Chi Minh City It may be seen that analysis and descriptions of the thesis not only has shown specific activities, but also has pointed out characteristics of activities of the Nuns’ Congregation of Mendicant Buddhist Sect in Ho Chi Minh City Making some recommendations for promoting advantages of the Nuns’ Congregation of Mendicant Buddhist Sect in Ho Chi Minh City for spiritual life of people in Ho Chi Minh City in the contemporary period Subject and scope of research 3.1 Subject The thesis has focused on researching activities of the Nuns’ Congregation of Mendicant Buddhist Sect in Ho Chi Minh City in the contemporary period 3.2 Scope Scope of time: The period of topic has been from 1944 (the time of establishment of the Mendicant Buddhist Sect) to the present time (the end of 2018) Scope of space: The thesis has surveyed in Ho Chi Minh City, focused on some typical cases such as Ngoc Phuong temple of Mendicant Buddhist Nuns and some others of Mendicant Buddhist Nuns Scope of issues: Mendicant Buddhist Nuns in Ho Chi Minh City in general and activities of the Nuns’ Congregation of Mendicant Buddhist Sect in Ho Chi Minh City in the contemporary period have been two subjects that have not much researched by researchers from various perspectives and disciplines However, in this thesis, we have surveyed some typical activities of the Nuns’ Congregation of Mendicant Buddhist Sect in Ho Chi Minh City in the contemporary period such as: Religious activities that are Dharma propagation, receiving Alms, chanting, teaching Sutras, preaching Dharma and gathering to practice Pravarana Social activities that are educational activity, charitable activity and other activities of the Nuns’ Congregation of Mendicant Buddhist Sect in Ho Chi Minh City towards Committees and organs of Vietnam Buddhist Sangha In the end, the thesis has given some suggestions and recommendations to promote some positive activities of the Nuns’ Congregation of Mendicant Buddhist Sect in Ho Chi Minh City Theoritical basis and methods 4.1 Theoritical basis The thesis has been based on the methodology of dialectical materialism, historical materialism, viewpoints and policies of Vietnamese Communist Party, and laws of Vietnamese State on beliefs, religions, especially a viewpoint that has seen religion as an important resource to develop the country The thesis also has used a variety of methods of religious studies as well as methods of interdisciplinary studies that are: Method of documentary research, methods of field studies, methods of analysis and synthesis, method of historical studies, method of comparison, method of expert interview, etc 4.2 Methods The thesis has used interdisciplinary perspectives, mainly the perspective of religious studies, the historical studies and the sociology to research issues that were raised in the aim of thesis From these perspectives, the thesis has applied the theory of religious fact Due to character of research issue, the thesis applied methods of documentary analysis to analyze original and sub-origininal documentaries, and collection and analysis of original documentaries were very important tasks of the thesis because these documentaries have helped us to approach roots of research issues The sub-original documentaries were collected in the Mendicant Buddhist Sect and other documentary sources of local state organizations for religious affairs The method of expert interview: the PhD student gave research issues relating to the thesis to discuss with experienced experts of the Mendicant Buddhist Nuns’ issues, then we received a more systematic, total and comprehensive view about research issues The methods of field survey: the PhD student conducted observations, used tehniques like comprehensive interview, selected various interview samples including typical nuns in temples, meanwhile, the PhD student collected documentaries In addition, the author of thesis also used methods of participant observation New contributions of the thesis Firstly, the thesis has provided an overview of Mendicant Buddhist nuns in Ho Chi Minh City; Secondly, the thesis has given a general, scientific and whole view on actitivies of the Nuns’ Congregation of Mendicant Buddhist Sect in Ho Chi Minh City; Thirdly, the thesis has provided an overview of viewpoints and recommendations for enhancing effects and active influences of Mendicant Buddhist Nuns on life of people in Ho Chi Minh City The thesis may be used as a reference for researching and teaching of some disciplines that relates to topic of Philosophy of Buddhism at colleges and universities Theoritical and practical significances Theoritical significances: The thesis has clarified the history of establishment and development of the Mendicant Buddhist Sect and the Nuns’ Congregation of the Mendicant Buddhist Sect in general and of the Mendicant Buddhist Sect in Ho Chi Minh City in particular The thesis has identified and described activities of the Nuns’ Congregation of Mendicant Buddhist Sect in Ho Chi Minh City in the contemporary period Practical Significances: The thesis has provided scientific evidents for managers and policy makers to deal with issues of the Mendicant Buddhist Sect in general and the Nuns’ Congregation of Mendicant Buddhist Sect in Ho Chi Minh City in particular The thesis will be a systematic reference for teaching and researching activities on Religious Studies Structure of the thesis Besides introduction, conclusion, references and appendix, content of the thesis is divided into four main chapters as following: Chapter 1: Literature review Chapter 2: Process of establishment, characteristics of the Mendicant Buddhist Sect, Mendicant Buddhist Nuns and the Nuns’ Congregation of Mendicant Buddhist Sect in Ho Chi Minh City Chapter 3:Roles of the Nuns’ Congregation of Mendicant Buddhist Sect in Ho Chi Minh City towards religious and social activities Chapter 4:Trends, raised issues of the Nuns’ Congregation of Mendicant Buddhist Sect in Ho Chi Minh City Chapter 1: LITERATURE REVIEW 1.1 Documentary sources 1.1.1 Original documentary source of the Mendicant Buddhist Sect It is the book “Chơn lý” (the Truth), collecting a series of 69 lectures with 69 topics, which was written by the Founder Minh Dang Quang for years (1951-1953) Its content is arranged according to an order such as Chơn lý (the Truth 1), Chơn lý (the Truth 2), etc Vietnamese Mendicant Monks Sangha collected them in a book with the title Chơn Lý (the Truth) In 1993, the Buddhist Sangha of Vietnam in Ho Chi Minh City launched a book : “Tổ sư Minh Đăng Quang, Chơn lý” (the founder Minh Dang Quang, the Truth) The Religious Publishing House republished Chơn lý (the Truth) with 950 pages in 2009 In the beginning of 1970, Chơn lý was divided into two titles: Chơn lý included 60 poems; Rules of Mendicant monks and nuns included lectures These contents was published into two separate sections In addition, Chơn lý was also seperated into three volumes: Chơn lý volume I; Chơn lý volume II; Chơn lý volume III, which was imprinted and published by Religious publishing house in 2009, in which each volume focused on some topics such as: Yes and No (volume I) ; Religion (volume II) ; Buddhism (volume III) In the introduction (publishing on occasion of holding 55th memorial ceremony of the Founder Minh Dang Quang (01/02/1954-01/02/2009 according the Lunar Calendar)), monk Giac Toan said : “teachings of the Founder were collected by his disciplines to arrange a book Chơn lý with 69 different topics From the death of the Founder to nowadays, Chơn lý was printed and published many times under various forms that could be a whole series or sometimes could be separate books with different topics In the second edition on occasion of holding 50th memorial ceremony of the Founder (1954-2004), we asked for permission from leaders of Buddhist Sangha of Vietnam and the Mendicant Buddhist Sect to published two sections” 1.1.2 Documentary sources of the Buddhist Sangha of Vietnam The documentary sources of the Buddhist Sangha of Vietnam include the Charter and documents of Congresses It is the most considerable that they are three books such as: The Vietnam Buddhist Sangha: the Office of Executive Council Vietnam Buddhist Sangha through Congresses (1981-2012), Religious Publishing House, 2012 The Buddhist Sangha of Vietnam: Document of 7th National Buddhist Congress (the period of 2012-2017), Hai Phong Publishing House, 2012; and the Buddhist Sangha of Vietnam: Document of th National Buddhist Congress in the period of 2017-2022 These books collected a series of documents of eight congresses The most considerable documents of them are: the action program of each period, and the resolution of Executive Council The first Congress added a document “Report about the process of mobilizing of unity” All summary reports from the Second Congress to the th Congress mentioned various aspects of the Mendicant Buddhist Sect such as work of Monks and Nuns, monasteries, vihara, places for praying to Buddha and some Buddhist works of the Mendicant Buddhist Sect 1.2 Research works 1.2.1 Research works about Buddhism and Vietnamese Buddhism 1.2.1.1 Research works about Buddhism “Buddha and Dharma” of Nãrada Mahã There, translated by Pham Kim Khanh, Ho Chi Minh City Complex Publishing House, 2013, includes two sections: Buddha, Dharma