CC BY
22
A UNIVERSUM:
№ 4 (107)_апрель. 2024 г.
PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION AND RELIGIOUS STUDIES
DOI - 10.32743/UniSoc.2024.107.4.17121 THE ROLE OF BUDDHISM IN IMPLEMENTING SOCIAL SECURITY IN VIETNAM TODAY
Nguyen Thi Thu Huong
PhD in Philosophy, Lecturer, Faculty of Philosophy VNU University of Social Sciences and Humanities,
Vietnam, Hanoi E-mail: [email protected]
РОЛЬ БУДДИЗМА ВО ВНЕДРЕНИИ СОЦИАЛЬНОЙ БЕЗОПАСНОСТИ ВО ВЬЕТНАМЕ
В НАСТОЯЩЕЕ ВРЕМЯ
Нгуен Тхи Тху Хуонг
канд. филос. наук, преподаватель, Философский факультет, Университет социальных и гуманитарных наук при Вьетнамском национальном университете г. Ханоя,
Вьетнам, г. Ханой
* This research was funded by the VNU University of Social Sciences and Humanities under the project code of CS. 2024.
34
* Данное исследование финансируется Университетом социальных и гуманитарных наук ВНУ, Код CS. 2024.34
ABSTRACT
The activities of Buddhist monks, nuns, and laypeople in ensuring social security are rooted in the compassionate heart of the Buddha and the desire for happiness derived from the law of karma. According to Buddhist philosophy, to achieve a full and lasting happy life, everyone must share and support those who are less fortunate in life, alleviate the suffering of the vulnerable, and recognize that when society as a whole is happy, each individual also feels joy. Charity is the most prominent way for Buddhism to engage in the world and spread its teachings. Over the years, being deeply influenced by the Buddha's teachings that always prioritize all living beings, the humanitarian and social assistance work of the Vietnam Buddhist Sangha has achieved many significant accomplishments, contributing to ensuring social security for the people.
It should be taken into account that within the framework of a short text, the author of the article leaves the details of some statements for separate consideration. In particular, the problem of nutritional value of vegetarianism and the potential harm of vegetarianism in certain contexts.
АННОТАЦИЯ
Деятельность буддийских монахов, монахинь и мирян по обеспечению социальной безопасности коренится в сострадательном сердце Будды и стремлении к счастью, вытекающем из закона кармы. Согласно буддийской философии, чтобы достичь полноценной и продолжительной счастливой жизни, каждый должен делиться и поддерживать тех, кому в жизни повезло меньше, облегчать страдания уязвимых и признавать, что когда общество в целом счастливо, каждый человек также испытывает радость. Благотворительность - это самый известный способ взаимодействия буддизма с миром и распространения своего учения. На протяжении многих лет, находясь под глубоким влиянием учений Будды, который всегда ставит в в центре внимания все живые существа, деятельность Вьетнамской буддийской сангхи по оказанию гуманитарной и социальной помощи достигла многих значительных успехов, внося свой вклад в обеспечение социальной безопасности людей.
Следует учитывать, что автор статьи оставляет ряд утверждений для отдельного рассмотрения. В частности, проблему пищевой ценности вегетарианства и потенциального вреда вегетарианства в определенных контекстах.
Keywords: Buddhism, social security, charity, social assistance, Vietnam Buddhist Sangha.
Ключевые слова: буддизм, социальная безопасность, благотворительность, социальная помощь, вьетнамская буддийская сангха.
