Protest against Ill-intentioned Literature

The official daily Saigon Giai Phong (Saigon Liberated), on October 30, 1994, reported that a leader of the State-sponsored Buddhist Church of Vietnam, the Venerable Thich Tri Quang, informed of the People's Council of Ho Chi Minh City the ill-intention of the propaganda machinery of the State, particularly expressing indignation over the publication of the  “Thay Duong Tang (Monk Tang) by Truong Quoc Dung. The story is an inspiration from the Chinese ancient fiction “Pilgrimage to the West” (Si-yeou Ki). The story was published in a collection of works of fiction. The author received the first place prize-award by the Association of Writers. However, judged from the interpretations and use twists of words of the writer, the book  appeared to the Church an ill-intentioned literature, an insult with blasphemy to Buddhism with regard to religious convictions.

The letter specifically blamed the book for being bereaved, cartooning the personality of the venerable monk of the sixth century Huyen Trang (Hiuan Tsang (595-664), who is venerated by Chinese and Vietnamese Buddhism. It accused the author of having seriously deformed reality. The book portrayed Buddha as a person who kept aloof from humanity and was wanting in affection and adoration. Worse still, “nirvana” is described as hell peopled by devils. The Venerable Thich Tri Quang, in particular, requested the authorities to exclude the story from the collection and to forbid any ulterior publication of the story.

 The Normalization of Buddhist Churches

       Strict Measures

Although being a State-created organization, the Buddhist Church of Vietnam remained under suspicion of the authorities. During the annual congress of November 22-23, 1997 in Hanoi, the Church’s objectives were carefully scrutinized. The leadership was readjusted, and a new 5-year program of actions was adopted to carry out the State’s new policy. A report sent to France by the Association for the Protection of the Dharma said that this congress probed into a series of in-depth inquiries as far as religious activities were concerned. Criticisms from the administration particularly focused on directional deviations from State policy of various congregations, associations, and religious groups operating alongside the Sangha. The atmosphere was suffocating. Before the congress, the police launched raids to intimidate in the monks in residence at pagodas and residences of condregation leaders and prominent lay hermits “cu si, and ” ardent members of the Buddhist Family and the Buddhist Scouts Associations. They were all suspected of having refused to pledge allegiance with the State Bureau of Religious Affairs and  furtively worked in alliance with the Vietnam Unified Buddhist  Church against the State-created Buddhist Church of Vietnam. They were still loyal to and sided with the Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam.

    

The report from the Shanga and believers of independent Buddhist organizations, on the other side, blamed the Buddhist Church of Vietnam for having failed to comply with the basic tenets of Buddhism, deviating from the lines of organization of Buddhism adopted by the constitution of the Buddhist Church of Vietnam in 1981, It dissolved under State pressure the congregationtion “cu si.” Signatoties to the report claimed that “the Buddhist Church is collerationvely diversified and universally unified, embracing diverse Buddhist sects of Vietnam, Buddhist congregations or communities, including the “cu si” -- individuals practicing a religious life at home. For years, the latter component served as a pillar consolidating the religious life. It played no role in the religious performances, and, consequently, they had no a place in the direction of the religious life of the Church. Nevertheless it contributed to the obsevace of Buddhist tenets and  preservation of national cultural values. The elimination of the congregation of “cu si” along with the disintegration of the Buddhist Family truly decimated the backbone of the Buddhist Church, making it “a chair with only two legs.”

The scheme for eliminating the congregation “cu si,” in reality, was not accidental. It was carried out subsequent to a preconceived plan as unveiled in 1995 by a memoir by a high-ranking cadre, Do Trung Hieu. The scheme, in fact, considers transforming the Buddhist Church of Vietnam into an instrument in the hands of the State, forging it into a sattelite organization revolving within the orbit of the Fatherland Front. Religious services and activities of this State-created organization are restricted  just to recitals of “sultras” or saying prayers. The congregation of “su si,” it is noted, developed into a movement after resilent efforts of most fervent Buddhists, most of whom were veteran officials and scholars who cherished self cultivation of religios virtues in the light of Buddhist tenets following the rise of restoration and renovation of Buddhism in largest cities under the control of the Bao Dai government, beginning in in the 1950’s.

