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The Vietnam News

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Monk leads thousands praying for Vietnam war dead

HANOI - Internationally renowned Zen monk Thich Nhat Hanh on Friday led larger-than-expected crowds in a ceremony intended to heal wounds of the Vietnam war that ended 32 years ago this month. In a sermon near Hanoi, Nhat Hanh advised thousands of monks and lay people to pray equally for those who fought and died on both sides, the communist north and the U.S.-backed south.

"We know that you fought courageously for our nation," said Nhat Hanh, a resident of France who gave similar sermons in Ho Chi Minh City, formerly Saigon, in March and in the central city of Hue in early April. "And we are proud of you. We will not distinguish between north and south or discriminate by race, religion, party or ideology," the 80-year-old told the crowds at the Non pagoda. The rituals from Friday to Sunday 40 km (25 miles) from the capital of the communist-run country are part of Nhat Hanh's three-month visit that began in February and ends on May 9. The series of three remembrance ceremonies are the first allowed since the war ended in April 1975. The organizers invited President Nguyen Minh Triet, but so far he has not attended.

After Nhat Hanh's sermon, a phalanx of monks in brown robes and yellow sashes and carrying golden parasols and staffs, looked on as Thich Bao Nghien, abbot of Ly Trieu Quoc Su Pagoda in Hanoi, led the congregation in hours of chants. Non pagoda is the location of the government-affiliated Vietnam Buddhist Institute. It is also the site of a 6.5-metre (21-foot) high bronze statue of Buddha, the country's largest. Nhat Hanh, who left Vietnam in 1966 and lives in France, was first allowed to return in 2005 by the government, which permits several religions under state supervision. The government's senior official on religious affairs was quoted as saying by the state-run Vietnam News Agency this week that Hanh's visit showed Vietnam welcomed religion.

Wounds of war

Hanh has been trying to bring his philosophy of "mindfulness" to a Vietnamese audience and his books are sold in Vietnam. In the 1960s he was a leader in a movement of Buddhists in South Vietnam that called for a negotiated end to the war. The movement's church, the Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam (UBCV), is outlawed and refuses to operate under state supervision. The UBCV's international spokesman in Pairs denounced Hanh's return to Vietnam. Friday's ceremony had been expected to draw 1,500 people, but the crowd was several times that size. The ceremony, known as "Giai Oan," is intended to liberate the souls of those who died unjustly or whose bodies were never found.

On the surface, Vietnam appears to be over the war, but for older Vietnamese, the wounds have never entirely healed. Pham Minh Toan, 60, became a nun at Hanoi's Dinh Quan pagoda in 2003. Relatives of hers were killed in U.S. bombings of the north and other relatives in Saigon "were afraid of the communists" and fled after the war ended on April 30, 1975. The monk's message of reconciliation between Vietnamese who fought on different sides resonates with her. "It's like Hanh says," said Toan. "Two chickens with the same mother don't fight each other."

Reuters - April 20, 2007.


Vietnam Zen master leads prayer for reconciliation

SOC SON - A prominent Vietnamese Zen master living in exile on Friday took his message of post-war reconciliation to thousands of Buddhist faithful at a hillside pagoda near Hanoi. Thich Nhat Hanh, an 81-year-old monk, led prayers for the millions of war dead from both sides of the conflict, during his second return visit since he was exiled four decades ago by the then US-backed Saigon regime.

"Our country and nation suffered so much in the years of fighting for independence and freedom, and you were the ones who suffered the most," Hanh said in a prayer addressing the souls of those who died. "It is fortunate that the nightmare is over, the country is at peace and the nation has the chance to rebuild," he said as a misty rain fell on thousands of faithful who came to the Soc temple north of the capital. Hanh's visit has been watched closely by the communist government, which keeps a tight check on all political and religious activity, and has also drawn fire from other Buddhist groups who charge the trip legitimises the regime. Hanh, a life-long peace activist, was barred from Vietnam by both the former southern regime and the post-1975 communist government and has since built an international following from his monastery in France.

In his address Friday, the start of a three day chanting ceremony, he urged all Vietnamese to "love each other as people of the same blood" regardless of whether they hail from the north or south. "From now on," the monk added, "we will try to build a real democratic society to solve all disagreements in a peaceful and democratic way, not to engage in violence and fighting between people of the same nation." Hanh first returned to Vietnam two years ago on a trip criticised by the banned Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam, whose leaders are under house arrest and who charge that Hanoi is using Hanh's visits for propaganda purposes. Hanh has invited Vietnam's president to attend his prayer meetings, including previous mass events in Ho Chi Minh City and Hue. No government leaders came, but this week Nguyen Huu Oanh, deputy head of the government's Committee for Religious Affairs, praised Hanh in comments published by the state-run Vietnam News Agency. At the Soc pagoda, followers said they appreciated Hanh's unifying message. "It's good to pray for the souls of the war dead, no matter where they came from -- north or south, communist or not," said 63-year-old Nguyen Thanh Vien, a retired state employee.

Nguyen Thi Van, a 50-year-old housewife, said her brother died in 1975 in a battle in the southern province of Tay Ninh. "After today," she said, "I hope that the soul of my brother, and of my other sisters and brothers who died young, will really rest in peace."

Agence France Presse - April 20, 2007.