An Tran
@an-tran.bsky.social
a writer and Buddhist;
author of MEDITATIONS ON THE MOTHER TONGUE (2017);
appears in: Southern Humanities Review; The LitHub; The Carolina Quarterly; Gargoyle Magazine; Necessary Fiction; Lion’s Roar; Tricycle; and others
https://an-tran.com
author of MEDITATIONS ON THE MOTHER TONGUE (2017);
appears in: Southern Humanities Review; The LitHub; The Carolina Quarterly; Gargoyle Magazine; Necessary Fiction; Lion’s Roar; Tricycle; and others
https://an-tran.com
Pinned
An Tran
@an-tran.bsky.social
· 10d
The Engaged Buddha of Vietnam
How one Tran dynasty emperor combined secular ethics with dharmic practice, ushering in a “Buddhism that enters the world”
tricycle.org
So grateful to share this piece I wrote honoring the Buddha-Emperor Trần Nhân Tông, founder of the philosophical tradition that would become #EngagedBuddhism, who taught how secular ethics & sociopolitical activism can be praxis for bodhisattvas who enter & remain in the mundane world. #Buddhism
I share some words—alongside an incredible selection of Buddhist teachers, writers, and venerable masters—on and honoring the pilgriming monks and their Walk for Peace. 🙏🏼
#buddhism #engagedbuddhism #WalkForPeace
#buddhism #engagedbuddhism #WalkForPeace
What Do Buddhists Think of Fort Worth’s “Walk for Peace” Monks?
Three months into the historic journey, Tricycle talks with teachers and authors about the significance of Walk for Peace 2026.
tricycle.org
February 7, 2026 at 2:18 AM
I share some words—alongside an incredible selection of Buddhist teachers, writers, and venerable masters—on and honoring the pilgriming monks and their Walk for Peace. 🙏🏼
#buddhism #engagedbuddhism #WalkForPeace
#buddhism #engagedbuddhism #WalkForPeace
So grateful to share this piece I wrote honoring the Buddha-Emperor Trần Nhân Tông, founder of the philosophical tradition that would become #EngagedBuddhism, who taught how secular ethics & sociopolitical activism can be praxis for bodhisattvas who enter & remain in the mundane world. #Buddhism
The Engaged Buddha of Vietnam
How one Tran dynasty emperor combined secular ethics with dharmic practice, ushering in a “Buddhism that enters the world”
tricycle.org
February 5, 2026 at 6:35 PM
So grateful to share this piece I wrote honoring the Buddha-Emperor Trần Nhân Tông, founder of the philosophical tradition that would become #EngagedBuddhism, who taught how secular ethics & sociopolitical activism can be praxis for bodhisattvas who enter & remain in the mundane world. #Buddhism
I just found out, this Sunday, the Walk for Peace will be stopping at the temple I attended as a child, Chùa Hoa Nghiêm in Ft. Belvoir.
How cool to have a connection to this historic pilgrimage even when I’m now living on the other side of the country!
#Buddhism #EngagedBuddhism #WalkForPeace
How cool to have a connection to this historic pilgrimage even when I’m now living on the other side of the country!
#Buddhism #EngagedBuddhism #WalkForPeace
February 4, 2026 at 11:51 PM
I just found out, this Sunday, the Walk for Peace will be stopping at the temple I attended as a child, Chùa Hoa Nghiêm in Ft. Belvoir.
How cool to have a connection to this historic pilgrimage even when I’m now living on the other side of the country!
#Buddhism #EngagedBuddhism #WalkForPeace
How cool to have a connection to this historic pilgrimage even when I’m now living on the other side of the country!
