About Tuệ Trung

Tuệ Trung Thượng Sĩ (1230–1291) was an influential Buddhist lay practitioner and skilled poet of the Thiền (Zen) tradition during the Tran Dynasty in Vietnam. Tue Trung authored treatises on Pure Land and Thien teachings.
Thích Nhất Hạnh leading a namo avalokiteshvaraya chanting session

The most prominent Zen Buddhist spiritual teachers

is a school of Mahayana Buddhism that originated in China during the Tang dynasty, known as the Chan School, and later developed into various sub-schools and branches. From China, Chán spread south to Vietnam and became Vietnamese Thiền, northeast to Korea to become Seon Buddhism, and east to Japan, becoming Japanese Zen. Zen teachers often promote diaphragmatic breathing, stating that the breath must come from the lower abdomen (known as hara or tanden in .
An illustration of Hōnen preaching

Zen Buddhist monks – The unchanging essential nature

According to tradition, Chan was introduced around 500 CE by Bodhidharma, an Indian monk teaching dhyāna. is deeply rooted in the teachings and doctrines of Mahāyāna Buddhism. Mahayana Buddhism teaches śūnyatā, "emptiness", which is also emphasized by Zen. But another important doctrine is the buddha-nature, the idea that all human beings have the possibility to awaken. All living creatures are supposed to have the Buddha-nature, but don't realize this as long as they are not .