Chơn lý (the Truth) of the Founder Minh Dang Quang talks about two mentioned contents It is one of the most important documentaries that helps PhD student understanding basically on Buddha and Dharma A book with two volumes “Baizhangqiunggui” that was edited by the Institute of Buddhist Studies and Zenist Duc Huy, Thich Phuoc Son and Ly Viet Dung translated, Phuong Dong Publishing House, 2010 Another necessary work is a book of the Most Venerable monk Tinh Khong: “Buddhist awareness”, Vong Tay translated, Hong Duc Publishing House, 2017 “The Sangha of Vietnam” edited by Tri Quang was published firstly by Duoc Tue in 1952 A few of works mentioned some contents of Zen master and Vietnamese Buddhist history such as: Le Manh That: Vietnamese Buddhist history, volume 1: From the beggining to the period of Ly Nam De, Ho Chi Minh City Publishing House, 1999; Vietnamese Buddhist history, volume 2: From the period of Ly Nam De to the period of Ly Thai Tong, Ho Chi Minh City Publishing House, 2001; Vietnamese Buddhist history, volume 3: From the period of Ly Thai Tong (1054) to the period of Tran Nhan Tong (1278), Ho Chi Minh City Publishing House, 2007 Nguyen Duy Hinh: Vietnamese Buddhist history, Religious Publishing House and Encyclopedic Dictionary Publishing House, 2005 He was one of the top experts on Vietnamese Buddhism His approaches and analysis to divide Vietnamese Buddhist history into different periods based on the propagation and development of Buddhism in Vietnam Nguyen Dai Dong: Vietnamese Buddhism from the beginning to 1981 (second edition with revision), Religious Publishing House, 2018 Firstly this book presents an overview of Buddhism in India (Chapter 1), Buddhism in China (chapter 2) and considers these contents as “an introduction” to analyze history of Vietnamese Buddhism with 10 chapters (from Chapter to Chapter 12) These chapters of the book mention the process of Vietnamese Buddhism from the beginning to the time of establishment of Vietnamese Buddhist Sangha in 1981 The Buddhist Sangha of Vietnam, Executive council: Conference proceeding on occassion of 30 years of establishing Buddhist Sangha of Vietnam (1981-2011), Religious Publishing House, 2012 This proceeding collected 99 writing papers that were arranged into topics, including the fourth topic that was: Characteristics of Vietnamese Buddhist Sects There was a considerable writing paper in this topic that was: “Mendicant Buddhist Nuns in the common house of Buddhist Sangha in the past and the present” of the most Venerable nun Thich Nu Ngoat Lien, a member of the Executive Council The second book is a work edited by the Buddhist Sangha of Vietnam, Institute of Vietnamese Buddhism, National university Ho Chi Minh City, and University of Social Sciences and Humanities that is “Buddhist Sangha of Vietnam 35 years of establishment and development, Hong Duc Publishing House, 2011 Many authors: Vietnamese Buddhist Nuns: Tradition and Modernity, National University Publishing House, Ho Chi Minh City, 2016 This book collected presentations of a scientific conference with the title: “Vietnamese Buddhist Nuns: Tradition and Modernity” held at Ho Chi Minh City on 08-09th April, 2016 Another considerable book is: “The Buddhist Sangha of Vietnam: Memory of Mahap rajàpati Gautamì”, Hong Duc Publishing House, 2018 This book collected writing papers about Mahap rajàpati Gautamì and activities of Nuns in some provinces 1.2.2 Research works on the Mendicant Buddhist Sect and the Mendicant Buddhist Nuns The book “Understanding the Mendicant Buddhist Sect” of Thich Giac Duyen, 2014, second edition with revision with the full title namely “The Mendicant Buddhist Sect – 70 years of establishment and development” is a fairly complete work on the Mendicant Buddhist Sect The author collected a lot of documents of the Sect and its congregations, collected many historical evidents through interviews and field studies to generalize systematically every aspect of the Mendicant Buddhist Sect In February, 2014, Institute for Religious Studies, Institute of Buddhist Studies and the Mendicant Buddhist Sect cooperated the first scientific conference on this Buddhist sect with the title “The Mendicant Buddhist Sect : The process of establishment, development and integration” There are some noticable presentations in this conference such as : “The Mendicant Buddhism of Vietnam with mendicant tradition” of Phuonng Lien ; “Recovering mendicant Sila in Vietnam” of Nguyen Can ; “The Mendicant Buddhist Sect has contributed to developing of the country and the Buddhist Sangha of Vietnam” of Bui Huu Duoc; “Manuscripts of the most Venerable Huynh Lien” of the Buddhist Sangha of Vietnam is a writing paper that collected a variety of photos and manuscripts of the most Venerable Huynh Lien; and “Historical chronicle of the Mendicant Buddhist Sect of Vietnam” of Thich Minh Cang, published in 2017 In addition, it is witnessed that there are some remarkable research works such as: “Understanding the Mendicant Buddhism in the South of Vietnam in 20th century” of Thich Hanh Thanh published in 2007; “Formation and development of the Mendicant Buddhist Sect” of Thich Giac Tri published in 2001; “Minh Dang Quang’s teachings” of Han On published in 1960; “Obeying Discipline of the Vietnamese Buddhism in three sects (Theravada, Mahayana, Medicant) of Thich Nu Lien Chuong published in 2001 On the Mendicant Buddhist Sect, since 1989 Tran Hong Lien wrote an article “The true mendicant and the fake mendicant” published in Journal of Social Sciences, number 1/1989 The author also has had some other writing papers that relate to this topic: “Transformation of activities of Buddhist monks and nuns of the South of Vietnam in the context of integrated period” (2008), “Phật giáo người Khmer Sóc Trăng – Hiện trạng giải pháp” (2002), etc The master thesis “Formation and development of the Mendicant Buddhist Sect” of Thich Giac Tri in 2001; the master thesis “the path of mendicant of the Mendicant Buddhist Sect in the South in the contemporary social context” of Bui Tran Ca Dao in 2014; the master thesis “The Mendicant Buddhist Sect’s organziation under the perspective of discourse and power” of Tran Khanh Hung in 2015; and the master thesis “Mendicant, Vegan diet of the Mendicant Buddhist Sect of Vietnam in Ho Chi Minh City” written under the persepective of culture by Nguyn Cong Hoai Luong in 2016 1.2.3 Genernal assessment of literature overview Aforementioned research works are often fragmentary, in which each work usually mentions a separated aspect of religious activity or social activity In addition, there are a few of works mentioning some activities but they have not yet been prominent It may be said that there has not been any work researching systematically activities of the Nuns’ Congregation of Mendicant Buddhist Sect in Ho Chi Minh City in the contemporary period so that it is necessary to research in our thesis 1.2.4 Issues to continue researching The thesis has focused on main research issues as following: Firstly, clarifying the process of formation, development, then highlighting characteristics of the Mendicant Buddhist Sect and Mendicant Buddhist Nuns in Ho Chi Minh City Secondly, highlighting activities of the Nuns’ Congregation of Mendicant Buddhist Sect in Ho Chi Minh City and considering this congregation as a case study with two manifestations: religious activity and social activity On the religious activity, the thesis has paid attention in some key aspects such as: Dharma propagation, religious practice and religious education On the social activity, the thesis has focused on some key aspects such as: participating into social-political congregations (the National Assembly, the People’s Council, the Fatherland Front at all level, the Women’s Union, etc), participating into patriotic movements and developing social chartity Thirdly, pointing out characteristics of the Nuns’ Congregation of Mendicant Buddhist Sect in Ho Chi Minh City ; then rasing some recommendations for the sect and the local government to help the Mendicant Nuns’ Congregation in Ho Chi Minh City promoting their advantages as well as overcomming drawbacks in both of religious and social aspects 1.3 Theoritical frame and some concepts 1.3.1 Theoritical frame of research After giving and analyzing research questions and hypothesis, the thesis has applied research theories, especially the theory of religious fact to investigate activities of the Nuns’ Congregation of Mendicant Buddhist Sect in Ho Chi Minh City in both of two pillars such as: religious activities and social-oriented activities 1.3.3 Some concepts used in the thesis Mendicant Buddhist Sect, A series of Truth, Mendicant Nun, Nuns’ Congregation of Mendicant Buddhist Sect, Mendicant, Probation, Sadi, Bhikkhu/Bhikkhuni, Sangha, Monk/Nun, Almsgiving, Living beings, The Three Noble Buddhas, Eating in the noon, Mendicant monk/nun, Travelling everywhere, Cultivation, Cutting off the ties of retribution, Dharma propagation, Buddhist work, Eating food, Vegan diet, Vihara (Temple), Middle path, Four offerings, Pavarana (gathering to practice religious rite), Four Trusts of Dharma CHAPTER 2: PROCESS OF ESTABLISHMENT, DEVELOPMENT, CHARTACTERISTICS OF THE MENDICANT BUDDHIST SECT, MENDICANT NUNS AND NUNS’ CONGREGATION OF MENDICANT BUDDHIST SECT IN HO CHI MINH CITY 