The renowned Buddhist mendicant Thich Minh Tue, who is respected across Vietnam for his devout ascetic practice, has embarked on a pilgrimage to India. Accompanied by five other Buddhist ascetic practitioners, Thich Minh Tue left Vietnam for Laos on foot on 12 December.
The group will travel barefoot across several countries, including Laos and Myanmar, before entering India, Nepal, and Bhutan. The sangha is guided and accompanied by lay devotees and supporters.
The local authorities in Gia Lai Province, central Vietnam, as well as the national authorities, who have been accused of restricting Thich Minh Tue’s ascetic practice over security concerns, finally gave permission for him travel. The purpose of Thich Minh Tue’s trip is to visit Buddhist pilgrimage sites in Indian and Nepal.
The idea for the pilgrimage was first suggested by government-related figures a few months ago in YouTube videos. However, at that time, Thich Minh Tue still insisted on practicing his traditional alms round. This caused difficulties for the local authorities in his hometown Gia Lai, as large numbers of Vietnamese well-wishers who admired Thich Minh Tue traveled there to see him. Thich Minh Tue then officially announced in July that he would suspend his alms round practice.
Since then, however, there have been reports that people have witnessed Thich Minh Tue practicing in a restricted area in his hometown, under local police guard. His reappearance once again attracted visitors. In November, the local authorities published a handwritten letter from Thich Minh Tue confirming that he would halt his alms round to avoid unnecessary public gatherings, and would resume when conditions were more suitable. This suggests that Thich Minh Tue may have come under pressure from the Vietnamese authorities, as many people have alleged.
Although some people consider Thich Minh Tue to be a “living buddha,” many others admire and respect him simply as a person who solely follows the Buddha’s teaching, standing in stark contrast to the bad image of some Vietnamese monks in the modern sangha who live in luxury and take advantage of their position.
Several recent scandals in Vietnam’s Buddhist community could be cited among reasons for the public popularity of Thich Minh Tue. They include the Ba Vang Pagoda fake hair relic scandal in 2023, and the scandal over monk Thich Chan Quang’s fake doctoral degree, among other cases that appear to contradict the Buddha’s teaching. As a result, many Buddhist followers in Vietnam have turned their devotion and support to Thich Minh Tue in order to express their opposition to the contemporary Buddhist monastic sangha.
Distrust and anger toward Buddhist monks living in big temples—especially high-ranking monks in the Vietnam Buddhist Sangha—have been fomenting for many years. Some monks have been accused of taking advantage of Buddhism and explaining the Dharma wrongly and unethically.
The appearance of Thich Minh Tue, with his markedly sincere and strict practice of the 13 dhutagunas (Skt: austerities or ascetic practices), has positively impacted the way the general public view and understand Buddhism. As a consequence, many Buddhists in Vietnam have changed the way they practice and apply the Buddhist teachings. Instead of just visiting Buddhist temples, they spend more time reading canonical texts and contemplating the Dharma.
Since the emergence of Thich Minh Tue as a public figure, the phenomenon of unethical calls for offerings and incorrect Dharma teachings by some influential monks—especially on the Buddhist view of causality—has declined significantly.
See more
Hành trình đến Đất Phật của sư Thích Minh Tuệ cần đi qua các quốc gia nào? (Dan Viet)
Sư Thích Minh Tuệ ‘tự nguyện dừng đi bộ khất thực’, tại sao? (BBC News)
Ông Lê Anh Tú (Thích Minh Tuệ) tự nguyện dừng việc đi bộ khất thực (TuoiTre Online)
Ông “Thích Minh Tuệ” thông báo ngừng đi khất thực (Người Lao Động)
Foreign ministry verifying origin of ‘Buddha hair sarira’ (VnExpress)
Vietnam probes PhD monk who never earned high school diploma (RFA)
Related news reports from BDG
Thich Minh Tue, Buddhist Ascetic in Vietnam, Ends Travels after Follower’s Death
Thich Minh Tue, Wandering Buddhist Ascetic in Vietnam, Gains a Following