#Buddhism #EngagedBuddhism #WalkForPeace
The other night, I participated in a Sa Jing Purification
ritual in the Chinese Mahayana tradition, led by Venerable De Hong, for the opening of a new zendo for the formerly incarcerated to practice dharma. So grateful for the opportunity share in such wondrous merit. 🙏🏼
#EngagedBuddhism #Buddhism
ritual in the Chinese Mahayana tradition, led by Venerable De Hong, for the opening of a new zendo for the formerly incarcerated to practice dharma. So grateful for the opportunity share in such wondrous merit. 🙏🏼
#EngagedBuddhism #Buddhism
January 25, 2026 at 5:09 PM
The other night, I participated in a Sa Jing Purification
ritual in the Chinese Mahayana tradition, led by Venerable De Hong, for the opening of a new zendo for the formerly incarcerated to practice dharma. So grateful for the opportunity share in such wondrous merit. 🙏🏼
#EngagedBuddhism #Buddhism
ritual in the Chinese Mahayana tradition, led by Venerable De Hong, for the opening of a new zendo for the formerly incarcerated to practice dharma. So grateful for the opportunity share in such wondrous merit. 🙏🏼
#EngagedBuddhism #Buddhism
Those looking to support the #WalkForPeace can go here to look for details on making donations directly to the temple where the monks reside.
Nam mô Bổn sư Thích ca mâu ni Phật 🙏🏼🙇🏻♂️
#Buddhism #EngagedBuddhism
Nam mô Bổn sư Thích ca mâu ni Phật 🙏🏼🙇🏻♂️
#Buddhism #EngagedBuddhism
How to Support Walk for Peace – Dhammacetiya – The Ancient Sacred Buddhist Scripture Stupas
dhammacetiya.com
December 31, 2025 at 6:22 PM
Those looking to support the #WalkForPeace can go here to look for details on making donations directly to the temple where the monks reside.
Nam mô Bổn sư Thích ca mâu ni Phật 🙏🏼🙇🏻♂️
#Buddhism #EngagedBuddhism
Nam mô Bổn sư Thích ca mâu ni Phật 🙏🏼🙇🏻♂️
#Buddhism #EngagedBuddhism
How incredible! Tuan Andrew Nguyen’s THE LIGHT THAT SHINES THROUGH THE UNIVERSE has beens elected as the next Plinth Commission--a 27-ft homage to one of the destroyed Bamiyan Buddhas.
A giant Buddha-rupa in New York to perfume the minds of the masses there. 🙏🏼 Link: tinyurl.com/2m4nd7az
A giant Buddha-rupa in New York to perfume the minds of the masses there. 🙏🏼 Link: tinyurl.com/2m4nd7az
December 31, 2025 at 6:18 PM
How incredible! Tuan Andrew Nguyen’s THE LIGHT THAT SHINES THROUGH THE UNIVERSE has beens elected as the next Plinth Commission--a 27-ft homage to one of the destroyed Bamiyan Buddhas.
A giant Buddha-rupa in New York to perfume the minds of the masses there. 🙏🏼 Link: tinyurl.com/2m4nd7az
A giant Buddha-rupa in New York to perfume the minds of the masses there. 🙏🏼 Link: tinyurl.com/2m4nd7az
I’m incredibly grateful to Tricycle for the opportunity to share this adapted short story of the Từ Đạo Hạnh legend from folklore tradition of Vietnamese #Buddhism, which (afaik) has never appeared in English before. 🙏🏼
Brian Hoang provided a beautiful accompanying illustration—I’m blown away.
Brian Hoang provided a beautiful accompanying illustration—I’m blown away.
A Battle in the Bardo
The legendary life and rebirth of sorcerer-monk Tu Dao Hanh
tricycle.org
December 6, 2025 at 3:12 AM
I’m incredibly grateful to Tricycle for the opportunity to share this adapted short story of the Từ Đạo Hạnh legend from folklore tradition of Vietnamese #Buddhism, which (afaik) has never appeared in English before. 🙏🏼
Brian Hoang provided a beautiful accompanying illustration—I’m blown away.
Brian Hoang provided a beautiful accompanying illustration—I’m blown away.
