Thích Minh Tuệ* is a Vietnamese Buddhist practitioner who has lived for several years as a wandering renunciant in Vietnam and more recently in other parts of Asia. Traveling primarily on foot, he relies on a life of simplicity and minimal possessions. His practice is centered on long walking pilgrimages and elements associated with dhūtaguṇas—ascetic practices described in the early Buddhist tradition—emphasizing contentment with little, steadfastness, mindfulness, and silence.
Although widely known through public encounters along his journeys, he lives and practices quietly, independent of monasteries or formal institutions, orienting his life toward direct practice rather than public roles. He is not affiliated with any religious institution and does not speak from an official or representative position.
Accordingly, this interview with Thích Minh Tuệ focuses not on biography or interpretation, but on lived practice: intention, attention, silence, and letting go. Readers are invited to receive his words in the same spirit in which they were offered—plainly, without embellishment, and oriented toward practice rather than personality.
BDG: What intention guides your way of practice?
Thích Minh Tuệ: I am very fortunate to have read Buddhist scriptures, and from that I have developed faith. Looking back on my life, I realize that thanks to the Buddhist teachings, my life has been less troubled. I am now increasingly confident and committed to learning from the Buddhadharma.
BDG: Which practices are essential for you each day?
Thích Minh Tuệ: The main practice is to tame our mind, to subdue desires and the three poisons, greed, anger, and delusion through a virtuous life. In this way, we can purify our minds.
BDG: While walking, where do you rest your attention?
Thích Minh Tuệ: I chose walking because this provides an opportunity to practice the Dharma without reliance on external factors. When I walk, I have no expectation of help from anyone, and I don’t need to depend on anyone else. I can practice by myself without disturbing anyone. Walking is very simple and conducive to Dharma practice.
Walking in the forest is very convenient for those without money because there’s no need to build paths or use vehicles; it’s a natural gift for practicing meditation and improving health.
BDG: How does silence support your practice?
Thích Minh Tuệ: Silence and quietude are very conducive for cultivating wisdom.
BDG: When possessions fall away to nearly zero, what remains?
Thích Minh Tuệ: When we remove our attachment to possessions, this offers us a chance to liberate our minds without suffering or afflictions, to find real happiness.
Letting go of everything leads to the complete eradication of afflictions and defilements in the mind, and there is no longer any attachment; it leads to peace, wisdom, liberation, and finally nirvana.
But we have to be careful to recognize whether we’ve really abandoned our attachments. For example, perhaps we might give up our money, but ask a relative to look after it for us. In such cases this indicates that we haven’t really surrendered our attachments.
By giving up one’s job one can be totally free from any kind of control, obligation, or duty. If we give up our possessions and money, we don’t need to waste mental energy worrying about thieves or anyone who might try to take them away from us.
BDG: If someone reading this feels called to practice more deeply, what is one thing they could begin with?
Thích Minh Tuệ: For one who wishes to take their practice deeper and further, with more diligence, their first priority should be to approach the Buddha’s teachings and the sutras. Studying the Buddha’s teachings directly will provide a very good foundation, preparation, and orientation to go further.
By having a good knowledge of the Buddha’s teachings, on the way to becoming totally enlightened—a buddha, the practitioner can stabilize their devotion and trust on the path. Trust, devotion, and belief are the most important qualities for a practitioner.
BDG: What kind of clinging seems to cause the most suffering for lay practitioners today?
Thích Minh Tuệ: First lust and attachment. These are the main causes of suffering. Whoever is able to free themselves of lust and attachments can be totally happy.
Attached love breeds sorrow
Attached love breeds fear;
whoever breaks free from conditional/attached love
will be free from sorrow and fear. (The Dhammapada)
BDG: What brings joy on the path?
Thích Minh Tuệ: Detaching oneself from desires and attachments leads to a life of purity and virtue, free from the influences of lust and greed. Overcoming greed brings joy. If we cultivate our discipline, meditative concentration, and wisdom, these three together will automatically bring joy on the path.
BDG: What supports devotion?
Thích Minh Tuệ: Trust in the Four Noble Truths. Through devotion we can understand suffering, the causes of suffering, nirvana, and the conditions for attaining nirvana. With devotion, we can understand these causes and conditions deeply, which of course is helpful for our path. As such, I’m so happy to practice as a monastic, as the Buddha taught.
BDG: What weakens practice?
Thích Minh Tuệ: Once again we return to the three poisons, which always serve to undermine our practice. Another factor is our karma, and the circumstances of our birth. We can improve our karma by abiding by the precepts and leading a life of purity and virtue. Even laypeople can practice the Dharma and improve their karma by adhering to the five basic precepts or eight precepts. By keeping these vows we can purify our karma.
BDG: What does it mean to you personally to practice in Lumbini, where the Buddha was born?
Thích Minh Tuệ: Actually, here or anywhere else in the world, if one can practice and follow the Buddhadharma sincerely, we can progress along the path to enlightenment. It makes no difference.
BDG: Is there any other reflection you’d like to share with our readers?
Thích Minh Tuệ: All people can benefit from learning the Buddha’s teachings and observing the five basic precepts. By doing so, anyone can have a peaceful life. If more people do so, we can have a peaceful world. This is the best path to world peace.
BDG: Thank you venerable for sharing so much of your time with us today.
With gratitude to Ani Khonchog Chodron for her interpretation and patience.
* “Thích” is a prefix used by Vietnamese monastics to signify someone following the path of the Buddha. It is included here as part of Minh Tuệ’s Dharma name simply as a mark of respect, although he has no official monastic status or sangha affiliation in Vietnam.
