Place of Buddhist Education earliest and in present day in Vietnam

Running Head : Buddhist Education

Place Of Buddhist Education Earliest and In Present Day in Vietnam (Name of Writer (Name of Institution

Place Of Buddhist Education Earliest and In Present Day in Vietnam

INTRODUCTION

Buddhism has been present in Vietnam for almost two thousand years Buddhism is an offshoot of Hinduism . It originated in Nepal in 530 B .C A Hindu price , Gautama who did not like the idea of Hindu caste system was the founder of Buddhism . Gautama did not believe that any man could be superior to the other and as

Hinduism Brahmans are considered superior , he left this religion

Gautama had spent many years wandering and meditating . In the end he found answers to all his questions and hence found the path of enlightenment , nirvana . According to Buddhism , nirvana is the path to endless serenity . It is free from the cycle of birth , death and rebirth . Moreover , a person will achieve salvation if he believes in the four noble truths . These four noble truths are that a man suffers in all his consecutive lives the reason for his sufferings is his wants for earthly things , when the person frees himself from all the wants of earthly things he then achieves deliverance . The last noble truth says that a person can achieve deliverance by following the eightfold noble path

BUDDHIST SCHOOLS

Buddhism spread in Vietnam through China in second century A .D . In third and sixth century it came from India . Buddhism came through Vietnam 's Red River Delta region and Mekong Delta area . Mahayana Buddhism came from China and became more famous than Theravada (or Hinayana ) Buddhism Theravada Buddhism came from India and was accepted by people in the Southern delta region . Both of these have different views about Gautama Buddha . According to Mahayana Buddhism , Buddha was one of many enlightened people . They also believe that out of all these people Buddha was the divine one . Theravada Buddhism believes that Buddha was the only enlightened one and that there was no other than him . However they think that Buddha cannot be called as the divine one . The Mahayana school also believes that any person can achieve nirvana and that who ever follows the right path will be able to reach nirvana but Theravada school says that only monks and nuns can attain nirvana . These two schools of Buddhism are actually different interpretations of one basic belief . These are the earliest schools in Vietnam

Why did Mahayana become more accepted ? It is because the Mahayana ritual and imagery attracted the Vietnamese . Its ceremonies were in conformity with original Vietnamese beliefs and rituals . This school of Buddhism also combined folklore with Taoist teachings . The enlightened ones in Buddhism were respected as animist spirits . In 7th century C .E , Mahayana school became a little more developed . It was then called Vajrayana This had an influence of Hinduism also but had similar teachings as of Mahayana

The aim of Vajrayana is the same as that in Mahayana , that is to attain Buddhahood...