Lately I’ve been learning about Ven. Thích Thiện Chiếu (1898-1974), an exemplar of the Vietnamese #EngagedBuddhism tradition and an important revolutionary figure in Sài Gòn's colonial resistance. He published many commentaries that connected ideas of Buddhist liberation to national liberation. 1/
November 16, 2025 at 5:47 PM
Lately I’ve been learning about Ven. Thích Thiện Chiếu (1898-1974), an exemplar of the Vietnamese #EngagedBuddhism tradition and an important revolutionary figure in Sài Gòn's colonial resistance. He published many commentaries that connected ideas of Buddhist liberation to national liberation. 1/
I was interviewed by the Fearless Wisdom podcast on the history of Vietnamese #Buddhism! Grateful for the opportunity to share some of my experience with the tradition & shine light on its rich history. 🙏🏼
(You’ll have to forgive how horribly I butcher some of the pronunciations of terms here.. 😅)
(You’ll have to forgive how horribly I butcher some of the pronunciations of terms here.. 😅)
FW Chats: Ẩn Trần and Vietnamese Buddhism
YouTube video by Fearless Wisdom
youtu.be
June 24, 2025 at 3:09 AM
I was interviewed by the Fearless Wisdom podcast on the history of Vietnamese #Buddhism! Grateful for the opportunity to share some of my experience with the tradition & shine light on its rich history. 🙏🏼
(You’ll have to forgive how horribly I butcher some of the pronunciations of terms here.. 😅)
(You’ll have to forgive how horribly I butcher some of the pronunciations of terms here.. 😅)
Has anyone else ever noticed how often Sakyamuni Buddha in his past lives slanders the dharma? 😅
In MN81, he had to be dragged by the hair to go see the Buddha after disparaging him. In T09, he insults the past life of Amitabha as a fraud. Just going around talking smack bout the Buddha and sangha.
In MN81, he had to be dragged by the hair to go see the Buddha after disparaging him. In T09, he insults the past life of Amitabha as a fraud. Just going around talking smack bout the Buddha and sangha.
June 21, 2025 at 3:10 PM
Has anyone else ever noticed how often Sakyamuni Buddha in his past lives slanders the dharma? 😅
In MN81, he had to be dragged by the hair to go see the Buddha after disparaging him. In T09, he insults the past life of Amitabha as a fraud. Just going around talking smack bout the Buddha and sangha.
In MN81, he had to be dragged by the hair to go see the Buddha after disparaging him. In T09, he insults the past life of Amitabha as a fraud. Just going around talking smack bout the Buddha and sangha.
A great write-up about the beautiful little temple in the Mission serving San Francisco’s Vietnamese Buddhist community.
San Francisco’s Tu Quang Temple: Vietnamese Buddhism and Regeneration in the Heart of the City - Buddha Weekly: Buddhist Practices, Mindfulness, Meditation
Down the hill from the San Francisco Mint towards a bustling intersection at Duboce Avenue and Market Street, the beautiful blue and white sculptural relief
buddhaweekly.com
June 12, 2025 at 4:25 AM
A great write-up about the beautiful little temple in the Mission serving San Francisco’s Vietnamese Buddhist community.
Okay—took me a few days to get myself to the bookstore, but I cannot tell you how excited I am to crack into Ocean Vuong’s latest novel!
#booksky #oceanvuong #emperorofgladness
#booksky #oceanvuong #emperorofgladness
May 24, 2025 at 12:00 AM
Okay—took me a few days to get myself to the bookstore, but I cannot tell you how excited I am to crack into Ocean Vuong’s latest novel!
#booksky #oceanvuong #emperorofgladness
#booksky #oceanvuong #emperorofgladness
I’m so very grateful to @tricyclemag.bsky.social for the opportunity to share more about Vietnamese #Buddhism and some of the history the oft-overlooked Thien-Pure Land Dual Cultivation tradition. It’s a true blessing to write about and share the dharma w/ others.
Nam mô A di đà Phật
🙏🏼🙇🏻♂️🙏🏼🙇🏻♂️🙏🏼🙇🏻♂️
Nam mô A di đà Phật
🙏🏼🙇🏻♂️🙏🏼🙇🏻♂️🙏🏼🙇🏻♂️
Writer An Tran @an-tran.bsky.social explores the Vietnamese Buddhist tradition of Dual Cultivation—the bringing together of the Pure Land tradition and the Chan-Thien meditation school. Another example of the importance of the Pure Land in East Asian Buddhism.
Accessible link
Accessible link
An Tran on Dual Cultivation
Author and Thien-Pure Land practitioner An Tran writes about the history and practice of the Vietnamese Dual Cultivation tradition.
tricycle.org
May 18, 2025 at 5:05 PM
I’m so very grateful to @tricyclemag.bsky.social for the opportunity to share more about Vietnamese #Buddhism and some of the history the oft-overlooked Thien-Pure Land Dual Cultivation tradition. It’s a true blessing to write about and share the dharma w/ others.
