Trúc Lâm Yên Tử (竹林安子), or simply Trúc Lâm ("Bamboo Grove"), is a Vietnamese

Thiền Thiền Buddhism (, , ) is the name for the Vietnamese school of Zen Buddhism. Thiền is the Sino-Vietnamese pronunciation of the Middle Chinese word 禪 (''chán''), an abbreviation of 禪那 (''chánnà''; thiền na), which is a transliter ...

(i.e.

Zen Zen (; from Chinese: ''Chán''; in Korean: ''Sŏn'', and Vietnamese: ''Thiền'') is a Mahayana Buddhist tradition that developed in China during the Tang dynasty by blending Indian Mahayana Buddhism, particularly Yogacara and Madhyamaka phil ...

) sect. The school was founded by Emperor

Trần Nhân Tông Trần Nhân Tông (7 December 1258–16 December 1308), Vietnamese name, personal name Trần Khâm, temple name Nhân Tông, was the third emperor of the Trần dynasty, reigning over Đại Việt from 1278 to 1293. After ceding the thron ...

(1258–1308) showing influence from

Confucian Confucianism, also known as Ruism or Ru classicism, is a system of thought and behavior originating in ancient China, and is variously described as a tradition, philosophy, religion, theory of government, or way of life. Founded by Confucius ...

and

Taoist Taoism or Daoism (, ) is a diverse philosophical and religious tradition indigenous to China, emphasizing harmony with the Tao ( zh, p=dào, w=tao4). With a range of meaning in Chinese philosophy, translations of Tao include 'way', 'road', ...

philosophy. Trúc Lâm's prestige later waned as Confucianism became dominant in the later imperial court. A revival was attempted by later adherents including

Ngô Thì Nhậm Ngô Thì Nhậm or Ngô Thời Nhiệm ( vi-hantu, 吳時任, 1746–1803) was an important Vietnamese scholar and official who served several regimes during the turbulent last decades of the eighteenth century. He had served as an official for t ...

(1746–1803) during the

Tây Sơn dynasty The Tây Sơn dynasty (; , (chữ Hán: 朝西山; Chữ Nôm: 茹西山), officially Đại Việt (Chữ Hán: 大越), was an imperial dynasty of Vietnam. It originated in a revolt led by three peasant brothers with the surname Nguyễn, r ...

. Nhậm attempted to harmonize the "

Three teachings In Chinese philosophy, the ''three teachings'' (; , Chữ Hán: 三教) are Confucianism, Taoism, and Buddhism. The learning and the understanding of the three teachings are traditionally considered to be a harmonious aggregate within Chinese ...

" of Buddhism, Confucianism and Taoism. In modern times, Thiền sư Venerable

Thích Thanh Từ Thích Thanh Từ (right) with Pratibha Patil. Thích Thanh Từ (born 24 July 1924) is a Vietnamese Thiền Buddhist monk. He has been influential with increasing traditional Vietnamese Buddhism practices within the country. Biography Thích ...

has revived the Trúc Lâm Zen lineage by combining the teachings of the three early Patriarchs of the tradition:

, Pháp Loa, and Huyền Quang. His efforts are brought forth from the principles of three Patriarchs whom he believes have minimal amounts of transition from traditional Chinese Buddhism. Thích Thanh Từ claims to be re-establishing the Trúc Lâm traditions but in his own way has modified it from its original ways. According to Thích Thanh Từ's own writings, he drew on various meditation sources in developing the new Trúc Lâm meditation method, including Lục Diệu Pháp Môn (C. Liumiao famen 六妙法門, Six Dharma Gates to the Sublime) by

Zhiyi Zhiyi (; 538–597 CE) also called Dashi Tiantai (天台大師) and Zhizhe (智者, "Wise One"), was a Chinese Bhikkhu, Buddhist monk, Buddhist philosophy, philosopher, meditation teacher, and Exegesis, exegete. He is considered to be the foun ...

(538–597), the classic Ngũ Đình Tâm Quán (The Five Methods of Calming Meditation) found in the Zuochan sanmei jing (坐禪三昧經) of

Kumārajīva Kumārajīva (Sanskrit: कुमारजीव; , 344–413 CE) was a bhikkhu, Buddhist monk, scholar, missionary and translator from Kucha (present-day Aksu City, Aksu Prefecture, Xinjiang, China). Kumārajīva is seen as one of the great ...

and the Tham Thiền Yếu Chỉ (Main Discourse on Meditation) of master Xuyun (1840–1959) which focuses on huatou (thoại đầu) practice. Thích Thanh Từ reputation eventually grew and he became the most widely respected Vietnamese master in contemporary Vietnamese

Buddhism.Philip Taylor, ''Modernity and Re-enchantment: Religion in Post-revolutionary Vietnam'' (Maryland, USA, 2008), p.363 Thích Thanh Từ's influence has also reached the West and some of his works have been translated.

Gallery

File:Chùa Đồng, Yên Tử.jpg, Chùa Đồng (Bronze Temple) on Yên Tử Mountain File:TrucLam DiAn.JPG, Monks of the Trúc Lâm school of Buddhism of Tây Thiên Zen Monastery are on their way to the refectory

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Truc Lam * Schools of Buddhism founded in Vietnam