2.1 Overview of the establishment and development process of the Mendican Buddhist Sect 2.1.1 Background of formation Objective reasons: The South of Vietnam was explored by the Nguyen Lord (in 17th century) Before the August Revolution 1945, this region had been still desserted, bushy, and had many beats, disasters, floods, etc, that had made people’s life very tough However land in this area has been very fertile because of alluvium from two rivers namely Tien and Hau The Southern Delta has not had many mountains, but network of rivers has been dense to create a comfortable marine traffic That is a reason why since 17 th century lots of citizens from other regions migrated to the South for living and they carried customs, beliefs, religions that partly contributed to establishing many new religious phenomena Subjective reasons: With desires of independence, autonomy of thought, no relying on Sino Scriptures, Pali texts or French documents, the Mendicant Buddhist Sect created a system of Vietnamese Mendicant nuns recognized that they needed to have their own organization, so that a mobilization committee was set up It composed a charter with 30 terms in Sai Gon on 18th October 1957 The charter was approved by the Ministry of Home Affairs and Sai Gon government according to the Decree No 7/BNV/NA/P5 Basing on this decree, on 11th January 1958 the Most Venerable Huynh Lien called to set up the Mendicant Buddhist Nuns’ Sangha of Vietnam This was an indepent sangha with its own organization and legal position This sangha laid their heatquarters in Ngoc Phuong vihara (now it locates in 491/1, Le Quang Dinh street, Commue 1, Go Vap district, Ho Chi Minh City) 2.2.3.2 Overview of sub-congregation of Nuns in the Congregation IV in Ho Chi Minh City The Congregation IV was led by the Most Venerable Giac Nhien, a discipline of the Founder Minh Dang Quang This congregation has mainly propagated in the Eastern and Western Southern provinces such Ba Ria Vung Tau, An Giang, Kien Gang, Tay Ninh, Can Tho, Soc Trang, etc Specially in Ho Chi Minh City, the congregation has had many temples in districts that are District 2, Thu Duc, Binh Chanh, Hoc Mon, Binh Thanh, etc The Congregation II of Mendicant Nuns ever led by the Most Venerable Tri Lien (passed away) was the 9th Most Venerable in nun disciplines who were educated directly by the Founder Tri Lien, namely Nguy Ngoc Mai, also called Pham Ngoc Lam, was born in 1901 in My Lac Thanh commue, Thu Thua district, Long An province 2.3 Some characteristics of the Mendicant Buddhist Sect, Mendicant Nuns and the Nuns’ Congregation of Mendicant Buddhist Sect in Ho Chi Minh City 2.3.1 Some characteristics of the Mendicant Buddhist Sect On the doctrine: The Founder Minh Dang Quang set 114 commandments for disciplines, and he defined meditation as a method of religious practice to attain high attention and purification of soul The founder appreciated seriously the meditation and put it into three of six times per day of monks and nuns of the Mendicant Sect Wisdom is intelligence, understanding, and cutting off fails The Founder Minh Dang Quang said that: “Mendicants only have three paths of religious practice which are Discipline, Meditation, and Wisdom” In the religious practice of mendicant Monks and Nuns, timebles always obey strictly time and religious practice On the Buddhist Classics: Sutras of the Mendicant Buddhist Sect mixture quintessence of two main traditions as Mahayana and Theravada Some parts of Mendicant scriptures for chanting are similar to Mahaya scriptures such as Ceremony of Repentence, Ceremony of Praying for Peace, and Ceremony of Praying for Redemption However these Mendicant scritpures were translated into Vietnamese and modified according to verse, sixeight syllable poetry, double senven – six- eight poetry or five words poems The Samantamukha, the Amitabha Sutra or short texts of scritpures such the Heart Sutra, the Prasing Buddha Sutra, the Repentence to ten directions of Buddhas Sutra, the Ten Prayers Sutra, the Sangiti Sutta Sutra, the Treating Suffering Sutra, the Buddha Recitation for Final Rebirth Sutra, the Dedication of Merit Sutra, and the Self-Refuge Sutra are translated from Mahayana scriptures into Vietnamese under poems Advocacy of Vietnamization of the Founder has been very suitable with Vietnamese culture as well as educational level of people at that time in the South of Vietnam In addition, there are two scriptures such as the Sutra of the Recollection of the Noble Three Jewels and the Sutra of Recalling the Noble Three Jewels that were edited by the Most Venerable nun Huynh Lien 10 On architecture and symbols: according to tradition, the Mendicant Buddhism has wanted to build facilities for religious practice, that are very simple with light materials such as leafs, and it creates a unique style of architecture Great Hall is shaped as an octagon that symbolizes a lotus flower with eight petals and an eightfold path In the Great Hall, there are four pillars that symbolize four groups of followers (Bhikkhus, Bhikkhunis, male Buddhists and female Buddhists) who support the whole family of Dharma The center of Great Hall is a place for worshipping Buddhas with a three-stage altar that symbolizes Discipline, Meditation, and Wisdom The top stage is for placing statue of Buddha whose head has got a 13-stage wooden tower that symbolizes 13 stages of evolution of living beings happening from hell to enlightenment (Six Realms of the Samsara and Four Realms of the Saints, Three Honored Ones) Behind back of the tower it is an altar of the Founder Minh Dang Quang Besides the architecture, the Mendicant Buddhist Sect has had two its own symbols which are the light of truth and the lotus flower The Founder Minh Dang Quang choiced these images for the Mendicant Buddhist Sect’s symbols which mean: pure true Dharma of Buddhas (the lotus flower), and guiding for followers (the light of truth) On the worship: Like the Buddhist Theravada, the Mendicant Buddhism only worships the Buddha In the Great Hall there are not many Buddhas, Boddhisattva like the Mahayana Buddhism, but only the statue of Buddha However some temples have placed statue of Boddhisattva in yards, gardens Besides the statue of Buddha, on the left side of the Great Hall there is an altar of the Founder Minh Dang Quang, and on the right side there is an altar of the Most Venerable Huynh Lien (Ngoc Phuong temple, Ngoc Chon temple, Ngoc Thanh temple, Ngoc Van temple) On clothes: robes of Mendicant monks/nuns include three robes which are upper, middle and lower robes, all of them are yellow In reality Mendicant robes are mixture of yellow color of the Mahayana and three robes of the Theravada In the Truth, the Founder set a rule about size, color, way of wearing, and explained meaning of three robes for Buddhist monks/nuns Clothes for Buddhists (laypeople): cloth of followers taking refuge in the Three Jewels is long white dress which is called “áo giới” (cloth of precepts) This cloth symbolizes memory of three Jewels (Buddha, Dharma, Sangha) and preservation of five precepts in the whole life of wearers As such that people wearing “cloth of precepts” deserve with the long white dress that symbolizes purity of soul and belief in three Jewels On main activities: Mendicant is an important path of religious practice for the Mendicant Buddhist Sect The Founder Minh Dang Quang considered mendicant as a way of nurturing the body in terms of the purity for religious men of redemption The mendicant is also a mean of propagation that helps people knowing the Buddhist Dharma and creates opportunities for educating human beings On propagation: it is activities that are explaining of classics, presenting true Dharma of Buddha with Buddhists or Dharma assemblies (a lecture of Dharma) The activity of propagation of the Mendicant Buddhist Sect in the period before 1975 was divided into two modes 2.3.2 Some characteristics of the Mendicant Buddhist Nuns and the Nuns’ Congregation of Mendicant Buddhist Sect in Ho Chi Minh City 2.3.2.1 Some characteristics of the Mendicant Buddhist Nuns The Nuns’ Congregation as aforementioned in the thesis, on 11 th January 1958 it was permissed by the Ministry of Home Affairs and the Vietnamese Republic government to 11 form the Sangha of Vietnamese Mendicant Buddhist Nuns, then it was changed to the Mendicant Nuns Since the time of establishment, although having different names, structure of its organization has had changes, but nuns of its hierarchy still have charged duty to manage The Mendicant Nuns still have remained their independence The second type of organization is sub-congregation of nuns From the past to the present time, the Mendicant Buddhist Sect has had sub-congregations of nuns, and they have not been organizations as independent as the Sangha of Mendicant Buddhist Nuns of Vietnam (now it is the Mendicant Buddhist Nuns) was, but they have been dependent on Monks’ Congregation Sub-congregation I and sub-congregation II have been dependent on Monks’ Congregation IV; sub-congregation II has been relied on Monks’ Congregation III In addition a sub-congregation has been relied on Monks’ Congregation I and another sub-congregation has been dependent on Monks’ Congregation VI All sub-congregations have followed rules of the Congregation to practice Characteristics of the