The Khmer people in the Mekong Delta have a rich and diverse cultural history, with the highlight being the Khmer Theravada Buddhist pagodas and the towers in the villages with unique architecture and special decorative motifs. The spiritual culture, language and writing of the Khmer people were formed long ago, gradually perfected during the development process and have now basically been complete enough to be used in all aspects.
Along with that, Khmer literature has many genres such as myths, fairy tales, fables, folk tales, poems, epics, prose, folk songs, proverbs, idioms, and traditional festivals of the Khmer people are associated with the legends of Southern Buddhism such as Chol chnam Thmay, Dontal, Ok om bok,... and the theatrical art forms of Ro Bam, Du Ke,... are very unique.
Sharing with reporters, Venerable - Dr. Ly Hung, Deputy Head of the Central Legal Department of the Vietnam Buddhist Sangha, Deputy Head of the Executive Committee - Head of the Legal Department of the Vietnam Buddhist Sangha in Can Tho City, Deputy Director of the Khmer Theravada Buddhist Academy said: "The performing arts of the Khmer people in the Mekong Delta are unique cultural products formed and developed in the process of labor, creativity, conquering nature, fighting against foreign invaders, contributing greatly to educating the Khmer people in the Mekong Delta about compassion, altruism, pure love between couples, passionate love for the homeland and country...".
According to Venerable - Dr. Ly Hung, in addition to preserving and promoting the traditional historical and cultural values of the nation, Khmer Theravada Buddhism also actively educates the Khmer ethnic community about ethics, etiquette, and order according to the Buddha's philosophy of goodness, compassion, and forgiveness; at the same time, it educates about a healthy economy in the Khmer community. It is from the education and teachings of Theravada Buddhism that help the Khmer people in the Mekong Delta always have an upright, honest lifestyle, respect for morality, not compete or deceive, everyone in the village and hamlet always knows how to give in, support, help each other, exchange experiences with each other, ... thereby developing human resources, contributing to promoting sustainable economic development, stable and civilized society.
Besides, Theravada Buddhism is not simply a religion, satisfying the spiritual needs of the Khmer people, but in history, this religion also plays a particularly important role in the development of the Khmer community. Khmer monks are Khmer intellectuals, they possess all the quintessence of knowledge accumulated over many generations of the Khmer people from language to art, production experience... and pass it on to Khmer youth studying at the pagoda, helping them to improve their awareness, understanding and apply it to life to develop the family economy and society after returning to secular life; at the same time, actively participate in social welfare activities such as building schools, building bridges, and making roads to serve the people's interests.
In recent years, the Party and the State have issued many policies and guidelines for socio-economic development in areas with a large Khmer ethnic group. On that basis, Khmer Theravada Buddhism in general and Khmer monks in particular have coordinated with authorities at all levels to integrate propaganda into lectures on sutras, laws, and treatises at pagodas, thereby contributing to the effective implementation of socio-economic development programs for the Khmer ethnic group in the Mekong Delta.
According to Venerable - Dr. Ly Hung, preserving and promoting traditional cultural values is a solution that directly affects the promotion of Khmer cultural values associated with Khmer Theravada Buddhism in the Mekong Delta in the current period; at the same time, preserving the spiritual cultural values of the Khmer ethnic group to meet the requirements and development goals of social life, contributing to strengthening the great national unity bloc.
In addition, Buddhist education can orient the development of a humane and comprehensive education. Therefore, Buddhist education in general, and Southern Buddhist education in particular, in the period of international integration, is an issue that needs to be paid attention to in order to improve promptly according to the integration trend in the coming time. In order to effectively implement the policy of equality, solidarity, promote human resources, and support each other for mutual development in the community of Vietnamese ethnic groups, in the coming time, it is necessary to continue to study and implement a number of solutions to promote the role of Khmer Southern Buddhist dignitaries and monks to support the propaganda and implementation of the Party's guidelines and policies and the State's laws to promote sustainable development in the Khmer community in the Mekong Delta.
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