佛教約於公元後二、三世紀期間,由水路與陸路傳入越南,即就在國家正被中國封建主義統治之時。落地生根後,佛教逐漸滲入越南民族心,影響至本國之政治體系、社會文化風俗、文學等形式,這種影響在陳王朝時期(1225-1400)尤爲明顯。隨佛教「悲智勇」三種精神、與《法寶壇經》「自性清淨」、「見性成佛」、「和光接物」,以及陳朝以前「般若思想」、「頓悟法門」、「行動哲理」等各種核心思想結合,陳朝佛教已受到大部分當地人之歡迎。當這些佛教精神、思想精髓與民族傳統(民族自尊自主權意識)、情風貌融合之時,佛教之最初面貌已有改變。或更明顯而言,佛教在此時並不是籠統模糊之概念,而是一具體之越南佛教。自此,越南佛教成爲一愛國愛民之宗教,與祖國之命運息息相關。鑒於此佛教精神上,陳朝佛教建立具有越南民族特色——入世精神之思想體系,諸如「佛在心思想」、「見性思想」、「隨俗思想」、「人本思想」等思想。此思想之主旨:欲成佛,無需遠行,亦無需久等,僅要心中有佛,何必外覓?所謂「成佛」,就是在此時與此地,而不是在某某陌生之世界。此思想體系之獨到及趨勢於越南各朝各代,尤其陳氏王朝就致力鼓勵、宣揚「與民生、為民生」。佛將呈現若每一人在當下、在現在之每一分鐘與在此越南當地深有意義,此實為強調與獨特之點——作貢獻創造越南民族燦爛時代文化本色之尤爲關鍵因素之一——強大之陳氏王朝。
Buddhism was propagated to Vietnam via two ways, road and seaway, in about 2nd or 3rd A.D. century as the country was ruled by Chinese feudalism. After taking root in Vietnam, Buddhism gradually permeated the nation, affecting Vietnamese political system, society, culture and literature. It was especially apparent during the period of Tran Dynasty (1225-1400). With the spirits of “Compassion”, “Wisdom”, and “Courage”, combined with existing essential thoughts of “pure self-nature”, “to see Buddha’s nature within oneself and become a Buddha”, “engagement in social life” from the “Fa Bao Tan Jing” scriptures as well as the thoughts of “prajna”, “short-term practice of enlightenment”, and “active philosophy”, Tran Dynasty’s Buddhism created harmony in majority of the local people. When the spirits and essential thoughts of Buddhism connected and integrated with national traditions and the notion of national sovereignty, the origin of Buddhism was transformed from a vague concept to a perceptible and unique Vietnamese Buddhism. Since then, Vietnamese Buddhism became a patriotic religion that had a strong attachment to the fate of Vietnam. Based on the spirits and thoughts of Buddhism, Tran Dynasty’s Buddhism established a thought system unique to Vietnam, such as “Buddha in one’s mind”, “seeing the Buddha’s nature”, “engagement with social lives”, “humanistic compassion”. This thought system claimed that to become a Buddha, one need not travel far to seek the Buddha, nor does one need to lie in wait; in upholding the teachings of Buddha, one can become a Buddha here and now, and not in another distant world. This thought system prevailed in various dynasties in Vietnam, and especially flourished under the Tran Dynasty. The people were encouraged to “live with the people and live for the people”, for Buddha would appear when one lives meaningfully in each present moment in the country of Vietnam. This paper aims to highlight that this unique thought system was one of crucial factors that contributed to the rise of a splendid dynasty in Vietnam – the mighty Tran Dynasty.