Mendicant Buddhist Sect are that monks and nuns live to practice their religion in a common place Each facility of the Sect (Temples) often has had many monks or nuns So Monks’ congregations recognized that it was necessary to set up an organization to lead nuns, and called it as Managing Board of Nuns This board includes a leader of subcongregation, a deputy leader of sub-congregations, and a secretary Another congregation, which is the Managing Board of Nuns in the Congregation I, has got different names for their structure of organizations such as: a leader of nuns, a deputy leader of nuns, a secretary, a treasurer, a comptroller Even the Controlling Board of Nuns in the Congregation IV has added the Board of Testimony On sila and religious name of nuns: nuns firstly must find their own teacher who will guide them Then they must follow such steps: a period of probation for sadini, a period of sadini, a period of probation for Bhikkhuni, and a period of Bhikkhuni On religious name: when nuns receive full commands of Sangha to become a Bhikkhuni, each Bhikkhuni will have a religious name with the last character as “Liên” such as: Huỳnh Liên, Ngoạt Liên, Nguyệt Liên, Tín Liên, Phụng Liên, etc But if they are still sadini, their religious names will be called in a contrast way such as: Liên Hòa, Liên Chúng On forms of ordaining: nuns of sub-congreations must find their teachers who are monks The process of ordaining will have steps which are a period of probation for sadini, a period of sadini, a period of probation for Bhikkhuni, and a period of Bhikkhuni respectively The ordaining (sadini probation, sadini, bhikkhuni probation, bhikkhuni) all its steps must follow rules of the Mendicant Buddhist Sect of monks However the Mendicant Buddhist Nuns’ congregation is an independent organization, and has a legal position, so nuns of the congregation will follow four teachers who are the most venerable nun, venerable nun and bhikkhuni In the ordaining (sadini probation, sadini, bhikkhuni probation, bhikkhuni), every one will be nuns, and place for ordaining will often be Ngoc Phuong temple 2.3.2.2 Some characteristics of the Nuns’ Congregation of Mendicant Buddhist Sect in Ho Chi Minh City Formation of the Nuns’ Congregation of Mendicant Buddhist Sect with Ngoc Phuong temple as a central facility of the Sangha has been the greatest feature of the Nuns’ Congregation of Mendicant Buddhist Sect in Ho Chi Minh City Since this time, through ups and downs of the time and the changes of the Mendicant Buddhist Sect generally, and the changes of the Mendicant Buddhist Nuns particularly, Ngoc Phuong temple has been a place where nuns have lived and practiced their religion with a large number of members Because 12 this temple is an origin of nuns’ congregation, nuns from other temples of the Mendicant Buddhist Nuns will return here to reside, gather to learn Buddhist studies (college, university, and post graduate) following program of Buddhist Academy in Ho Chi Minh City With a role of an original place and a centre of the Nuns’ Congregation of Mendicant Buddhist Sect, Ngoc Phuong Temple is also a great place for nuns’ Tranquil dwelling, Pravarana, and Upavasatha This temple is also a place where the Sangha organizes the altar of the law to ordain nuns Additionally, there are many activities of the whole Mendicant Buddhist Nuns often organized at Ngoc Phuong temple, that are offers and ceremonies of deceased nuns, etc Before 1975, the Nuns’ Congregation of Mendicant Buddhist Sect of Vietnam had been established (1958), and this temple was considered a Patriarchs’ Hall of the Nuns’ Congregation of Mendicant Buddhist Sect, but after 1975, specifically since 1981 the Buddhist Sangha of Vietnam was formed, so nuns in Ngoc Phuong temple have hesitated to say about the term of “Congregation” because every sect of Vietnamese Buddhism has belonged to an only common organization which is the Buddhist Sangha of Vietnam However in terms of science, and basing on process of activities from establishment up to the present time, mendicant nuns here still belong to an independent nuns’ congregation Sub-conclusion of chapter One of the characteristics of the Mendicant Buddhist Sect in the beginning period of the sect is that it has a congregation of monks and nuns Crossing over a period, each congregation created its own organization that was independent and different from others They formed the Mendicant Buddhist Sangha of Vietnam, then, it was changed to the Mendicant Buddhist Sect of Vietnam and the Nuns’ Congregation of Mendicant Buddhist Sect of Vietnam Apart from having common features of the Mendicant Buddhist Sect, the Nuns’ Congregation of Mendicant Buddhist Sect has had characteristics of religious practice and organizational system Selecting Ngoc Phuong temple (in Ho Chi Minh City) to be a Patriarchs’ Hall/ a Centre of the Nuns’ Congregation of Mendicant Buddhist Sect, so the Mendicant Buddhist Nuns (or the Nuns’ Congregation of Mendicant Buddhist Sect in Ho Chi Minh City) has had characteristics and played a role of a Centre Chapter 3: ROLES OF THE NUNS’ CONGREGATION OF MENDICANT BUDDHIST SECT IN HO CHI MINH CITY IN RELIGIOUS ACTIVITIES AND SOCIAL-ORIENTED ACTIVITIES 3.1 Some precepts rule acitivies of the Nuns’ Congregation of Mendicant Buddhist Sect At the time of the Founder Minh Dang Quang, the Pravaraj of the Sangha included both of monks and nuns Due to characteristics of the Mendicant Buddhist Sect, women after receiving full orders (Bhikkhuni) all had religious names with the last character was Liên, for examples Huỳnh Liên, Bạch Liên, Thanh Liên, Kim Liên, etc The Mendicant Buddhist Nuns early were directed by the Founder But after the Founder’s death, nuns were led by the Most Venerable nun Huỳnh Liên The nuns recognized that it was necessary to set up a separated congregation to facilitate to go about teaching and converting sentient beings A board of mobilization was formed with a charter including 30 terms that was made on 18th October 1957 This charter was permissed by the Ministry of Home Affairs and the government of Sai Gon according to the Decree Number 7/BNV/NA/P5 Basing on the Decree Number 7, on 11th January 1958 the Most Venerable Huỳnh Liên established the Vietnamese Mendicant Buddhist Nuns of Sangha This was an independent sangha with its own 13 organization, development and legal position, meanwhile the facility of this sangha was located in Ngoc Phuong temple 3.2 Role of the Nuns’ Congregation of Mendicant Buddhist Sect in Ho Chi Minh City towards religious activities 3.2.1 Dharma propagation activity Due to the fact that demand of learning Dharma from Buddhist followers and people in Ho Chi Minh City has increased higher, the Board of Dharma Propagation in Ngoc Phuong Temple has always focused on personnel structure of the Nuns’ Congregation in temples in every district of Ho Chi Minh City This board has added more teachers from nuns who graduated at schools and classes of Buddhist Studies The Board has also combined with the Board of Education for Nuns to be in charge of programs of learning Dharma for nuns in Tranquil dwelling points of the congregation every year, and it has appointed people to be in charge of classes of doctrine for Buddhists of the Sect in districts in Ho Chi Minh City It may be seen that the current Dharma propagation activity of the Mendicant Buddhist Sect in Ho Chi Minh City has generally increased very rapidly This result attained thanks to most temples which have been built, repaired, and upgraded to meet religious demand of nuns and Buddhist followers of the Sect The Nuns’ Congregation, until the present time, has been believed by many people in the City with its religious path of nuns, which has showed us that the role of Dharma propagation to citizens is very important and done well from individuals to community For each individual, believers have awared that nuns are people who retreated to leave family life in order to dedicate to religious learning and mending with the purpose of attaining enlightment, redemption and awakening human beings With supports from laypeople, nuns have had more time to religious practice, so these supports are called a true Dharma protection Today, the Dharma protection of laypeople is more diverse, with a variety of different forms, which are from almsgiving, offering food to propagating Dharma, and widely guiding Dharma for every social class The Dharma protection has not only meaned supporters of Dharma, but also meaned protection of the Dharma spreaded every where In collaboration among followers of the Nuns’ Congregation, we also recognize that nuns have obviously awared their role and more tried to propagate Dharma to community Responsibility of nuns is Dharma propagation following the Buddhist teaching based on the rule of cause and effect, and morality Firstly, nuns encourgate male and female followers to take refugee in three jewels, to keep commandments, and to try learning and applying Buddha and the Founder’s teachings, as well as lectures of the Most Venerable Huỳnh Liên, in order to cultivate individual moral, to build a happy family life, and to contribute to social benefits and protection of three Jewels under the laws of Vietnam and the spirit “making worldly life and religious life better” 3.2.2 Receiving Alms and chanting