The 7th Sunflower Program

At the invitation of the organizers, History Professor Le\r\nVan Lan (whose religious name is Quang Phong) came to share his knowledge at\r\nthe program.

 Researching back on the national history and culture\r\nis to rediscover moral values and useful experiences from the predecessors. At\r\nthe 7th Sunflower program, we listened to an over 80 year-old professor\r\ntelling about historical stories of our nation’s more than 2000 years of\r\ncivilization. During its formation and development, Buddhism was taken as the\r\nbasis for the nation’s morality and life philosophy.

The story, being rooted in folklore source, began from the\r\nforming time of the nation, founded on the belief of “totem”. Buddhism was\r\nintroduced into Vietnam and harmonized with the existing culture there. In the\r\nspirit of compassion and wisdom, Buddhism was welcomed and became the\r\nmainstream thinking in the context of troubled history of that time. According\r\nto the historical accounts of Vietnam and China, since the early AD years, the\r\nBuddhist center of Luy Lau was founded with more than 500 monks and has\r\ntranslated 20 sutras.

After independence from the feudal dynasties of the North,\r\nour country entered the period of economic, cultural and social development.\r\nThrough the Dinh, Le, Ly, Tran dynasties, the society became prosperous as\r\nBuddhism developed, as Buddhism is peace-loving, friendly and links to people\r\nfrom all walks of life.

In history, there were Zen masters supporting the king such\r\nas Imperial Preceptor Ngo Chan Luu (whose Buddhist name was Khuong Viet). There\r\nwere a king who originated from and was taught at the temple, such as King Ly\r\nThai To. In the Vietnam’s history, King Tran Nhan Tong, with noble personality\r\nand a heart of Bodhisattva, was a bright spot in the country’s history as he\r\nand people twice defeated the invaders. Later he became a monk and was honored\r\nas the Buddha King. He was the founder of Truc Lam Thien Tu Zen Sect, the first\r\nZen Sect founded by a Vietnamese, which brings the spirit of entering the\r\nworld, serving the nation and connects closely with the people.

With his simple demeanor, vast knowledge and witty way of\r\nthe lecturer, the professor gave his audience the experience of rereading the\r\nheroic history of the nation. There were the brave men who made the country\r\nprosperous. But looming somewhere in the history were the ones who backtracked\r\nagainst the national tradition, such as King Le Long Dinh, who was depraved in\r\ndebauchery and led the Le dynasty to its downfall. From those valuable lessons,\r\nwe can see that sustainable development goes along with noble moral values of\r\nthe Vietnamese people who have in themselves both compassion and the spirit of\r\nserving the nation.

The 7th Sunflower program did not say much about\r\nthe speaker; however, through his way of speaking and manners, we could still\r\nsomewhat understand his simplicity, humility and erudition of Professor Le Van\r\nLan. The unexpected surprise ended the program as we visited his house of\r\nmerely 6m2 through a video clip. Nobody would think such a well-known\r\nprofessor, one of the founders of Vietnam Institute of History, historical\r\nadvisor to television shows and newspapers (“The Road to Olympia”) and a person\r\nwith a pension comparable to that of a deputy minister, could live such a\r\nfrugal life. It is at this place that he has written more than 20 books, 150\r\nessays and over 500 historical articles.

 At the end of the program, the professor stated his\r\nthoughts on current culture and era. He cares about the youth and culture of\r\nthe nation. It is the common concern of Buddhists, as Buddhism associates with\r\nspirituality. He concluded that everyone has a mission, that is to live an\r\nhonest life to be worthy of a human being.

Attending the program, Venerable Thich Chan Tinh, abbot of\r\nHoang Phap pagoda, director of the Sunflower program, had some comments on the\r\nprogram as well as the speaker.

The Venerable recalled the thinking “Harmonizing light with\r\nthe earth”, which is a positive thinking in Buddhism, a Buddhist must learn the\r\nspirit of compassion and selflessness of Buddha and do their best to bring\r\nBuddha Dharma to everybody.

The professor’s works show his own selflessness and a sense\r\nof community, as it is happiness. The Venerable hoped the professor would\r\nalways have good health to continue devoting his wisdom and talents to the\r\nsociety in the future.

Below are the pictures recorded: