Dual Cultivation

When my siblings and I were young, my mother would take us every Sunday into a quiet, woodsy temple in northern Virginia, where deer, turkeys, and foxes often wandered near the roadside. There, we chanted liturgies, offered prayers, listened to dharma talks, and attended Dharma School, learning the Buddha’s story through cartoons. Once every year, we watched Little Buddha, where Keanu Reeves played the Buddha. As we grew older, we were introduced to the fundamentals of the Buddha’s teachings and the Thien tradition—Vietnam’s transmission of the meditation school, which originated in China as Chan and came to Japan as Zen. We also learned that we practiced a unique tradition called Thien–Pure Land Dual Cultivation (Vn: Thien Tinh song tu), a form of meditation we were told was especially suited to the Vietnamese people.

The meditation tradition emphasizes encountering the inherent buddha-mind through meditation, while the Pure Land tradition focuses on reciting the name of Amitabha Buddha, who resides in the Western Paradise. Pure Land practitioners aspire to rebirth in this celestial realm after death to learn directly from a living buddha. The Dual Cultivation tradition combines these teachings, asserting that focusing the mind on a visualized or verbalized image of an external buddha—most often Amitabha—can evoke a direct experience of the buddha within through sympathetic resonance (cam ung). Like tuning a string with a tuning fork, practitioners “harmonize” their minds with buddha-mind. When they realize there is no distinction between the buddha of the Western Paradise and the buddha within, samsara is said to transform into a jeweled land, and the Pure Land becomes immanent here and now.

If your only access to Buddhism is through English-language material, it’s understandable if you’ve never encountered Dual Cultivation.

Dual Cultivation is rooted in the nondual insight that the visionary experience of the Buddha through Pure Land recitation is a direct encounter with one’s buddha-nature. It enables practitioners to achieve meditative absorption and even progress toward complete awakening. Dual Cultivation grew so popular in Vietnam that it became a defining characteristic of Thien, distinguishing it from other schools. Vietnamese practitioners take pride in knowing that this tradition was not only embraced by Thien’s greatest masters but has also been the dominant form of Buddhist practice in the country for over a thousand years.

If your only access to Buddhism is through English-language material, it’s understandable if you’ve never encountered Dual Cultivation. Until recently, Western scholarship has offered sparse mentions of this Vietnamese Buddhist tradition. In his recent book, Esoteric Pure Land Buddhism, Aaron Proffitt details the historical circumstances that led to the Western framework of categorizing Buddhism into discrete schools. He explains how this approach created a bias that left Dual Cultivation, Pure Land, and other traditions neglected in Western literature. As a result, vital teachings, practice manuals, tales of accomplished masters, and historical accounts remain unfamiliar to many Western audiences because they don’t fit neatly into this paradigm. Unfortunately, this has led to the overlooking of a dharma tradition that is a source of immense pride for Vietnamese Buddhists.

The Emperor-Monk

Among the most significant historical contributions to the Dual Cultivation tradition is a 13th-century meditation manual called Instructions on Emptiness (Khoa Hu Luc), a series of short essays by Emperor-Monk Tran Thai Tong. This text represents Thai Tong’s efforts to systematize and unify the Buddhist traditions of Dai Viet (Vietnam) into a cohesive framework. The manual contextualizes Pure Land practices within the Prajnaparamita (Perfection of Wisdom) teachings and the meditation school, covering topics such as bodily posture, meditation techniques, bodhicitta, precepts, and repentance rituals.

In his Commentary to Instructions on Emptiness, contemporary Thien master Thich Thanh Tu notes the text’s integration of recitation and meditative insight:

Thai Tong allows us to see that the dharma-body of the buddhas is within ourselves. Any moment of quietude is living in attunement with the Buddha’s dharma-body, which is always present, which has never been hidden, and is called the supreme wisdom. If you recite the Buddha’s name with this understanding, the two paths of Thien and Pure Land cannot be differentiated.

Instructions on Emptiness underscores the unity of the Thien and Pure Land practice. Often regarded as separate traditions, they are actually complementary, both leading to the same ultimate goal of complete buddhahood.

Thai Tong recounts the dramatic story behind the composition of Instructions on Emptiness in its introduction. One quiet summer night, in 1236 CE, the 16-year-old emperor, burdened by the weight of ruling a nation since his coronation at the age of 8 and the looming threat of the Mongols to the north, decided to escape. Pulling a cloak over his shoulders, he slipped past drowsy palace guards, saddled a horse, and rode off into the dark wilderness. Yearning to abandon his worldly responsibilities and study the Buddha’s path, he journeyed to Yen Tu Mountain, climbed to its summit, and sought refuge with the hermit monk Master Dao Vien. The master, however, immediately turned the emperor down, scolding him sharply:

There is no Buddha in the mountains; the Buddha is found only in the mind. The true Buddha is just a mind pervaded with quietude and insight. If Your Majesty can awaken to this mind, you will immediately become assured of your buddhahood—do not waste your time seeking it outside.

Despite the master’s firm words, he allowed the emperor to stay the night. By morning, palace guards had tracked him to the hermitage, demanding the young emperor return. Master Dao Vien gently reminded the young ruler of his duty to the people but encouraged him with parting advice: “I only ask Your Majesty to continue studying the Buddha’s teachings.”

Thai Tong continued to rule for twenty-four more years, defending Dai Viet against a Mongol invasion while dedicating himself to meditation and scriptural study. He authored several commentaries during his reign, deepening his understanding of Buddhist practice. At 40, he abdicated the throne, shaved his head, donned monk robes, and retired to Yen Tu Mountain, where he received transmission in two major Thien lineages: the Vo Ngon Thong, known for its emphasis on the Prajnaparamita sutras and contemplation study, and the Thao Duong, which advocated for the integrated cultivation of Thien and Pure Land practices.