Библиографическое описание: Nguyen T.T. THE ROLE OF BUDDHISM IN IMPLEMENTING SOCIAL SECURITY IN VIETNAM TODAY // Universum: общественные науки : электрон. научн. журн. 2024. 4(107). URL: https://7universum. com/ru/social/archive/item/17121
Introduction
From the very beginning of its formation, Buddhism has manifested the spirit of saving the suffering and the afflicted in the teachings of the Buddha. The spirit of the Six Perfections (generosity, morality, patience, diligence, meditation, and wisdom) is the path to enlightenment, and the first thing that must be done is to practice generosity. The methods in spreading the Dharma of Buddhism not only liberate and alleviate the suffering of many lives, but also contribute to making nations and societies better and better. In particular, the issues of social security, social justice, and especially social charity work are prominent - something that the Buddha always emphasized and focused on. Social security in Buddhism is a system, a policy in the charity work and assistance of the Sangha, and the solutions of the Buddhist community to help all members of social groups cope with risks and socio-economic shocks that cause them to lose their source of income due to illness, maternity, accidents, diseases, old age and no longer able to work, poverty, etc. The social security activities of Buddhism are not only a manifestation of the compassionate spirit of saving the suffering of the Buddhist followers, but from the perspective of Religious Studies, they are also important manifestations of the social support function of Buddhism. It is the material support for people in need,
and at the same time, it is also a great spiritual comfort for those who are approached and benefited. Therefore, it can be seen that the social security work of Buddhism is one of the important social capital and community capital. This article explores the value of social security in Buddhism and clarifies the role of Buddhism in implementing social security in Vietnam today.
1. The Buddhist View on Social Security
Buddhism views life as a sea of suffering, and the fundamental purpose of Buddhist teachings is to liberate people from suffering. However, liberation does not mean practicing asceticism and avoiding society. On the contrary, liberation is the complete and conscientious fulfillment of all the duties and responsibilities of a citizen in society. The teachings and activities of Buddhism themselves always carry a sense of community with a high sense of social responsibility, acting for the benefit of others and the common good of all. Perhaps that is why the two propositions of "propagating Buddhism" and "benefiting sentient beings" are always linked together in Buddhist teachings.
Although the concept of "social responsibility" does not appear in Buddhist scriptures, the spirit of social responsibility is deeply embedded in Buddhist thought. The "Sutra on the Encouragement of the Bodhisattva Mind" and the "Lotus Sutra" both mention the spirit of selflessness and altruism, urging people to live with responsibility for the community and to show their compassion to others. Many fundamental
Buddhist teachings deal with fundamental virtues, and these virtues also reflect responsibility towards others, towards humanity, and towards society. Therefore, in Buddhism, the concept of social responsibility revolves around the Five Precepts (abstain from killing, stealing, sexual misconduct, lying, and intoxication), the Four Immeasurables (loving-kindness, compassion, empathetic joy, and equanimity), the Six Paramitas (generosity, ethical conduct, forbearance,, diligence, meditation, and wisdom), and the Four Right Exertions (prevent nonvirtues, abandon nonvirtues, generate new virtues, and enhance virtues) [1, p. 68]. The Buddhist scripture "Vo Minh La Sat Tap" states: "Generating goodwill, creating virtuous actions, and transmuting the cycle of birth and death", which means that harmonizing with others, engaging in actions that create harmony, is also a virtuous and meritorious endeavor. Simultaneously, it has the effect of transcending the cycle of birth and death. Buddhism calls for equality amongst people and promotes harmony in society. Buddhism is ready to help everyone, all classes unconditionally, guiding them towards the values of truth, goodness, and beauty. Based on the theory of dependent origination: "When this exists, that comes to be. With the arising (uppada) of this, that arises. When this does not exist, that does not come to be. With the cessation (nirodha) of this, that ceases"[3, p. 24], Buddhism has found the correlation between all things, all events, and different people in society. Perhaps that is why Buddhism has the great power to gather all classes, creating bonds, arousing traditional humanistic values and compassion, guiding people to cultivate good intentions.
At it's core, Buddhism focuses on compassion, love, and the awareness of the interdependence between humans and society. From the teachings of the Buddha, we learn valuable ethical principles, such as tolerance, compassion, and loving-kindness. Buddhist ethics is not only about helping the poor, but also about building a social environment with balance and peace. Charity is a moral activity that embodies the national spirit of mutual love and support. When combined with Buddhism, it manifests the spirit of entering the world to save the suffering and share the difficulties of those in need. The spirit and activities of Buddhism contribute to ensuring social security for the disadvantaged. Those who follow the Dharma will become good contributors to society, and participating in social security work is completely in line with Buddhist teachings and ethics.