Receiving Alms In all temples of the Nuns’ Congregation of Mendicant Buddhist Sect in Ho Chi Minh City, kitchen facilities were built These facilities are places where Buddhist followers come to cook or carry their foods to offer nuns for lunches Another form, it is that Buddhist followers raise money to ask servicers in temples to cook for nuns, as well as providing nutriens for some old or sick nuns So receiving Alms of most Nuns in Ho Chi Minh City only take place on occasion of large festivals or ceremonial days They will go for receiving Alms on streets around temples, and the 14 program of begging activity will be set up firstly It is a reason why this activity is only a symbolic form to help nuns remembering tradition of receiving Alms from the past So offerings for Alms here are not foods, but are cakes, fruits, etc People pretending nuns to beg for alms in the city have inadvertently made image of nuns/monks worse in the society, and at the same time they have affected more and more almsgiving of Buddhist followers This situation caused the Board of Management of Buddhism in Ho Chi Minh City launched a Dharma message in 1983 in order to solve with illegal mendicant acitivities So it could be said that the beginning period in 80s years of the 20th century was a period of fake mendicant development and it affected the image of monks/nuns in the community However, although this Dharma message launched, it could not attain as much results as the desire of Sangha, the fake mendicant still existed and developed On 25th September 1989, the Executive Board of Buddhism in Ho Chi Minh City launched a resolution to deal with illegal Mendicant problems This resolution intended to set up an Adminisstration board of monks and nuns for helping the Buddhist Sangha of the City directly to direct implementation in the city and districts In addition, the Executive Boards of Buddhism from 17 districts have had specific plans to collaborate with governmental departments to deploy and unite to achieve the highest results The Sangha also proposed the governmental departments to more concern, and to have positive measures as well as to create good conditions to help people, those who pretend to be monks for going on alms illegally, to come back for producing and looking for jobs to become good citizens Monks and nuns of Theravada and Mendicant have not gone on Alms at the beginning of June The Buddhist Sangha of Vietnam had to launch a circular to limit strictly mendicant to protect honour of the Sangha, especially the Sangha of Mendicant Buddhist Sect and the Sangha of Theravada of Vietnam Refering to the Mendicant sect and the Theravada sect, after 1th May 2001, if monks or nuns still want to keep going for alms, they must request the sangha and will have certification and badge from the sangha These monks or nuns must practice the true Dharma, follow rules of mendicant sila, that means they only go on alms from a.m to 10 a.m After 10 a.m, they must return their temples They are only permissed to receive foods, not money They also carry only one bowl, not accepted to take along bags Referring to nuns, when they go on alms, they must go regularly appareled, not go single From these things, it may be obvious that Mendicant is also something which is necessary in religious practice, and the role of Mendicant is important when the role of nuns going on alms in some certain conditions must be practiced really seriously Followers who understand doctrine and disciplines of the Sect must use many different tests to check whether mendicant people are true or fake Number of these followers is not large, but it is enough to make the Congregation more considerable in keeping disciplines of religious practice Chanting Referring to Buddhist followers, role of chanting in religious practice manifests the religious belief, so it is also very important From perspective of participle observation and experience, contents in composed lectures of scriptures under six-eight poems in the Three Jewels Sutra and Chanting Three Jewels Sutra as well as some other sutras used for chanting of followers in every morning in Ngoc Phuong temple and some other temples of the Nuns’ Congregation in Ho Chi Minh City are quite easy to understand However, to help followers remembering and understanding thoroughly contents of sutras may need to repeat many times and explain concretely In terms of general psychology of readers, they only enthuse with scriptures when they can remember and understand what they are reading, so chanting 15 along with explaining are requested for followers of the Congregation every morning, and practice of chanting together is very necessary for the Congregation Refering to a community including followers of the Mendicant Buddhist Sect and the Nuns’ Congregation, communal chanting has well promoted religious functions, for example function of cohension of people in a same religious community that also means cohension of religious crowd Towards the Nuns’ Congregation of Mendicant Buddhist Sect currently, basing on a clear system of doctrines and disciplines, and an independent path of religious practice, mendicant nuns have had a community of followers who may be a highlight and may become a good resource for developing the city in general As a new Nuns’ Congregation of Mendicant Buddhist Sect in the South, which has existed for about 74 years, the Mendicant Buddhist Sect has increased with more than 500 temples and 5,000 monks and nuns over the country It may be considered as an effective model of propagation to the people, which is a typical example for other Buddhist Sects in Vietnam to learn in order to enhance more effectively activities of engagement and management in the context of globalization Thanks to the policy of using chanting with pure Vietnamese style through Vietnamese genre of poetry, the Mendicant Buddhist Sect has developed rapidly in the Southern community However, the chanting rite of monks and nuns of the Mendicant Buddhist Sect has not been unified yet, even having many differences It has partly dropped strength of internal unity of the Mendicant Buddhist Sect 3.2.3 Teaching doctrines, preaching Dharma and gathering for Pravarana Teaching doctrines, preaching Dharma The Most Venerable Huỳnh Liên advocated Vietnamization through translating scriptures into the national language with using syllable form to understand and remember easily Some sutras for chanting daily were translated by the Most Venerable Huỳnh Liên such as Amitabha, Great Fame, Ullambana, Samanta-mukuha, Filial Piety, the Heart of Prajna Paramita, Anatma, Dharmapada, Transforming teaching, Sutra in Forty-Two Sections, Instruction on Emptiness, Quishan’s Admonitions, etc, have been published and reprinted many times The poem of the Most Venerable Huỳnh Liên is very simple and pure, with specific vivid images, so it is easy to penetrate into human minds It is a way that the Most Venerable used to propagate Dharma to people Refering practice of rites and chanting, at the beginning of Dharma, the Most Venerable set up a simple ceremony to make convenient for religious practicers Besides chanting Vietnamese scriptures that translated to poems (often the six-eight poems) by the Most Venerable Huỳnh Liên, when practicing rites and chanting scriptures, this Sect also advocates to only ring bell, but not hitting percussion, drum and trumpet as instruments that it can see in the rites of Buddhist Mahayana It is also a manifestion which creates a feature of the Nuns’ Congregation of Mendicant Buddhist Sect, and makes the Mendicant Buddhist Sect more attractive to every Vietnamese people It is a reason why the Sect has only been formed since 74 years ago, but it has spreaded widely to tens of thousands of monks, nuns and Buddhists over the country Gathering for Pravarana Simplicity in way of preaching should help disciples and Buddhists to understand Dharma and remain purity in methods of religious practice So in a very short time, from establishment of the Sect (1944) to the Founder’s death (1954), and the time of the Most Venerable Huỳn Liên – the founder of the Mendicant Nuns, the Founder and the Most Venerable Nun left a treasure of knowledge for disciplines, and created a firm basis of propagation for many generations who must admire, gratitude, and remember It has been the 16 most outstanding and honorable point as well as a pride of the Mendicant Nuns It has also been a basis which next generations have inherited after the Most Venerable passed away Until now, the Mendicant Buddhism in general and the Mendicant Nuns in particular have confirmed their own position in the Vietnamese Buddhism Buddhist nuns and laypeople of congregations over the country come to join in courses of religious practice On this occasion, besides times for learning Chơn Lý (the truth), practicing meditaion, repentance, etc, they strictly practice a way of life tha follows “four things of the middle path”, refuging in right mindfulness, embracing Alamkaraka, and upgrading religious career 3.2.4 Educational activities With a strategical view, since the time of the Most Venerable Huỳnh Liên, the Nuns’ Congregation invited teachers to train nuns in some subjects such as Literature, Mathematics to encourage every nun enhancing worldly education that would create a background to