'Whatever humanity has, Tran Nhan Tong has it: He practiced asceticism and wrote the best poetry'

Researcher Nhat Chieu shares at the program - Photo: T.DIEU

Researcher Nhat Chieu shared in a talk on the topic Listening to Buddha walking in life - poems of Tran Thai Tong and Tran Nhan Tong on April 20 in Hanoi .

The talk attracted a large audience of quiet and attentive listeners, especially young people.

What does humanity have, Tran Nhan Tong has?

At the talk, researcher Nhat Chieu focused on analyzing the works of two kings, Zen masters Tran Thai Tong and Tran Nhan Tong, and talked about their strange lives.

Whatever humanity has, Tran Nhan Tong has it. He practiced asceticism, wrote the best poetry, was the best in martial arts, and founded a Zen sect that has had influence for thousands of years.

He was the one who freed himself from the throne. Tran Nhan Tong's personality was "inconceivable", beyond our imagination. He was above in every sense.

Tran Thai Tong, the grandfather of Tran Nhan Tong, was also a great influence on Tran Nhan Tong.

For most of the three-hour conversation, Mr. Nhat Chieu emphasized the ideology of these two great figures.

He said that the poem Huong thuong nhat lo by Tran Thai Tong had verses that surprised him. And the verses in Ke Van (Cư trần lạc đạo phu) by Tran Nhan Tong were the same.

There are thoughts of Tran Thai Tong and Tran Nhan Tong from that time that were later promoted by the West in the 20th century, such as Heidegger's existentialism (philosopher Martin Heidegger).

In his works, Heidegger put forward the concept of "Being in the world - humans must appear in the world". Several hundred years ago, Tran Nhan Tong paid close attention. He wrote in Cu Tran Lac Dao Phu sentences like:

"Living in the world, enjoying the Way, just follow your fate/ When in need, be diligent, when in trouble, sleep/ In the home there is treasure, don't search for it/ Facing the scene, have no mind, don't ask about Zen."

Meaning: Living in the mundane world, let's be happy with the Dharma depending on fate/ When hungry, eat, when tired, sleep/ There are treasures in the house, don't look for anything else/ If you face all realms and remain mindless, then why ask about meditation?

These are the ideas that 800 years later the Western philosopher Heidegger developed.

"Heidegger's existentialist thoughts are very similar to those of Tran Thai Tong in his essay "Huong thuong nhat lo" and of Tran Nhan Tong in "Cuu tran lac dao phu".

We should not be self-conscious that our nation does not have great thinkers. We think so because we do not read carefully our ancestors.

"If you read carefully the work Khoa hu luc by Tran Thai Tong, the Zen poems of Tran Nhan Tong, read Nguyen Du and Nguyen Trai, you will know that our nation does not lack great thinkers," said researcher Nhat Chieu.

Researcher Nhat Chieu said our nation has great thinkers but we don't know about them - Photo: T.DIEU

Ancestors left behind treasures

Further analyzing the poems of the two Zen master kings Tran Thai Tong and Tran Nhan Tong, Mr. Nhat Chieu said that their poems were "terrifying in every word and every sentence", only their descendants who read them superficially could not understand the profound thoughts of their ancestors.

Our ancestors left us treasures we don't know about, treasures right in our homes. Mr. Nhat Chieu himself recently learned about his father's treasure 800 years ago.

Thanks to the author for the valuable talk, a young person also "admitted his mistake" that "There was an era like the Tran Dynasty that gave birth to both Buddha and Saint, but we did not know".

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Source: https://tuoitre.vn/nhan-loai-co-gi-thi-tran-nhan-tong-co-do-ong-tu-kho-hanh-dau-da-lam-tho-hay-bac-nhat-20250420220141224.htm