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SÁCH AMAZON


Mua bản sách in

I was fortunate to know Tue Sy and Le Manh That when they were very young and under twenty years old. Now they are 45 years old (both born in 1943).

When I knew them, they were still novice monks at the temple; now they have become two outstanding Zen masters and also National Heroes of modern Vietnamese History. Why is it called “National Hero”? It is very easy to see (the most specific is the death sentence for the crime of “counter-revolution and armed violence to overthrow the regime”, etc.).

But why is Le Manh That and Tue Sy called “the two most outstanding, intelligent, learned, and purest Zen masters” of Vietnam today? “Zen masters”? Just the title “Zen master” is already tiring, and then add some vague words like “most outstanding, intelligent…”? I want to talk about Tue Sy and Le Manh That with all caution and thoughtfulness, and I take full responsibility for my unusual view of the two.

Why “Zen masters”? And what is a “Zen master”? There is no need to answer these unusual questions directly. Here, I just want to emphasize a few indirect things and whoever wants to understand something can understand it. No one can receive enough religious and spiritual authority to definitively answer the above unusual questions. Only those who have spent their entire lives quietly living and dying with the so-called “Bodhicitta” or “Awakening the Bodhicitta” may be able to directly perceive somewhere the spirit and the magical power of “rebellious Zen”.

The words “Zen master” have been abused by people to ridiculously posthumously award themselves or posthumously award others with shallow complacency, especially since Zen or Zen became a degenerate intellectual fad. Anyone who appears to be a little “unusual and arrogant” and has a little “contrary to the world and the way of life” has labeled themselves or been labeled “Zen masters”.

Le Manh That and Tue Sy never claimed to be “Zen masters” and never thought of themselves as anything on this earth. These two people are just naturally polite and humble people and never pretend to “lower themselves” with the hidden intention of trampling on others.

Only by living next to Tue Sy and Le Manh That day after day, in different circumstances, can one possibly feel a bit of the discreet Zen style that naturally and “uselessly” emanates from their daily lives and their “miraculously absorbed” spirit. I would like to call these two “Zen masters” with all due consideration and with all the noble and “realistic” meaning of a title that “reaches the heavens”…

In the midst of the constant flood and earthquake of life, destiny, and the fate of the homeland, one morning or another, I was pushed to dive with Tue Sy and Le Manh That; All three of us brothers came from the Central Buddhist Institute, where our father was Venerable Tri Thu (who was immediately eliminated by the Hanoi Communists after Tue Sy and Le Manh That were arrested on April 1, 1984, for “the crime of approving, supporting, sheltering, and protecting counter-revolutionary actions, overthrowing the Communist regime”).

For me, from time to time, Tue Sy and Le Manh That have been like and more than “blood brothers” (holding the position of “senior” is only truly “brother” when you have enough strength and insight to push your younger brothers to go beyond you, and the reality today is that Tue Sy and Le Manh That have far surpassed me by thousands of miles in fully embracing the Fate of Vietnam, the tragic consequence of which is the death sentence that Hanoi has cruelly carried out countless times against countless brilliant minds and countless people). (The indomitable Heroic Martyr of the Nation.)



All three brothers grew up, matured and worked with Van Hanh University, which we consider as our family home in both the literal and figurative sense; We were all the most important members of the Editorial Board of the Thought Magazine that I initiated and founded, along with Ngo Trong Anh, Tue Sy, Tri Hai (Phung Khanh), Chan Hanh, and Le Manh That.

All the guiding ideas for the entire Van Hanh University were decided by all of us. The current Rector only had power in the administrative aspect of the university, and all the guiding philosophical and ideological directions were initiated and expressed by us during the years from 1966 to 1970. After that, I left Vietnam until now, and I no longer know clearly what the Van Hanh spirit was like from 1970 until it was closed by the Communists around 1975.

In fact, from 1966 to 1970, Le Manh That was still studying in the United States, studying for a doctorate at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, until perhaps 1975. We did not return to Van Hanh University until 1973, but we still kept in touch regularly, especially through articles in Tu Tuong magazine.



Tue Sy and Le Manh That were both born in 1943 (That was born in Quang Tri and Tue Sy was originally from Quang Binh and was born in Pakse, Laos). Tue Sy's real name is Pham Van Thuong and the dharma name Tue Sy was chosen by himself, perhaps because he wanted to follow the example of the great Zen master of the Tran Dynasty, Tue Trung Thuong Sy? Just like Le Manh That chose the dharma name Tri Sieu to recall the names of the two most talented and virtuous Zen masters of modern times?

Tue Sy and Tri Sieu both practiced in the temple from a very young age; Both were very good at Chinese, and fluent in French, English, German, Pali and Sanskrit (Le Manh That also knew a little Tibetan); both had profound knowledge of the main sutras of Theravada and Mahayana Buddhism.