absorb Buddhist Studies as well as to contribute to making the firm basis of the Buddhist Sangha of Vietnam Statistics of Elder Giác Pháp, the Secretary of the Mendicant Buddhist Sect, until 2012 the Sect had 2185 nuns This number increased very much more than number of nuns in 1975 It was nocticeable that every nun was encouraged to learn both of Buddhist Studies and scientific subjects The Nuns’ Congregation of Mendicant Buddhist Sect has been formed, developed and had contributions to the whole family of the Buddhist Sangha of Vietnam in particularly and to the society in generally The intention of the Mendicant Buddhist Nuns is to encourage, motivate, and create conditions for helping nuns to learn Buddhist knowledge and cultural knowledge in order to have talent nuns with good characteristics Additionally, the Nuns’ Congregation has actively contributed properties and finance to encourage nuns and followers to form and maintain classes of Buddhist Studies, in order to partly contribute to education of the Buddhism and upgrade educational levels for young nuns Until now, many nuns have followed or graduated at universities, schools of Buddhist Studies in the country or overseas with programs such as Ph.D, M.A, bachelor degrees at universities, or certifications at colleges and middle schools of Buddhist Studies Levels of Buddhist Studies and Scientific subjects of Nuns in the Nuns’ Congregation have influenced on religious rites and social activities Because of having a modern secular educational background, phenomenon of superstition has been declined very much Participle observation of the author has showed that superstition activities with economic purpose such as star praying ceremony, catching ghosts, misfortune, etc have not existed in all congregations of the Mendicant Buddhist Nuns The Nuns’ Congregation of Mendicant Buddhist Sect has organized activities systematically, hierachy of teacher-student, older brother – younger brother has been done strictly and respectfully The highest value in the religious relationship is the honesty in communication as well as in the religious practice It may be said that the educational background has also been one of factors for the Nuns’ Congregation of Mendicant Buddhist Sect to focus on how to propagate and keep its religion When owning well educated levels and good knowledge, the Mendicant Buddhist Nuns will have suitable methods of propagation to citizen areas or minority ethnic areas effectively and drastically The educational level of the Nuns’ Congregation of Mendicant Buddhist Sect is an advantage, but if only basing on the educational background and leaving the spirit of service, it is impossible to keep yourself and their religion from fails 17 3.3 Role of the Nuns’ Congregation of Mendicant Buddhist Sect in Ho Chi Minh City towards social activities Social activities of the Nuns’ Congregation of Mendicant Buddhist Sect in Ho Chi Minh City have been very diversity In terms of the thesis, PhD student divided them into two main activities to present in the thesis, which have been: the protection and building of the country, and the social charitable activities The thesis also has analyzed roles of these activities 3.3.1 The protection and building of the Country Some typical nuns have participated into the governmental systems, the Assembly’s delegates, the People’s Council at all level, and the social political organizations Nuns of the Congregation always well the path of the Buddhist Sangha of Vietnam raised from the first period up to now, that has been: “Dharma – Nation – Socialism” Protection and building of the Country of the Nuns’ Congregation of Mendicant Buddhist Sect in Ho Chi Minh City have emerged two typical examples such as the Most Venerable Huynh Lien and the Most Venerable Tin Lien These are two the Most Venerable nuns who have effectively contributed social acitvities of Mendicant Nuns in general and Mendicant Nuns in Ho Chi Minh City in particular 3.3.2 Social charitable activities Highlighting the spirit of obeying Dharma, loving the country, accompanying the Society, co-existing in the Nation, keeping the national independence, serving people as an offer to the Buddhas, raising role of members in the National unity block, and practicing effectively the path of the Sangha “Dharma – Nation – Socialism”, Nuns and Buddhist followers have actively participated into movements that benefit to the country and the people, such as social security, environmental conservation, ecological protection, taking action against climate change, and building new life style in the area of citizens Specially they have actively joined in social charitable activities, eradication of hunger, reduce of poverty, supporting gratitude fund, building charitable houses, supporting people living in remote areas Monks/nuns and Buddhist followers always maintain the guideline, promote the tradition of unity and independence of the nation, update trends of the new time to partly contribute to building the civilized, progress and flourish Vietnamese society It may be said that, even these social charitable activities, besides to share commodations for suffering people, have a main purpose of propagation to expand of influences of the Sect generally and the Nuns’ Congregation of Mendicant Buddhist Sect particularly on the community in Ho Chi Minh City Sub-conclusion Activities of the Nuns’ Congregation of Mendicant Buddhist Sect in Ho Chi Minh City have included two aspects: Religious activities and Social- oriented activities Religious activities of the Congregation of Mendicant Buddhist Nuns in Ho Chi Minh City have been diversity in a variety of fields In terms of the thesis, we only have mentioned some typical actitivities such as: Dharma propagation, Receiving Alms, Chanting, preaching and gathering to practice Pavarana, and educational activity The propagation has been one of the most prominent activities of the Nuns’ Congregation of Mendicant Buddhist Sect in Ho Chi Minh City It has been not only preaching in Dharma Assembly of Nuns’ Congregation under forms of receiving Alms and sharing merits, but also combining chanting activity with the purpose of helping Buddhist followers to stick the true Dharma into their mind 18 Social-oriented activities of the Nuns’ Congregation of Mendicant Buddhist Sect in Ho Chi Minh City have been refered by the thesis through two main fields: protecting, building the country, and social activities The action of protecting and building the country is typical contributions of two the most Venerable Nuns: Huynh Lien and Tin Lien Social chartitable activities of the Nuns’ Congregation have been very diversity, that have contributed to sharing with social heavy burdens, provision of materials for poor people, suffering people in flooded areas and natural disasters, and people in suffering circumstances Chapter 4: TRENDS, RAISED QUESTIONS OF THE NUNS’ CONGREGATION OF MENDICANT BUDDHIST SECT IN HO CHI MINH CITY IN THE CONTEMPORARY PERIOD 4.1 Trends of transformations 4.1.1 Trend of accompanion with the nation After 1975, especially from 1981 to today, the Mendicant Buddhist Sect and other organizations as well as other sects of the Buddhism have been united in the common family of Vietnamese Buddhist Sangha Under the slogan “Dharma – Nation – Socialism”, the Nuns’ Congregation of Mendicant Buddhist Sect in Ho Chi Minh City as well as the Vietnamese Buddhist Sangha has continued to confirm their attachment to and accompanion with the path that the whole nation has chose and followed Recently, most nuns and believers of the Mendicant Buddhist Sect in Ho Chi Minh City have actively joined in social activities which have benefited society and Buddhism The tradition of accompanion with the nation will have been remained and promoted by the Nuns’ Congregation of Mendicant Buddhist Sect in Ho Chi Minh City in the contemporary period and in the next time Firm cooperartion among governmental institutes and social-political organizations from the city’s level to district’s level referring religious affairs in the recent years has helped activities of the Nuns’ Congregation of Mendicant Buddhist Sect in Ho Chi Minh City to follow laws and Buddhist cannon, so that it has reduced conflicts and avoided religious hotspots that could affect security and social order Officers working religious affairs in all level organizations of Ho Chi Minh City often mobilize, visit leaders and nuns of hierarchy in the Nuns’ Congregation of Mendicant Buddhist Sect in Ho Chi Minh City on accassions of great festivals of the Buddhism and the country These activities have created joyness for the Nuns’ Congregation in the local area, and enhanced combination between Buddhism and worldly life In the process of formation and development, the Nuns’ Congregation of Mendicant Buddhist Sect in Ho Chi Minh City have highly united in their will, action, organization, and leading 4.1.2 Trend of modernization and integration The Nuns’ Congregation of Mendicant Buddhist Sect in Ho Chi Minh City is not an exception of this common trend With the website Nigioikhatsi.net and websites relating to the Buddhist Classics, the Truth Sutra, and the Noble of three Jewels Sutra, ect, have been spreaded Lectures have been printed in VCD and DVD widely sold in market, even they have been uploaded