In the thirteenth century, King-Monk Tran Nhan Tong founded the Truc Lam Thian (Chan/Zen) sect. During the Golden Age in Vietnamese Buddhist history, the sect flourished under three patriarchs with renowned Thian masters. Unfortunately, the Truc Lam sect faded over the following centuries, and Thian Buddhism in Vietnam, for the most part, disappeared.In the late twentieth century, a growing new religious movement led by Thich Thanh Ta a Pure Land monk, called for a restoration of Truc Lam Thian Buddhism. Who is Thich Thanh Ta How and why did he choose to revive this particular sect and its emancipation practices? Truc Lam currently boasts hundreds of monasteries and thousands of monks and nuns in Vietnam and beyond, but how have the forces of modernity influenced its original traditions?Through existing literature and extensive onsite fieldwork, this book analyzes the history and revival of a forgotten Buddhist sect and examines the movement's reform.
