Thích Thanh Từ

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 Thanh Từ began his life in a well-educated family that followed Cao Đài, a Vietnamese religion founded in 1926. He was born on July 24, 1924, in Cần Thơ, Vietnam with the birth name of Trần Hữu Phước.

Teachings Thích Thanh Từ began his teachings in December 1971 with only 10 students and involved scriptures, discourses, history and meditation methods. as one of the main objectives of distributing his teachings among his students of the Trúc Lâm philosophies. He talks about lighting 10 to 20 torches which will then light 30 to 40 torches in order to light up the whole world. The first Trúc Lâm Temple was on top of Yên Tử Mountain where Nhan Tong retired to. This was the only school of Thiền that was founded in Vietnam instead of originating from China. The Trúc Lâm sect grew enormously with the help of the next 2 patriarchs, Pháp Loa and Huyền Quang. Once they came to the end of their time, the school successfully came to an end. Although it can be argued that what he had created was not original Trúc Lâm Buddhism but still had a positive effect on the reform of Buddhism on the global level.

Thích Thanh Từ's influence His efforts are brought forth from the principles of 3 patriarchs whom he believes have very 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. He wasn't much of a global influence in his earlier years of work, but in recent history has been on top of Buddhist movements on the global level. His initial work in Vietnam has now moved onwards to western civilization by getting his word across through the translation of books that he has written. He is having the most influence on today's view on Buddhism and what it means to be a Buddhist monk through the implementation of the revived religion referred to as Trúc Lâm.

Writings Thích Thanh Từ started writing in 1961 and in over 45 years has written over 50 books.

My Whole Life The Source of Buddhist Dharmas The Carefree Leaves If You Know Buddhism and the Youths The Practicing Method of Vietnamese Zen