on the Internet for download free In the new context, tradition of earthly egagement of the Nuns’Congregation of Mendicant Buddhist Sect in Ho Chi Minh City has continued to remain and promote, it has been expressed through participation into social life of hierachy, monks/nuns and Buddhist followers of the Sect They have been interested in issues of secular society, and have joined much more in social-political organizations in order to confirm position of their own religion 19 Additionally, they also have actively involved with charitable activities, especially with two fields such as education and healthcare Following this trend, the Nuns’ Congregation of Mendicant Buddhist Sect has become closer to the community of nation, and has consolidated the unity block of whole people 4.1.3 Trend of becoming a social resource Resource of religions often includes two types: spiritual resource is something that is cultural and moral values of religions, and material resource is something that is social capital In the period of renovation of country, we have recognized and promoted positive moral and cultural values of religions It is seen that culture and moral in doctrines of the Nuns’ Congregation of Mendicant Buddhist Sect in Ho Chi Minh City always highlight the value of family – that is considered as a cell of the society About the material rescource, in past years the Nuns’ Congregation of Mendicant Buddhist Sect in Ho Chi Minh City has actively participated into mobilization activities, patriotic movements in local areas where temples of the congregation are located These activities’ purpose is to contribute human resource and financial resource along with the whole people in the country to improve life of citizens and appearance of the city, as well as to ensure order and security in the city The temples always encourage believers to join actively in movements such as building a new life of local people, making both of life and religion better, and building local resident area without social evils 4.2 Raised questions 4.2.1 Raised questions for religious activities Firstly, activities of the Central committee of Nuns and the City’s committee of Nuns have more increased to focus on enhancing awareness of Dharma and social participation However, they are only suferficial and mainly happening in the community of Mahayana’s nuns The special issue of Hoa Đàm (the voice of Vietnamese Buddhist Nuns) only has introduced a large number of activities of Mahayana’s Nuns, rarely has reflected situation of Mendicant Buddhist Nuns A deep reason may be that is absence of connection between two sects although they have highlighted unity in every aspect There has not had any member in the edition committee of the special issue from the Mendicant Buddhist Sect, even in scientific conferences nobody from mendicant nuns has participated because lacking of invitation letters Secondly, the Nuns’ Congregation at Ngoc Phuong Vihara, although it is an independent group with Monks’ Sangha of the Mendicant Buddhist Sect, has been connecting with the Sangha However in the new context, the Nuns’ Congregation at Ngoc Phuong Vihara should enhance common activities of the Sect to create the spirit of unity in the internal community of the Mendicant Buddhist Sect Thirdly, to develop the Congregation should encourage nuns here to write books, join in educational activities with the purpose of spreading knowledge and value of the Congregation into followers and community The Congregation of Nun should also consider more about activities that express characteristics of Mendicant Nuns Fourthly, currently followers of Mendicant Nuns are diversity of social classes, so that to develop activities of the Congregation of Mendicant Nuns more strongly and rapidly Mendicant nuns should pay attention to organization of retreat classes that are not only classical cases but also can attract many social classes Fifthly, the Congregation of Nuns needs to increase better communication between teachers and students to make every Buddhist work more effective It also should improve 20 connection between secretaries of the congregation and temples of the congregation to ensure Buddhist works of each temple following the guideline of the Congregation as well as of the Sect At the same time it is necessary to enhance communication between secretaries of the Sect and the hierarchy of the Sect and of the Sangha as well as enhance firm connection between activities of each congregation with of the Sect and of the Sangha In addition it should enhance communication among committees of the Sect to support to each other in the process of religious practice Sixthly, for nuns, the matter of observing the precepts in religious life is considered as one of the central tasks that need to be further concerned Enhancing the spirit of selfdiscipline in the religious practice of nuns is something that requires a long and hard training process To reach this, besides having education through Buddhist classes and secular schools, the self-awareness and self-discipline of nuns are very important Every deed only aims to make nuns of the Sect self-cultivate, self-enlightened and they can keep precepts, train themselves to become a modest, honest, optimistic nun of the Buddha Sevently, in terms of educational activities, it needs to consider and manage young nuns who are accepted to learn in Buddhist schools (middle Buddhist Schools, Buddhist colleges, Buddhist academies, studying abroad, or going to universities) In every time, young monks and nuns have been people who need attention from the Most Venerable Nuns, Congregations, the Sect and the Sangha to ensure that they will keep going to follow a moral life in the educational process at domestic schools, specially at oversea schools It is necessary that young nuns must engage more in Buddhist works of the Sect Currently, nuns of the Sect in particular and of the Sangha in general need to have very much contribution of talented and enthusiastic young nuns 4.2.2 Raised issues of social activities of the Nuns’ Congregation of Mendicant Buddhist Sect Firstly, social-oriented activities and social services of the Nuns’ Congregation of Mendicant Buddhist Sect have been looking forwards to meet social demands Today the Nuns’ Congregation of Mendicant Buddhist Sect can open extra activities relating the educational field similar to other religions’ action It is typically that the model of opening primary schools of the Catholicism This is a social-oriented activity that has been effective and has been highlighted in Ho Chi Minh City and some the Southern provinces nowadays It also has created an enormous economic potential As schools, specifically primary schools, are opened, if nuns have not yet involved teaching directly, they can be in charge of direction and take responsibility for their activities Secondly, it may be needed to give educational programs about history and culture of the Mendicant Buddhist Sect to extracurricular programs of schools at levels from high schools to intermediate schools, colleges and universities, because this sect is one of religious branches derived from the Buddhism of Vietnam Thirdly, the Sate and the Fatherland Front shoul cooperate, guide and support for the Buddhist Sangha of Vietnam to open many classes for propagation, conferences on the Mendicant Buddhism for Monks and Nuns Additionally, the Nuns’ Congregation of Mendicant Buddhist Sect in Ho Chi Minh City needs to enhance control and direction of Buddhist doctrinal propagation in vihara on occassion of big festivals in order to avoid action of taking advantages of propagtion to spread thoughts opposing policies of the Party and laws of the State on religious affairs Fourthly, the State should have more specific legal rules on religious activities 21 Everyone violating law must be punished strictly Leaders of temples should register and and send reports to Buddhist followers and local people about a list of nuns who are practicing religious life in these temples Buddhist followers and people may recognize, alert with phenomenon of fake monks and nuns to something not following to the purpose of the Mendicant Buddhist Sect Nuns, who have been taken responsibility for working with Buddhist followers and people, must have a paper of authorization from the Most Venerable Nuns or legal Buddhist organizations Fifthly, Mendicant Buddhist Nuns in Ho Chi Minh City need to cooperate with governments at all level, social congregations and other organizations inside and outside the city, even with oversea organizations to organize and make social charitable activities, social security more effective and spreading in Buddhist and people However, it is also seen that the work of summary should be more considered to evaluate attained results and limitations of social charitable activities of the Congregation in Ho Chi Minh City in past years Towards activities not following the purpose of charity must be alerted immediately and controlled by laws if it is neccessary Sixthly, visible cultural values and invisible cultural values of the Mendicant Buddhist Sect and the Nuns’ Congregation of the Mendicant Buddhist Sect in Ho Chi Minh City nowadays are very diversity Combination between Buddhist cultural heritage and cuisine in areas surrounding the city will create a