Buddhism Schools In Viet Nam

Buddhism has developed many Schools after the Buddha came to Nirvana. 

The Pure Land School is to chant the name of Buddha Amitabha so that its believers could go to the Western Paradise after they died. Zen School is to practice meditation to get free from the samsara. 

Tantric sect is to chant mantras to get supernatural powers. 

Bodhi-virtue sect is to practice to save and help people release themselves from the samsara. The goal of Buddhism doesn’t encourage humans to enjoy life, but encourages people to practice so as to go to Nirvana. This is the Truth of Buddhism. Practitioners who attain Enlightenment have the ability to bring people happiness and guide them to attaining Enlightenment, too. Supposing that we practice the Pure Land to go to the Western Paradise, while others practice meditation to go to Nirvana; we should never criticize them. What we should do is to investigate ourselves to see if we make any mistakes. Thus, we can keep our mind modest and become right people. Because people hardly accept their mistakes, practice modesty is the important lesson for our practitioners. This is the hardest struggle of us.

When we apply the first method of practice to know clearly right from wrong, we will never get lost. It’s the basic practice for the three virtues of paying deep honour to the Buddha, giving compassion and love to all beings, and being modest.

After practicing the three virtues, we can open our mind to accept other’s ideas, and realize our mistakes. We don’t attach to our idea too much. Truthfully, only our Buddha understood all things in the universe, nobody else can do that. Even our master from whom we respectfully take refuges can’t reach all the law in the Heaven and Earth. That’s why we should always consider carefully our knowledge as well as other’s. There are four basic examples for us to think out.

– We understand something, others misunderstand that.

– We understand something, others understand that better.

– We misunderstand something, others understand that.

– We misunderstand something, others misunderstand that even worse.

From now on, every time we meet anyone who has different understanding of Dharma from we do, we should not think they’re wrong, but we should test the knowledge based on these above examples, so that our arrogance can be never arisen.

Usually, people believe in their religions and doctrines that they worship; therefore, fighting for faith is unavoidable. Every religion has its own doctrine, and its believers base on their doctrine to differentiate between right and wrong. On the contrary, science always evaluates the experimented results to see whether they’re right or wrong, and human beings accept their experimented results. People, no matter which religion they are, can’t deny the experimented results of science. Relatively, science is still better than religions, because scientists always evaluate and base on their experiments, while religions have lack of proof and experiment. The progress of science is really remarkable.

The Law of Causality is a basic faith in Buddhism, but it has been spreading from this life to another life. If a person has practiced Buddhism for a while and then he/she can get a good result, then people can prove it. However, if people have practiced all their life and they have to wait for their good results in next life, then nobody can prove it. Or people have practiced meditation and gone deep into concentration, then they are awakened. Later they teach meditation to their disciples, but the disciples can’t get a good result. Thus, people can find it hard to evaluate clearly their way of practice if it’s right or wrong.

Why is it hard to distinguish a result between right and wrong?

We can only suppose that the way of practice is suitable for that master, not for his disciples, since he has it’s natural ability. It’s suitable. It can be differentiated right from wrong. Practice requires a suitably natural ability. We can see that the master can get the good result while his disciples can’t. It’s because this way of practice is not suitable for their natural ability, even they practice exactly the way of their master. This is a matter about which our practitioners need to be careful. 

How we can differentiate between right and wrong?

That’s why we must study the meaning of the Right in the Eight-Fold Path.

What is true? What is false? What is right? What is wrong?

We are facing obstacles on evaluation. We don’t know what we can base on to evaluate things, because all of them are depended on many conditions, while any result has no immediate test as soon as scientists do. However, we still have some points that are accepted by people and that are risen from the most basically true form.

First, this is compassion and love for all beings, from all humans to all tiny insects. The wider our compassion and love are spreading, the more our minds and our thinking are right.

The Buddha taught people to unlimitedly love beings, and we are His disciples; we are lucky to have a good chance to come closer to the Truth.

Second, this is equality. Equality is the truth, the right that all human beings must admit. If there is no equality, societies will be chaotic. For theocratic religions, people believe in the equality of the God who has an equal reward or punish. For Buddhism, the Law of Causality is the equality. The Law of Causality is the natural principle of the universe.

Theocratic religions and Buddhism and all societies have to admit the common truth that is equality. So, the second point that can find out the right is equality.

Third, this is seeking happiness.

A true leader of a country always cares for his people’s happiness. All theocratic religions seek for people’s happiness, guide people to live in heaven. The goal of Buddhism is going to Nirvana.

Thus, we can talk in brief of the three points from which people can relatively evaluate right and wrong, true and false when they practice their doctrines.

The first is compassion and love.

The second is the equality.

The third is the goal of happiness.

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