Based on the spirit of respect and elevation of humanity, placing man at the center, Buddhist social welfare activities were born to meet the urgent need for support of specific people to overcome their difficulties. In each of its activities, Buddhism always prioritizes the value, dignity, and human rights. The pagoda is a place where the mind is focused on saving all sentient beings equally. Regardless of gender, occupation, age, or social status, anyone who has difficulties, misfortunes in life or is abandoned, and has nowhere to go can come to the pagoda to be helped and cared for. Not
only that, Buddhism also aids others with health problems in hospitals through charity meals; to the lone elderly through the clothes made by love; to the poor through daily necessities like rice or salt; to children in mountainous areas through warm clothes and spacious classrooms; to families with revolutionary merits through houses, to compatriots affected by natural disasters, floods, traffic accidents... It is this humanitarian value that has made Buddhist social welfare programs have a wide appeal and spread in society, having a positive impact on the spiritual life of the people. Through activities aimed at the community, Buddhism has entered the lifestyle and thinking of many Vietnamese people, from everyday eating and living to other important social issues. This not only affirms the positive contributions that Buddhism has brought to society but also affirms the right existence and immortal vitality of Buddhism.
2. The current status of Vietnamese Buddhism's involvement in social welfare
Social security is considered a regular task of the State and the whole society. Previously, Buddhism mainly participated in humanitarian and charitable activities. The main form was donating money to help compatriots affected by natural disasters and floods. Regular assistance primarily focused on specific charitable institutions like shelters and Tue Tinh Duong. Nowadays, Buddhism participates in all core aspects of social security to varying degrees. Every year, thousands of billions of Vietnamese dongs are donated to areas such as social security, poverty reduction, environmental protection, climate change response, education, and community healthcare. Buddhist social security programs consistently attract widespread attention and contribute significantly to building the national social security system. The social charity activities of Buddhism in recent years have left a positive impression on society, clearly demonstrating the role of Buddhism in social security.
Firstly, Buddhism in Vietnam actively particpates in charitable humanitarian activities.
Charity is a key aspect of social security, a core task for Buddhists and an act of "entering the world" for Buddhism. These activities demonstrate the compassionate spirit of saving the suffering and serve as a social support function. Buddhism not only helps people through spiritual means but also provides basic material necessities. Vietnamese Buddhism places great importance on charitable and humanitarian activities and is one of the religions with the greatest contributions to the socialization of such activities.
Annually, the Vietnam Buddhist Sangha supports the Fund for the Poor program organized by the Central Committee of the Vietnam Fatherland Front and regularly participates in relief work for compatriots affected by natural disasters and floods. Buddhist establishments nationwide have issued circulars mobilizing support for people in difficulty, building Tue Tinh hospitals, traditional medicine clinics, combined Eastern and Western medicine clinics, offering free medical examinations and medicine,
building schools, nursing homes, and orphanages. Currently, the Vietnam Buddhist Sangha has over 1,200 charity classes; 42 boarding and semi-boarding kindergartens for orphans and disabled children, with over 25,000 children; over 25 nursing homes caring for over 1,000 elderly people; and about 14 free vocational schools that have trained and introduced jobs to thousands of students. This model is increasingly replicated and developed, contributing to reducing the burden on families and society.
The Vietnam Buddhist Sangha also pays special attention to showing gratitude to those who sacrificed for the country's independence and freedom. The Sangha has donated and supported for life thousands of Vietnamese Heroic Mothers, built thousands of houses of love and compassion; thousands of billions of Vietnamese dongs have been donated to share and alleviate the pain for families with members who are war invalids, martyrs, and people with revolutionary merit. With the tradition of "remembering the source when drinking water," the Vietnam Buddhist Sangha annually organizes many large prayer ceremonies for martyrs in various cemeteries nationwide. Additionally, activities like building concrete bridges, rural roads, digging clean water wells, donating blood, contributing to charity funds, donating bicycles to students, wheelchairs to poor patients, supporting coffins, providing free eye surgery for poor patients with cataracts and congenital heart disease, giving Tet and Mid-Autumn Festival gifts to children, offering charity pots of porridge, and providing charity meals for poor patients are all areas of concern for the Sangha, which directs monks, nuns, and Buddhists to actively participate.
