Teachings From Ancient Vietnamese Zen Masters – 6
dharma texts translated into English; via the bilingual texts,
the young overseas Vietnamese would learn both the
precious Buddhist treasure and the Vietnamese language.
For that reason, Phap Vuong Monastery (located in
Escondido, San Diego, California, USA) decides to publish
the bilingual book “Teachings from Ancient Vietnamese
Zen Master” -- in which many poems and verses written
by the Vietnam’s ancient patriarchs are translated into the
modern-Vietnamese language by several scholars, and then
into English by layperson Nguyen Giac Phan Tan Hai.
From some years ago, layperson Nguyen Giac Phan
Tan Hai started translating into English many poems and
verses written by Vietnamese Zen masters; his translations
were posted online in some Vietnamese Buddhist websites,
primarily in Thu Vien Hoa Sen (www.thuvienhoasen.org) –
for examples, “Tran Nhan Tong (1258-1308) The King
Who Founded A Zen School” [Trần Nhân Tông Đức Vua
Sáng Tổ Một Dòng Thiền], “The Wisdom Within
Teachings and Poetry of the Vietnamese Zen Master Tue
Trung Thuong Si (1230-1291),” and “The Zen Teachings
of Master Duy Luc”...
“Teachings from Ancient Vietnamese Zen Masters”
is a bilingual compilation of many dharma poems, verses
and talks made by the ancient monks in Vietnam – in which
the earliest writer was the Most Venerable Khuong Tang
Hoi (3rd century), also the founder of Vietnamese
Buddhism; and the most recent one was the Most
Venerable Thanh Dam of 19
th
century. Beside the
translations, layperson Nguyen Giac made the bilingual
comments accordingly.
This book is a bilingual selection of many dharma
talks, poems and verses made by Zen masters from the 3
rd
century to the 19
th
century; thus, this book carries the core
of the Buddhist teachings, especially and prominently the
Zen teachings.