Few Buddhist scholars in Vietnam could understand Vasubandhu's thought and Asanga's thought as thoroughly as Le Manh That; just as few people understood Abhidharma (the most complex system of Theravada Buddhism) and Nagarjuna's thought as deeply as Tue Sy.

Not only that, Le Manh That and Tue Sy both had extensive knowledge of Western Philosophy. Tue Sy read Heidegger and Michel Foucault very carefully; the first lecture on Michel Foucault in Vietnam at that time was given by Tue Sy at the lecture hall of Van Hanh University; Le Manh That was very knowledgeable about Marxism, thoroughly read Husserl's Recherches logiques, had a thorough understanding of Wittgenstein, Bertrand Russell and Merleau-Ponty.

Tue Sy had a wandering poet's soul, lived completely in the world of art and poetry, played the flute, played the piano, wrote poetry, was passionate about the German poet Hoelderlin, read the entire collection of Tang poetry in its original form, wrote a profound and poetic work entitled "Su Dongpo, Distant Dreams"; Le Manh That did not know how to write poetry and did not pay any attention to the study of literature and art, but was only passionate about logic, science and mathematics, did extensive research on economics, politics, and military affairs, especially world history, especially the history of world revolutions.
In my library, which I had donated to the Nha Trang Buddhist Academy, there was a set of Trotsky's Révolution Russe books. At that time, around 1962 or 1963, I saw Le Manh That often borrow that book series. Le Manh That was very heavy on scientific rationalism and experimentation. I still remember in 1968, on the occasion of being invited by the US State Department to visit some universities in the United States, I had the opportunity to meet Le Manh That in Wisconsin and I did not expect that it was the last time and that it had been 20 years since we had met again. That last night, we stayed up all night talking, and That made me laugh in an unforgettable way when That suggested using a computer to systematize the vast thoughts of the Prajna Paramita. Particularly speaking of the history of Buddhism, the complete Chan Nguyen (2 volumes) and the Draft History of Vietnamese Buddhism (only 2 volumes printed) by Le Manh That are the most valuable historical documents that have never appeared in Vietnam in this century.

Chinh That was the first person to discover the important "Six Letters" in the 5th century in Vietnam between Dao Cao, Phap Minh and Ly Mieu. In the 1981 Historical Research in Vietnam. Tran Van Giau cited Le Manh That's document on "clear evidence of some cultural activities of the Giao Chau people in the 5th century... that those cultural activities had developed to a proud level, bearing many national and patriotic characteristics, being "a whole treasure waiting for us to exploit"...

Communist theorist Tran Van Giau made every effort to exploit Le Manh That's discovery to foolishly distort all the sublime ideological content of Vietnam in the 5th century. Vietnamese communists also used and thoroughly exploited Le Manh That's unique research works on Nguyen Trai, on the occasion of UNESCO's celebration of the 600th anniversary of Nguyen Trai's birthday. Few people know this.

If he had not been imprisoned since April 1, 1984, Le Manh That would certainly have continued to discover many hidden mysteries "buried in the darkness of a thousand years" as he said. by Tran Van Giau talks about the discovery of historical documents about the 5th century in Vietnam by Le Manh That excavated from "Hoang Minh Tap" (弘明集) and finally recently when Le Manh That and Tue Sy were sentenced to death by Hanoi, that was the most outstanding discovery of the two to show the whole world that the Vietnamese Communists have coldly destroyed and destroyed all that is the quintessence, the superior wisdom and the transcendent spirituality of the nation.

From the time they were very young until they grew up, Tue Sy and Le Manh That both lived a life of asceticism and complete purity, never being greedy for worldly fame, never paying attention to social status and never knowing about money or personal gain.

In their hearts, there was always a burning vow of boundless enlightenment for the benefit of all and liberation for all, whose heroic steps have been most gloriously demonstrated today. is to dedicate one's life to liberating one's homeland from the most stupid, brutal and ignorant ideology of the 20th century.

We can only see true Zen masters when we have enough spiritual strength to forget ourselves, as the Great Master Dao Cao passionately taught in the book "Six Letters in the 5th Century" that Le Manh That discovered for the whole nation:

"If you forget yourself with all your heart, you will feel and if you feel, you will see: if you do not feel, you will not see. It is not that the sage is not often with all living beings, it is not that we do not often see him.”

Le Manh That and Tue Sy have forgotten themselves and devoted themselves, so of course they can feel all the tragic failures of their homeland and human life: The two people who have received all the lives of Vietnam, of course they can see what still retains Vietnamese character, and they have set out to become the Masters leading the way for the entire nation. When Hanoi sentenced Tue Sy and Le Manh That or any other anonymous person who fought for the rights of Vietnamese people to death, Hanoi itself sentenced the entire nation to death.

When the entire Vietnamese nation was sentenced to death by a brutal regime, that was also the time when that regime was self-destructing in the miraculous earthquake of the Great Mission of Vietnam.

Pham Cong Thien
California today October 18, 1988