During the complicated COVID-19 outbreak in several provinces and cities across the country, the Vietnam Buddhist Sangha actively responded to the call of the President, the Government, and the Prime Ministers. The Central Committee of the Vietnam Fatherland Front issued a circular and an official dispatch mobilizing the Central Committee, the Central Boards, the Executive Boards of the Vietnam Buddhist Sangha at all levels, monks, nuns, and Buddhists to support and contribute to the COVID-19 Vaccine Fund. The Executive Council of the Sangha donated 2 billion VND to the COVID-19 Prevention and Control Fund of the Central Committee of the Vietnam Fatherland Front and registered 20 billion VND worth of essential goods for relief to the epidemic areas. In response to the Prime Minister's call for the Vaccine Fund, the Executive Council donated 3.5 billion VND to the Fund's account and presented 2 billion VND to Ho Chi Minh City for the fight against the epidemic. In the 4 months of the 4th COVID-19 outbreak, from late April to late August, the Vietnam Buddhist Sangha contributed 135 billion VND to the COVID-19 Prevention and Control Fund of the Central Committee of the Vietnam Fatherland Front and the Government's Vaccine Fund, along with the contributions of the Buddhist Executive Boards nationwide to the Fatherland Front's vaccine funds in provinces and cities. Additionally, the Vietnam Buddhist Sangha also supported many medical
equipment such as ventilators, oxygen generators, protective clothing, masks, food, and 5 million meals for people in difficulty in the epidemic areas and frontline doctors and nurses. The total estimated value was 382.5 billion VND. Besides material support, the Sangha also received 1,250 applications from monks and nuns to volunteer on the front lines of the fight against the epidemic, of which 150 people participated in field hospital No. 10, 13 in Ho Chi Minh City, and in Binh Duong, Dong Nai, and Long An. Five pagodas and religious establishments in Bac Giang, Nghe An, and Binh Duong were requisitioned as places to care for COVID-19 patients and quarantine facilities [2, p. 28].
In the 5 years of 2017 to 2022, in addition to spreading the Dharma, the Vietnam Buddhist Sangha at all levels actively participated in social charity work and poverty reduction with a total value of over 7,000 billion VND. At the 9th National Congress of Buddhism for the term 2022-2027, the Vietnam Buddhist Sangha continued to determine to unify its will and action, to respond to and participate in the emulation movements for the benefit of the country, the people, the religion, and life, to join hands with the people and the people of the whole country to strive for the goal: A rich people, a strong country, democracy, equality, and civilization.
Secondly, Buddhism in Vietnam contributed to building a healthy business environment as well as in reducing poverty.
The Buddha taught people to conduct business with their own labor, capital, and intelligence, avoiding cheating, banned goods, and products harmful to health and society. He emphasized earning a living honestly and ethically, each individual working to create wealth and support themselves and their families. True happiness cannot be achieved by trampling on others (following the principle of Right Livelihood in the Eightfold Path). In today's market economy, Buddhist ethics plays a significant role in educating and guiding people towards good practices, promoting healthy and sustainable economic development. Many Buddhist entrepreneurs, influenced by these principles, integrate Buddhist philosophy into managing and developing their organizations. They contribute to building a healthy business environment, devoting part of their profits to social and charitable activities, helping those in need, and leaving positive impressions within the community.
