Thích Nhất Hạnh was a Vietnamese Thiền Buddhist monk, peace activist, prolific author, poet and teacher, who founded the Plum Village Tradition, historically recognized as the main inspiration for engaged Buddhism. Known as the "father of mindfulness", Nhất Hạnh was a major influence on Western practices of Buddhism.
Thích Quảng Đức was a Vietnamese Mahayana Buddhist monk who died by self-immolation at a busy Saigon road intersection on 11 June 1963. Quảng Đức was protesting against the persecution of Buddhists by the South Vietnamese government of Ngô Đình Diệm, a staunch Roman Catholic. Photographs of his self-immolation circulated around the world, drawing attention to the policies of the Diệm government. John F. Kennedy said of one photograph, "No news picture in history has generated so much emotion around the world as that one". Malcolm Browne won the World Press Photo of the Year for his photograph of the monk's death.
Buddhism in Vietnam, as practiced by the Vietnamese people, is a form of East Asian Mahayana Buddhism. It is the main religion in Vietnam. Vietnamese Buddhism is generally inclusive and syncretic, drawing on the main Chinese Buddhist traditions, such as Tiantai and Huayan, Zen (Thiền), and Pure Land.
One World is a human rights film festival, held annually in Prague and other 36 cities of the Czech Republic, with a selection later shown in Brussels and other countries. The festival highlights quality documentary films on social, political, environmental, media and human rights issues. One World presents over 100 documentary films from all around the globe and organizes numerous Q&As with filmmakers and experts.
Thadeus Nguyễn Văn Lý is a Vietnamese Roman Catholic priest and dissident involved in many pro-democracy movements, for which he was imprisoned for a total of almost 15 years. For his ongoing imprisonment and continuous non-violent protest, Amnesty International adopted Lý in December 1983 as a prisoner of conscience. Most recently, his support for the Bloc 8406 manifesto has led to his sentence on 30 March 2007, for an additional eight years in prison, where he was released and then returned in 2011.
Thích Quảng Độ was a Vietnamese Buddhist monk and scholar who was the patriarch of the Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam (UBCV) from 2008 until his death. Since the execution of his master at the hands of the communist Việt Minh in his teenage years, Thích Quảng Độ had been involved in political activism, firstly against the anti-Buddhist policies of the Catholic President of South Vietnam Ngô Đình Diệm.
Thích Trí Quang was a Vietnamese Mahayana Buddhist monk best known for his role in leading South Vietnam's Buddhist population during the Buddhist crisis in 1963, and in later Buddhist protests against subsequent South Vietnamese military regimes until the Buddhist Uprising of 1966 was crushed.
The Buddhist crisis was a period of political and religious tension in South Vietnam between May and November 1963, characterized by a series of repressive acts by the South Vietnamese government and a campaign of civil resistance, led mainly by Buddhist monks.
The Unified Buddhist Sangha of Vietnam was founded in 1964 as a Buddhist organization in Vietnam. It was banned by the government of Vietnam in 1981. It continues to operate in exile outside Vietnam.
The Huế Phật Đản shootings were the deaths of nine unarmed Buddhist civilians on 8 May 1963 in the city of Huế, South Vietnam, at the hands of the army and security forces of the government of Ngô Đình Diệm, a Roman Catholic. The army and police fired guns and launched grenades into a crowd of Buddhists who had been protesting against a government ban on flying the Buddhist flag on the day of Phật Đản, which commemorates the birth of Gautama Buddha.
The Xá Lợi Pagoda raids were a series of synchronized attacks on various Buddhist pagodas in the major cities of South Vietnam shortly after midnight on 21 August 1963. The raids were executed by the Army of the Republic of Vietnam Special Forces under Colonel Lê Quang Tung, and combat police, both of which took their orders directly from Ngô Đình Nhu, younger brother of the Roman Catholic President Ngô Đình Diệm. Xá Lợi Pagoda, the largest pagoda in the South Vietnamese capital, Saigon, was the most prominent of the raided temples. Over 1,400 Buddhists were arrested, and estimates of the death toll and missing ranged up to the hundreds. In response to the Huế Vesak shootings and a ban on the Buddhist flag in early May, South Vietnam's Buddhist majority rose in widespread civil disobedience and protest against the religious bias and discrimination of the Catholic-dominated Diệm government. Buddhist temples in major cities, most prominently the Xá Lợi pagoda, became focal points for protesters and assembly points for Buddhist monks from rural areas.
The Joint Communiqué was an agreement signed on 16 June 1963 between the South Vietnamese government of Ngô Đình Diệm and the Buddhist leadership during the Buddhist crisis.
Vạn Hạnh Monastery is a Thiền Buddhist temple in Ho Chi Minh City, the largest city in Vietnam. The temple is located at 716 Nguyễn Kiệm Street on the road between Go Vap and Phu Nhuan districts. It is the location of the main Buddhist training centre for sangha in Vietnam, and is also the office of the Vietnamese Buddhist Research Institute.
The Vietnam Buddhist Sangha is the only Buddhist sangha recognised by the Vietnamese government, and a member of the Vietnamese Fatherland Front. It was founded after Vietnam's Buddhist Convention at Quán Sứ Pagoda on November 7, 1981, to unify Buddhist activities of Vietnamese monks, nuns and lay followers.
Thích Thanh Từ is a Vietnamese Thiền Buddhist monk. He has been influential with increasing traditional Vietnamese Buddhism practices within the country.
Huyền Quang (玄光), 1254–1334, real name Lý Đạo Tái (李道載), was the third patriarch of the Trúc Lâm school of Vietnamese Thiền Buddhism.
Thích is a name that Vietnamese monks and nuns take as their Buddhist surname to show affinity with the Buddha.
The Homo Homini Award is given annually by the Czech human rights organization People in Need to "an individual in recognition of a dedication to the promotion of human rights, democracy and non-violent solutions to political conflicts". The award is presented at the One World Film Festival, the world's largest human rights film festival.
Thiền Buddhism is the name for the Vietnamese school of Zen Buddhism. Thiền is the Sino-Vietnamese pronunciation of the Middle Chinese word 禪 (chán), an abbreviation of 禪那, which is a transliteration of the Sanskrit word dhyāna ("meditation").
Phạm Đoan Trang is a Vietnamese author, blogger, journalist, publisher, and democracy activist. She received the 2017 Homo Homini Award from People In Need, who called her "one of the leading figures of the contemporary Vietnamese dissent". In 2024, she is in prison after being convicted of “conducting propaganda against the State of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam”.