Nam mô A di đà Phật
🙏🏼🙇🏻♂️🙏🏼🙇🏻♂️🙏🏼🙇🏻♂️
Nam mô A di đà Phật
🙏🏼🙇🏻♂️🙏🏼🙇🏻♂️🙏🏼🙇🏻♂️
Absolutely. Vile. 😡
Sotheby’s to auction off a collection of STOLEN gems that had been found in India alongside the relics of the Buddha as an offering, known to have been excavated and taken by British colonists.
Imperial violence against #buddhism still going strong in 2025.
Sotheby’s to auction off a collection of STOLEN gems that had been found in India alongside the relics of the Buddha as an offering, known to have been excavated and taken by British colonists.
Imperial violence against #buddhism still going strong in 2025.
Auction of ancient Indian gems ‘imbued with presence of Buddha’ condemned
Sotheby’s sale of Piprahwa gems, excavated after burial with Buddha’s remains, denounced as perpetuating colonial violence
www.theguardian.com
May 2, 2025 at 1:43 PM
Absolutely. Vile. 😡
Sotheby’s to auction off a collection of STOLEN gems that had been found in India alongside the relics of the Buddha as an offering, known to have been excavated and taken by British colonists.
Imperial violence against #buddhism still going strong in 2025.
Sotheby’s to auction off a collection of STOLEN gems that had been found in India alongside the relics of the Buddha as an offering, known to have been excavated and taken by British colonists.
Imperial violence against #buddhism still going strong in 2025.
Mahasthamaprapta Bodhisattva is a comrade—confirmed. ✊🏼
Honestly, I'm really moved by how pro-labor this #Buddhist scripture seems—like, it appears to argue/imply that the primary duty of both divine and stately power is improving the well-being of the working masses.
🙏🏼 Nam mô Đại thế chi Bồ tát 🙇🏻♂️
Honestly, I'm really moved by how pro-labor this #Buddhist scripture seems—like, it appears to argue/imply that the primary duty of both divine and stately power is improving the well-being of the working masses.
🙏🏼 Nam mô Đại thế chi Bồ tát 🙇🏻♂️
April 18, 2025 at 11:12 PM
Mahasthamaprapta Bodhisattva is a comrade—confirmed. ✊🏼
Honestly, I'm really moved by how pro-labor this #Buddhist scripture seems—like, it appears to argue/imply that the primary duty of both divine and stately power is improving the well-being of the working masses.
🙏🏼 Nam mô Đại thế chi Bồ tát 🙇🏻♂️
Honestly, I'm really moved by how pro-labor this #Buddhist scripture seems—like, it appears to argue/imply that the primary duty of both divine and stately power is improving the well-being of the working masses.
🙏🏼 Nam mô Đại thế chi Bồ tát 🙇🏻♂️
I don’t know if you’ve ever had lapsang souchong, a Chinese black tea popular with westerners, but it tastes the way an Asian grandma’s house smells—that is, like rancid Chinese medicine from a Taoist geomancer called Uncle Seven who smokes like a chimney and gambles behind the 99 Ranch market.
April 16, 2025 at 2:33 PM
I don’t know if you’ve ever had lapsang souchong, a Chinese black tea popular with westerners, but it tastes the way an Asian grandma’s house smells—that is, like rancid Chinese medicine from a Taoist geomancer called Uncle Seven who smokes like a chimney and gambles behind the 99 Ranch market.
What a big moment for Vietnamese #Buddhism in America!
New York City places street sign honoring influential Buddhist monk, Thích Nhất Hạnh
NEW YORK (RNS) — The street co-naming honors the life of the Zen master who once lived and studied on the same block of West 109th Street.
religionnews.com
April 13, 2025 at 8:30 PM
What a big moment for Vietnamese #Buddhism in America!
Real shocker: study finds US textbooks discuss Asians and Asian Americans almost exclusively in the contexts of being invaders, dissidents, and enemies.