Conversely, a flourishing economy leads to a better social life, including an increase in spiritual activities. Conversely, investment in spiritual activities also contributes to economic development by creating jobs and livelihoods for individuals. This demonstrates the mutually beneficial, symbiotic relationship between religion and the economy. In Vietnam, numerous spiritual complexes, pagodas, and Buddhist monasteries have contributed to economic growth, fostering a robust spiritual tourism industry. Today, this form of tourism is highly popular, with destinations like Huong Pagoda, Yen Tu, and Bai Dinh attracting thousands of tourists annually. These sites also create stable jobs for thousands
of people, helping to reduce poverty and unemployment rates. Buddhist architectural works provide opportunities for industries like statue carving and bronze casting to flourish, resulting in the creation of valuable cultural and spiritual works with both cultural and economic significance. Religious activities have generated numerous jobs for companies operating within a religious framework, particularly those associated with Buddhism. This type of business is experiencing increasing growth in major cities like Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi, as well as in areas with tourist-attracting spiritual works. With 53,941 monks and nuns, 18,466 monasteries, more than 16 million Buddhists, and tens of millions of Buddhist believers, the demand for services catering to followers is very high [2, p. 6]. Consequently, Buddhism has addressed the employment needs of hundreds of thousands of workers.
Thirdly, Vietnamese Buddhism builds happy families.
The Buddha placed great importance on human happiness. He offered teachings on married life and family in various sutras, including the Sutra of the Six Lofty Heights. In this sutra, the Buddha taught: A husband should love and be faithful to his wife, provide for her material needs, entrust her with managing the household, and respect her family.; A wife should respect and be faithful to her husband, manage the household well, work diligently, and treat her husband's family and friends with kindness. These principles are reasonable and ethical, representing a healthy moral lifestyle and key factors in creating happiness in married life and family. With his wisdom and compassion, the Buddha offered practical and essential teachings for building a happy marriage. Regardless of the country or era, the Buddha's teachings on marriage and family remain relevant and valuable.
In traditional Vietnamese society, heavily influenced by feudalism and Confucianism, gender inequality within families and society was deeply ingrained in the lives of many generations. The introduction and influence of Buddhism played a role in mitigating the rigid Confucian ideas in family relationships. The Buddhist concept of equality and respect for women, combined with the Vietnamese tradition of honoring the Mother Goddess, created unique characteristics in Vietnamese family culture. Therefore, although women had a lower status than men, their position in the Vietnamese family was still much higher compared to other Eastern countries influenced by Confucianism.
Today, globalization and international integration have significantly impacted traditional ethical values, including family ethics. Many modern Vietnamese families are facing difficulties and challenges in maintaining their marriages, leading to breakups and a decline in moral values. This affects the development of the younger generation's character and the relationships between family members. Therefore, once again, Buddhist philosophy helps people awaken and guides them towards building families based on filial piety, compassion, patience, and precepts, concentration, and wisdom. In reality, Buddhist ethics align with Vietnamese morality and lifestyle and have made positive
contributions to building and developing Vietnamese families, both traditionally and in modern times. The Vietnam Buddhist Sangha regularly organizes preaching missions in many places, spreading Buddhist philosophy and practices to build good morals, maintain national cultural identity, reduce social evils and vices, and guide followers to cultivate their minds, do good deeds, avoid evil, and love and support each other, demonstrating the good qualities of Buddhists. These efforts aim to help people avoid ignorance, control desires and greed, and bring about clarity, peace, and happiness for themselves and build happy families.
Fourthly, Vietnam Buddhism helps in protecting the environment and climate change.
The Buddhist theory of Dependent Origination teaches that all life is interconnected. Nature is an extension of our bodies, and we cannot exist without the environment. If the environment is polluted, our lives will be destroyed. Protecting the environment is therefore protecting human life. Buddhism respects the lives of all sentient beings and encourages a friendly relationship and sustainable harmony between humans and all things, with nature and the universe, as a condition for protecting life. Environmental pollution causes climate change. Every year, natural disasters such as floods cause countless human and material losses for our people. The main causes are humanmade, such as deforestation, indiscriminate exploitation of mineral resources, untreated industrial and agricultural waste, and radioactive substances, which directly threaten the environment, causing it to change and become angry. In addition, there are internal factors in humans such as greed, selfishness, and pragmatism that cause serious consequences. It is alarming that environmental disasters are showing signs of increasing every year.