special advantage for tourism industry of Ho Chi Minh City More than that the Mendicant Buddhist Sect has owned some beautiful and classical architectures such as the Minh Dang Quang temple Seventhly, in terms of social activities of the Mendicant Nuns’ Congregation in Ho Chi Minh City, it should have suitable measures for helping temples to social charitable activities following the laws and rules of the Mendicant Buddhist Sect To have trust of the people needs to make charitable activities transparent, so that it can persuade participants In addition, it should be considered to invest in preservation of cultural and architecture heritages Seventhly, in terms of social activities of the Nuns’ Congregation of Mendicant Buddhist Sect in Ho Chi Minh City, it is neccessary to have a appropriate form to assist temples for organizing chartitable activities in accordance with both of the State’s laws and rules of the Sect Only making trust of people through transparency and merit of “charity boxes”, “charity bells” can persuade people to join in chartitable activities In addition, it should notice and invest appropriately on conversation of cultural heritage and architecture facilities The renovation and restoration of pagodas are carried according to requirements of the new time, but it is neccessary to maintain traditional culture and meet needs of belief for the community in the City Eightly, the strong restoration and development of the Nuns’ Congregation of Mendicant Buddhist Sect in Ho Chi Minh City partly has relied on supports of all social classes of people and the State It has been an advantage that not all religions and sects also has had in Vietnam at the present time However, the Mendicant Buddhist Nuns’ Congregation in Ho Chi Minh City should be more cautious when it supports followers in social charitable activities to avoid the risk of distorting the image of true Buddhist Sangha 4.2.3 Raised questions for management of the government towards the Nuns’ Congregation of Mendicant Buddhist Sect Firstly, every level of governments in Ho Chi Minh City should have a variety of methods to manage and develop religions for being suitable with the specific characteristic 22 of history of the city, and following religious policies of the Party and the State to ensure the right to freedom of religion and belief of people, as well as for helping every citizen to understand and practice rightly laws of religious or belief freedom of themselve In addition, beliefs and religions of citizens of Ho Chi Minh City not only has had the Buddhism but also has had other religious organizations that have existed along with many types of indigenous beliefs such ancestor worship, cult of gods, etc Secondly, propagating and encouraging Buddhist followers and people together to oppose behaviours of taking advantages of the Buddhism for superstition actitivies In orther the participation of Buddhist followers and people become more effective, it is neccessary to have supports from nun leaders of temples, congregations and communication means to help the people understanding clearly the true spirit of savation of Buddhism and the action against superstition of Buddha himself Thirdly, the State has had legal rules on religious activities Basing on these rules, every one commit the law must be punished strictly Temples (Vihara) of the Mendicant Buddhist Sect must register and send reports to Buddhist followers and local people about a list of nuns who are practicing religious life in these temples Fourthly, in the urban and suburban areas of Ho Chi Minh City, it is clearly that the management work of citizens needs to be more considerable Because in the process of renovating economic structure, globalization and internation integration, there have been not less opposed forces from oversea who came back to become Vietnamese citizens with purpose of propagation against the revolution and breaking the national and religious unity block Sub-conclusion of chapter The Nuns’ Congregation of the Mendicant Buddhist Sect in Ho Chi Minh City has preserved methods of religious practice and maintaining discipline – meditation – wisdom Using Vietnamese language to ceremonies of rites, sciptures and chanting not only has expressed the nationalization but also has made propagation, saviour and scriptures in prose easier to remember In the new context of the Mendicant Buddhist Sect, it is neccessary to have a unity between the Nuns’ Congregation of the Sect and the other nuns’ congregations relying on Monks’ congregations to be more convenient for religious practice and maintaining Dharma The Nuns’ Congregation of the Mendicant Buddhist Sect in Ho Chi Minh City should continue participating actively in social-oriented activities more and more to improve position of the Sect’s nuns generally The Buddhist Sangha in general and the Mendicant Buddhist Sect in particular should consider to creat available conditions for nuns who has wanted to continue promoting their roles in both of religious activities and social activities CONCLUSION 1- Propagation and development in Vietnam, Buddhism has been integrating with Vietnamese culture and popular beliefs to become Vietnamese Buddhism In the Vietnamese Buddhism, there is a mixture of Mahayana and Theravada Buddhist sects Additionally, there has been a Buddhism of Hoa people in Vietnam Region of the South was explored by Vietnamese people in the Nguyen Lord period In this place, a Buddhist community was formed since a long time ago Along with the renewal Buddhist movement, a variety of Buddhist organizations were born, including the Mendicant Buddhist Sect This sect was formed to meet practical needs of 23 people in the South The founder of the Mendicant Buddhist Sect was Minh Dang Quang (1923-1954) 2- The Mendicant Buddhist Sect is a Buddhist sect that has had an independent transmission and formed in Vietnam, specifically in the South, and it was established by a Vietnamese monk namely Minh Dang Quang So that this sect also has had some basic features of Vietnamese Buddhism, although it has had a characteristics of independent transmission Inheriting previous research results, the thesis has argued that the independent transmission or the characteristic of the Mendicant Buddhist Sect is its own principle which was pointed out by the Founder Minh Dang Quang It is: “Following Buddha – practicing true Dharma – the Vietnamese Mendicant Buddhism” After the Nuns’ Congregation of the Mendicant Buddhist Sect of Vietnam was established, it has selected Ngoc Phuong temple as a “Patriarchs’ Hall” that has created the largest characteristic of the Nuns’ Congregation of the Mendicant Buddhist Sect in Ho Chi Minh City For a long period of development, Ngoc Phuong temple has been always playing a central organization of the Mendicant Buddhist Nuns 3- Activities of the Nuns’ Congregation of Mendicant Buddhist Sect in Ho Chi Minh City have been divided into two main types of activities: religious activities and social activities The social activities have been mentioned in two key aspects: protecting, bulding the country and social charitable activities The Nuns’ Congregation of Mendicant Buddhist Sect in Ho Chi Minh City had lots of supports the Revolution to liberate the South and unite the County Since becoming a member of the Buddhist Sangha of Vietnam, the Nuns’ Congregation of Mendicant Buddhist Sect in Ho Chi Minh City has had more and more conditions to participate in protecting and buildi ng the country, and social charitable activities The Most Venerable Huynh Lien and the Most Venerable Tin Lien are two typical examples for these activities Because of these contributions, the Nuns’ Congregation of Mendicant Buddhist Sangha in Ho Chi Minh City has taken a much more important role towards the Dharma and the people as well as has done very well the way of Buddhist Sangha of Vietnam: Dharma – Nation – Socialism – Influences of the Nuns’ Congregation of Mendicant Buddhist Sect on people in Ho Chi Minh City in the contemporary period have been manifested in some aspects such as viewpoint of living, lifestyle, behavior, communication, customs, etc Mendicant Buddhist Nuns have been an important element to create a resource of intelligence and human resource for Buddhism in Ho Chi Minh City nowadays, and they have partly made the Buddhism into a firm foundation for various classes of people It is a reason why the local government and the Nuns’ Congregation of Mendicant Buddhist Nuns in Ho Chi Minh City should encourage furtherly followers and believers of the Sect to participate in social charitable activities, then to create a general power for doing successfully the economic-social development strategy of Ho Chi Minh City 24 ... ordaining will have steps which are a period of probation for sadini, a period of sadini, a period of probation for Bhikkhuni, and a period of Bhikkhuni respectively The ordaining (sadini probation,... venerable nun, venerable nun and bhikkhuni In the ordaining (sadini probation, sadini, bhikkhuni probation, bhikkhuni), every one will be nuns, and place for ordaining will often be Ngoc Phuong temple... sadini, a period of sadini, a period of probation for Bhikkhuni, and a period of Bhikkhuni On religious name: when nuns receive full commands of Sangha to become a Bhikkhuni, each Bhikkhuni will