U.S. textbooks portray Asians in a limited and negative light, new study shows
An AI-driven analysis of widely used textbooks found that only 1% of sentences contained any mention of Asians or Asian Americans – and most of the references were related to war and foreign affairs r...
news.stanford.edu
April 13, 2025 at 3:23 AM
Real shocker: study finds US textbooks discuss Asians and Asian Americans almost exclusively in the contexts of being invaders, dissidents, and enemies.
Ven. Bhikkhunī Dhammadinnā is one of the rock stars of Early Buddhist Studies. Her papers on the parinirvana of the Buddha's step-mother, and on the past lives of the Buddha Sakyamuni where he was a woman, are incredible reads for my fellow dharma geeks.
Also this interview w/ her just dropped! 👇🏼👀
Also this interview w/ her just dropped! 👇🏼👀
Ven. Bhikkhunī Dhammadinnā: Interview with Miles Osgood
YouTube video by The Ho Center for Buddhist Studies at Stanford
www.youtube.com
April 2, 2025 at 5:31 PM
Ven. Bhikkhunī Dhammadinnā is one of the rock stars of Early Buddhist Studies. Her papers on the parinirvana of the Buddha's step-mother, and on the past lives of the Buddha Sakyamuni where he was a woman, are incredible reads for my fellow dharma geeks.
Also this interview w/ her just dropped! 👇🏼👀
Also this interview w/ her just dropped! 👇🏼👀
Reposted by An Tran
"Building the Pure Land: A Series of Anti-Imperialist Workshops for Jodo Shinshu Buddhists" with Rev. CJ Dunford, presented by the Jodo Shinshu Center. The first in this engaged Pure Land Buddhist series was yesterday.
#buddhism #buddhist #engagedbuddhism #jodoshinshu #shinbuddhism #abolition
#buddhism #buddhist #engagedbuddhism #jodoshinshu #shinbuddhism #abolition
March 17, 2025 at 12:16 PM
"Building the Pure Land: A Series of Anti-Imperialist Workshops for Jodo Shinshu Buddhists" with Rev. CJ Dunford, presented by the Jodo Shinshu Center. The first in this engaged Pure Land Buddhist series was yesterday.
#buddhism #buddhist #engagedbuddhism #jodoshinshu #shinbuddhism #abolition
#buddhism #buddhist #engagedbuddhism #jodoshinshu #shinbuddhism #abolition
Remember Karen Russell promoting VAMPIRES IN THE LEMON GROVE twelve years ago, and how absolutely stunning the short story “Proving Up” was, and how she said she was working on a novel set in the Dust Bowl??
It’s FINALLY here! Cannot WAIT to start digging into this.
It’s FINALLY here! Cannot WAIT to start digging into this.
March 16, 2025 at 6:50 PM
Remember Karen Russell promoting VAMPIRES IN THE LEMON GROVE twelve years ago, and how absolutely stunning the short story “Proving Up” was, and how she said she was working on a novel set in the Dust Bowl??
It’s FINALLY here! Cannot WAIT to start digging into this.
It’s FINALLY here! Cannot WAIT to start digging into this.
This is the real important science.
Pet cats arrived in China via the Silk Road 1,400 years ago, ancient DNA study finds
How and when domestic cats arrived in China has been a mystery. A new analysis of cat DNA suggests traders and diplomats likely carried the pets with them along the Silk Road 1,400 years ago.
www.livescience.com
March 13, 2025 at 2:44 AM
This is the real important science.
Went to Chinatown today and came across this statue that is unambiguously Angida the Snakecatcher (aka Clothsack Arhat), and not Maitreya (aka Clothsack Bodhisattva).
Super cool! You almost never see this—normally, you get conflations between the two, sometimes with the Vietnamese Earth God too.
Super cool! You almost never see this—normally, you get conflations between the two, sometimes with the Vietnamese Earth God too.
March 8, 2025 at 10:31 PM
Went to Chinatown today and came across this statue that is unambiguously Angida the Snakecatcher (aka Clothsack Arhat), and not Maitreya (aka Clothsack Bodhisattva).
Super cool! You almost never see this—normally, you get conflations between the two, sometimes with the Vietnamese Earth God too.
Super cool! You almost never see this—normally, you get conflations between the two, sometimes with the Vietnamese Earth God too.