Faced with the current environmental degradation, the Buddhist spirit of engagement in environmental protection is reflected in encouraging Buddhist followers to practice vegetarianism. Vegetarianism not only protects the health of the person who practices it, but is also the most effective way to protect the environment. The Buddhist Sangha organizes retreats with many rich and diverse contents, of which environmental protection is a focus. At the same time, it educates people about the close relationship between humans and nature and the environment, and especially guides people to practice a lifestyle based on Buddhist ethics, which is to strive for good and to respect the lives of all beings. It encourages followers to live close to the environment, to be in harmony with nature, and to minimize direct impacts on the environment. It is important to avoid indiscriminate exploitation of natural resources for profit, as this will cause many natural disasters and suffering.
The topics that Buddhism has been implementing in practice in recent times are very practical and have made certain contributions, such as: Propagating and explaining the meaning of limiting killing, not hunting wild animals, not destroying forests, but increasing afforestation and greening bare hills and barren land. Respond to the Prime Minister's call not to use single-use plastic (anti-plastic waste). Buddhism has been
doing its best to join the community in building a peaceful society, where people enjoy peace and happiness, and building a real paradise on earth.
The Vietnam Buddhist Sangha also strengthens its guidance and urges the Central Boards and the Boards of Buddhist Management of provinces and cities to strictly implement their commitments on environmental protection and climate change response. It is important to protect and preserve the landscape and environment at the monasteries managed by the Sangha. The Sangha regularly mobilizes monks and nuns and Buddhists to eliminate customs and living habits that cause environmental pollution and increase climate change, to build green, clean, and beautiful Buddhist facilities, to coordinate with the Front and the state management agency on the environment to organize training courses to improve the environmental protection and climate change response capacity of all levels of the Sangha, and to support Buddhist organizations in 63 provinces and cities to build and replicate model projects in Buddhism and the people to participate in environmental protection and climate change response in accordance with the specific characteristics and conditions of Buddhism in each locality in order to raise awareness of proactive prevention, avoidance of natural disasters, diseases, and adaptation to climate change. They coordinate mobilization, call for support and contribution of material and spiritual resources from organizations, individuals, and businesses to support the environmental protection program and climate change response.
However, besides the great contributions, the social security activities of Vietnamese Buddhism still have some shortcomings and limitations. Social activities of Buddhism are diverse and rich, but most of them focus on the humanitarian and charity aspects; not paying due attention to the aspect of social security policy, ensuring social welfare. The connectivity of the system in the social and charitable activities of Buddhism is not high; the organizational level of the social welfare team is still limited, not professional. Lack of understanding of the law and lack of close coordination with the local government have caused some orphanages and disabled children to be abused, affecting the reputation of Buddhism. Some serious incidents of financial and ethical management have been revealed in some Buddhist organizations, which has damaged the reputation of Buddhism and raised doubts about the truthfulness of the charitable activities that this religion carries out.
3. Some basic solutions to promote the role of Vietnamese Buddhism in participating in social security work
The first solution is to raise awareness among monks, nuns, Buddhist followers, and the general public about participating in Buddhist activities that contribute to social security.
The Vietnam Buddhist Sangha needs to strengthen its efforts to raise awareness among all segments of society, especially monks, nuns, and Buddhists, about social charity activities. This propaganda work
should not be the responsibility of a single department or sector, but rather needs the participation of the entire political system, particularly the support of the Buddhist clergy. It is crucial to widely and regularly disseminate the spirit of compassion, joy, and alleviating the suffering of humanity, in line with the Buddhist teaching "Serving sentient beings, which means offering reverence to the Buddhas" to monks, nuns, and Buddhists. To ensure the effectiveness of the propaganda work, the Vietnam Buddhist Sangha needs to collaborate with various central radio and television stations (such as Vietnam Television and Voice of Vietnam) and some local stations and news agencies. This collaboration should involve building programs that introduce charitable and humanitarian activities, as well as efforts to ensure social security by monks, nuns, and Buddhists both domestically and internationally. The goal is for everyone to understand the value of kindness and good deeds in maintaining a stable life.