     The Formation of Monks

As early as 1990, approximately 80 percent of pagodas throughout the country were coercively placed under the control of the administration. They were incorporated in the Fatherland Front and supervised by the State Office of Religious Affairs. The authority over religious education, especially the formation of monks, which normally rests with the Church, resided with the cadres, State-affiliated monks, or lay teams working at  religious affairs offices at all levels. The Party became the decision-maker in all matters, from personnel administratio to formation of  monks. The main purpose was to create a new contigent of clergy  that would replace the old clerical body, especially those monks suspected as allies to the Vietnam Unified Buddhist Church. It was not an easy task, however.  It was not until June 25, 1997 that a new institute for formation of monks at the university level was open in Hue, Central Vietnam. The institution was officially called “Higher School of Buddhist Studies.”  Student monks were trained in the Marxist-Lenininist oxthodoxy, This was the third educational institution of this type created in Vietnam with the authorization of the Communist administration. The first one was established in Hanoi in 1981, immediately after the holding of the congress which, under the sponsorship of the State, integrated seven sects of Buddhism into a unique Buddhist organization called the Buddhist Church of Vietnam. Another institute began to function in Saigon in 1985. They were all State-sponsored institutions and operated under the administration of the State. Candidates to the priesthood must meet such requirements as a good social political background and approval from the local authorities. Priority is given to members of the “revolutionary family” category. The term of study at the institution is limited to 4 years.

The curricula focused on thetask of the clergy in the socialist society. The study of Marxism-Leninism was  mandatory.

The normalization of the Buddhist Churches achieved great success. On June 2, 1998, being asked about religious tolerance in Vietnam, the spokesman of the Foreign Affairs Ministry declared that there existd one hundred thousand (1000,000) pagodas, thirty thousand (930,000) Buddhist monks and ten training schools for monks throughout the country. Ten schools for Buddhist studies would provide enough bonzes for a hundred thousand pagodas in the country. Nevertheless. To most observers, deficiencies in the expertise of the teaching staffsin and the career profession in management of the administrative staffs were self-evident, Additionally, availability for religious education facilities was limited . All expenditures were dependent on the State for support, which condition created more conditions for the State to  proceed with  programs of normalization of the Buddhist Churches as planned .

      Criticisms

The independent Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam, over the years, had voiced criticsms against the dogmatic directional principles and the ill-conceived objectives of educational programs of the MarxistLeninist type of religious formation of the administration. In November 1994, the Sangha of Thua Thien- Hue protested against the leaders of the Buddhist Church of Vietnam for dogmatic training at Higher Schools of Buddhist Studies. A Buddhist bulletin published in Hue on November 14, 1994 criticized the admistrative system for poor quality of religious education.. These institutions were only provided with unqualified administrative staffs and  teaching staffs without competence. 

In a document published on August 15, 1997, the Venerable Thich Thien Khai, in the name of the monastic Association for the Protection of the Dharma, accused the Communist administration of disrespect to cultural values of Vietnamese Buddhism, in particular by forbidding the Buddhist clergy and the laity to receive traditional religious education and live to the legitimate Buddhist norms and ways of life. The document said that, for many years,  “the  people have lost the right to religious education and  the Buddhist clergy and laity do not have the liberty to study the Dharma and to observe the cultural religious traditions of Buddhism. Neither do they have chance to develop faith spiritually and culturaally.  Religious education at university level was inadequate and inferior to that before 1975, Buddhism had had the Van Hanh University in Saigon with five thousand students, twenty-five institutes of Buddhist Studies, two hundred secondary schools with one hundred thousand (100,000) students, and two thousand primary schools with hundres of thousand students. Van Hanh University was well-known worldwide with highly respected teaching staffs and professional administrative staffs. The contribution to national education of the university was phenomenal and was undeniablya great success as a religious institution.