It was on Yen Tu Mountain that Thai Tong composed Instructions on Emptiness, bridging the insights of his two lineages and cementing his place in Vietnam’s Buddhist Golden Age, spanning the Ly through Tran dynasties (1009–1400 CE). The text remains foundational in Vietnamese Buddhism and is still studied in temples today. Its chapter “The Treatise on Buddha-Mindfulness” (Luan Ve Niem Phat)—which integrates meditation to realize one’s inherent buddha-nature and recitation to purify karma and seek Pure Land rebirth—is often taught independently as a concise introduction to Thien–Pure Land Dual Cultivation.

Reciting the Buddha’s Name

Thai Tong begins “The Treatise on Buddha-Mindfulness” with concise instructions on meditation through recitation and a commentary on its effectiveness. According to the text, visualizing the Buddha and chanting the Buddha’s name is particularly powerful because it simultaneously engages the three types of karma, or action—body, speech, and mind. Thai Tong writes:

Visualizing the Buddha’s body, the practitioner sits upright, refraining from unwholesome conduct—this ceases the karma of the body. The mouth is engaged with chanting dharanis—refraining from unwholesome words ceases the karma of speech. The intention to strive diligently in subduing unwholesome thoughts brings the karma of the mind to cessation.

This unification of body, speech, and mind is a prerequisite for deepening meditative concentration. Practitioners are instructed to continue reciting the Buddha’s name until all three are completely unified.

At the heart of traditions tracing their lineages to the meditation school is the goal of directly realizing one’s nondual buddha-nature.

Writing on the contemporary practices at Hoang Phap Temple in Ho Chi Minh City, Venerable Thich Tam Thuc describes recitation as follows:

After moving on from the beginning practices of reciting with a mala, or counting, practitioners chant with right mindfulness. This focuses body, speech, and mind on the Buddha’s name until one-pointedness of mind (Pali: cittekaggata) is achieved.

Buddha-mindfulness is a powerful meditative technique for establishing samadhi because it harmonizes the three kinds of karma associated with body, speech, and mind. This enduring insight reflects the profound influence of Thai Tong’s teachings.

Your Mind Is the Buddha’s Mind

At the heart of traditions tracing their lineages to the meditation school is the goal of directly realizing one’s nondual buddha-nature. Dual Cultivation traditions share this aim while holding to the Pure Land aspiration of rebirth in Amitabha’s Pure Land as a step toward complete buddhahood. Thai Tong describes the pinnacle of mastery in Dual Cultivation:

Those practitioners at the highest level of wisdom have realized the mind itself is the Buddha and that there is nothing left to cultivate. Right there! Suddenly—they become living buddhas.

However, such mastery is rare and attainable by only a select few. Thai Tong advises continuing to recite for practitioners of average wisdom until the Buddha’s name is “constantly held in their thoughts, they never lose their mindfulness, and all thoughts are imbued with purity.”

For diligent practitioners who have yet to awaken to their buddha-nature but have achieved unbroken mindfulness, the next step is to let go of the meditative object and turn inward to still the mind completely. By reaching a state of total quiescence, Thai Tong assures us of complete awakening in this very life.

Still Adrift in Samsara

Following the instruction for average wisdom, practitioners with little wisdom are assured that their efforts are not in vain and will directly contribute to supreme awakening in the next life. For those of us who are sincere and disciplined yet struggle to see our own buddha-nature due to samsaric illusions or who practice inconsistently or only during holidays, there remains the assurance that even small efforts will ultimately lead to buddhahood. On this, Thai Tong says:

Those of lesser wisdom must diligently recite the Buddha’s name with their mouth, aspire for a vision of the Buddha’s form with their mind, and vow that their bodies be reborn in that buddha-land. . . .  After their deaths, depending on their state of mind, they may be reborn in that buddha-land. After hearing the Buddha preach the true dharma, they will attain enlightenment and achieve the fruit of buddhahood. 

For many, the difficulty of realizing buddhahood makes Dual Cultivation especially appealing. Through meditation, we can find peace in this life, aspire to embody our true nature in body, speech, and mind, and progress as far as possible along the path. For both our benefit and the benefit of others, we are assured we will never backslide on the way to buddhahood.

Thai Tong concludes his treatise with a critique of practitioners who reject Dual Cultivation:

Now, those today who study the dharma, who possess human bodies afflicted by the three karmas, but don’t use buddha-mindfulness to seek rebirth in the realm of the Buddha—isn’t it arduous to endure such suffering? Then, if you want to begin reciting the Buddha’s name, you should pursue the lower stage of wisdom first. Why? So that you can establish a diligent foundation for practice. You cannot build a three-story tower without first building the bottom floor—it is impossible.

While encouraging all to recite the Buddha’s name, he emphasizes the importance of starting with the foundation of lesser wisdom, even for advanced practitioners. Without this groundwork, progress using Dual Cultivation is not possible.

Thien Is Pure Land, Pure Land Is Thien

This is the Buddhism I grew up with—a tradition where the aspiration for rebirth in Amitabha’s Pure Land coexists with a disciplined meditation practice and where realizing the Buddha as one’s mind does not negate the existence of countless buddhas populating infinite world systems throughout the ten directions. Emperor-Monk Tran Thai Tong’s Instructions on Emptiness is a testament to the enduring esteem of the Dual Cultivation tradition in Vietnamese Buddhism—a legacy practitioners are proud to inherit.

In monasteries and temples worldwide, lay and monastic practitioners diligently gather to recite Amitabha Buddha’s name. They keep their minds on Amitabha’s form, vowing rebirth in his buddha-land, aspiring to a visionary experience, and striving toward the ultimate unity of the buddha of the West and the buddha within.