Furthermore, Buddhist Sangha at all local levels need to continuously expand their preaching programs for the general public and Buddhists. Preaching and Dharma talks are essential activities of Buddhism, helping to spread the Buddha's message of love to everyone. By integrating the importance of good deeds into their teachings, they can help the public understand the role such actions play in leading a happy and fulfilling life.
The second solution is to continue to organize and effectively implement social security activities in Buddhism.
The Vietnam Buddhist Sangha needs to encourage followers to actively participate in social and charitable activities, increase Buddhist resources to participate in social security work, and expand fundraising activities overseas. Currently, about 5 million Vietnamese people are working and contributing in many countries and territories around the world. The majority of Vietnamese people overseas are followers of many different religions and beliefs, of which Buddhism has the largest number. Therefore, the Sangha should focus on propagating and persuading overseas Vietnamese who are Buddhists to join the movements of the Sangha in the country. Form investment funds to contribute to maintaining and developing the relief capital for difficult circumstances. The Sangha must always have a plan to proactively generate financial resources to ensure regular emergency relief activities when there are adverse factors, as well as regular subsidy activities. Proactively generating financial resources is understood that in addition to the money donated by benefactors, the Sangha also needs to increase the amount of money donated to avoid dependence on benefactors, and at the same time expand the scope and beneficiaries. Some options for using the donated money are converted into investment funds for profit, in order to increase the flow of charity capital and proactively manage finances. The form of using that investment fund can be profit-making investment and combined investment with social assistance.
It is necessary to build a mechanism for information exchange between the Buddhist Sangha and management agencies, charitable organizations to be able to grasp information about cases needing support quickly, promptly and effectively. The Social Charity Board of the Sangha at all levels, especially the district level, needs to regularly contact the commune, ward, and town authorities to grasp the information about the circumstances of poor families. Grasping information from the grassroots authorities also helps social and charitable activities to be carried out to the right people, in accordance with the level of need for assistance, avoiding the situation that individuals only need a little support but are supported a lot, conversely, people need a lot of support and often are not fully cared for.
The third solution is to establish a specialized agency to inspect and supervise social security activities.
The Vietnam Buddhist Sangha needs to establish an inspection agency to regularly monitor and inspect issues related to charitable and humanitarian activities such as: the time of the activity, the number of participants, the amount of money donated, the amount of money has been helped for the poor... In addition, when detecting signs of fraud, the inspection and supervision agency has the full right to request individuals and organizations to stop operating and is allowed to collect evidence of fraud to submit to the competent authority. At the same time, it is necessary to build and consolidate the organizational system of the Vietnam Buddhist Sangha at all levels; to rectify discipline in the Sangha, resolutely eliminate superstitious acts, borrowing the name of Buddhism to violate the law; strengthen the review, summary of lessons learned in participating in social security activities of Buddhism.
Conclusion
In the process of integration and development, new social problems arise due to economic and social changes, hindering the sustainable development of the country. Vietnamese Buddhism is an important force, contributing significantly to solving the social security problems that arise. Over the years, the Vietnam Buddhist Sangha has made major contributions to social security work, demonstrating a high spirit of engagement and great responsibility to the community. Thanks to the dedication, effort, and intelligence of monks, nuns, and Buddhists, the social security activities of the Sangha have contributed to "propagating the Dharma" and promoting traditional values such as "remembering the source while drinking water" and "the good leaves cover the torn ones." Despite the achievements, the social security work of the Vietnam Buddhist Sangha still has some limitations that need to be overcome for further improvement in the future. The article provides some basic solutions to promote the role of Vietnamese Buddhism in social security work, so that this activity can become more widespread and achieve greater effectiveness.
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