Related features from BDG
He Walks Like Christ, He Walks with the Buddha: A Tribute to Thích Minh Tuệ
Thích Minh Tuệ Is a Monk – The Dhamma Has Already Decided
The Bow That Shook the Sangha: How Thích Minh Tuệ Stirred a Global Reckoning on Authenticity, Authority, and the Dharma
Thich Minh Tue – A Living Dharma Under Threat: Will India Uphold the Buddha’s Legacy?
Thich Minh Tue: A Therapist for a Wounded Society
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A group of high-profile official monks is actively campaigning against Thich Minh Tue. This opposition stems from the significant impact his movement has had on their own standing; many people have stopped donating to these monks, who often preach Buddhist philosophy while simultaneously soliciting funds for lavish architectural projects. This contrast has led many to distinguish between what they perceive as ‘real’ versus ‘fake’ monastics. While official monks claim legitimacy through state licenses and view Thich Minh Tue as ‘fake’ for lacking official registration, many see this stance as a violation of both original Buddhist teachings and religious freedom. It is highly likely that individuals representing established Buddhist institutions will now use threats and pressure to try and suppress this report.
I completely agree with your perspective. In reality, the light of sincerity needs no titles or lavish architecture to shine. Instead of debating “real” vs. “fake,” let us allow Thich Minh Tue’s vows to inspire us through love and renunciation. When we choose to cherish an ascetic practitioner, we are also learning to love the most virtuous part of ourselves.
I fully agree with the above assessment. In addition, many observers have noticed signs of a coordinated media campaign: several large YouTube channels appear to have been enlisted, along with a flood of comments that slander, defame, and deliberately distort information about Thich Minh Tue using highly uncivil language. Such behavior not only harms an individual, but also damages the image of Buddhism itself, running directly counter to the principles of compassion and Right Speech taught in Buddhist doctrine.
A Theravāda Vinaya-Based Critique of“Thich Minh Tue: The Dharma Unadorned”
The article “Thich Minh Tue: The Dharma Unadorned” presents a moving portrait of personal sincerity, ascetic commitment, and a perceived return to “original Buddhism.” Such narratives understandably resonate in an age disillusioned with institutional religion. However, when examined through the lens of the Theravāda Dhamma–Vinaya and traditional Buddhist ecclesiology, the article risks promoting a form of spiritual individualism that diverges significantly from the Buddha’s established path.
1. The Problem of Self-OrdinationThe article implicitly frames Thich Minh Tue’s self-determined status as an authentic revival of early Buddhist practice. Yet in the Theravāda tradition, a bhikkhu is not constituted by personal conviction, lifestyle, or attire alone. The Buddha explicitly laid down that higher ordination (upasampadā) must be conferred by a quorum of properly ordained monks within a valid consecrated boundary (sīmā). This requirement is not a later institutional invention but a foundational element of the Vinaya itself.
In the Mahāparinibbāna Sutta (DN 16), the Buddha declared that after his passing, the Dhamma and Vinaya would serve as the Teacher. To bypass the Sangha in ordination is therefore not a return to original Buddhism, but a departure from the very framework the Buddha established to preserve the Sasana. Without adherence to Vinaya procedures, an individual remains, in legal and doctrinal terms, a lay practitioner—regardless of personal virtue or austerity.
2. Asceticism and the Middle WayThe article further elevates the practice of the thirteen dhutanga (ascetic practices) as an implicit benchmark of authentic spiritual attainment. While these practices are recognized and respected in Theravāda Buddhism, they are optional supports for renunciation, not definitive indicators of realization. The Buddha consistently warned against confusing external austerity with inner liberation.
Historically, it was Devadatta who attempted to impose ascetic practices as mandatory, a move that the Buddha firmly rejected as a deviation from the Middle Way. In Theravāda, liberation is measured not by visible hardship but by the eradication of the fetters (saṃyojana)—a transformation that is internal, subtle, and verifiable only through insight. Overemphasizing outward poverty risks fostering a form of performative holiness that overshadows wisdom, balance, and discernment.
3. The Misapplication of BuddhahoodThe narrative surrounding Thich Minh Tue occasionally gestures toward an idea of “personal Buddhahood,” a notion more consistent with certain Mahāyāna interpretations than with Theravāda orthodoxy. According to Theravāda doctrine, in our present era there is only one Sammā Sambuddha: Gotama Buddha. Contemporary practitioners, regardless of attainment, are disciples (sāvaka) whose highest goal is arahantship.
Portraying a modern ascetic as a “living Buddha,” even implicitly, may unintentionally encourage personality-centered devotion. Such emphasis subtly shifts attention away from the timeless Dhamma toward the charisma of an individual, a tendency the Buddha himself repeatedly cautioned against.
4. The Value of the SanghaFinally, the article portrays separation from “organized religion” as a virtue in itself. While institutional critique is sometimes warranted, the Sangha is not merely an administrative structure; it is one of the Three Jewels and the living vessel through which the Tipiṭaka has been preserved and transmitted. The Sangha represents an unbroken chain of discipline, accountability, and doctrinal continuity.
A model of spiritual independence that treats practitioners as isolated “islands” without preceptors (upajjhāya) or communal oversight risks fragmenting the Dhamma into personal interpretations. Severed from the Sangha, even sincere practice loses its grounding and coherence over time.
ConclusionThich Minh Tue’s personal sincerity and renunciant spirit may indeed be genuine. However, using his example to validate the rejection of the Sangha and Vinaya sets a precarious precedent. The Buddha did not leave behind an unstructured spirituality, but a rigorous and compassionate system of Dhamma–Vinaya designed to endure. True revival of Buddhism does not lie in discarding its communal and legal foundations, but in strengthening the harmony of the Three Jewels—Buddha, Dhamma, and Sangha—together. (This article was written with the assistance of ChatGPT and Gemini. The author is Vietnamese, and the tools were used solely to refine English expression; the arguments and viewpoints remain the author’s own.)
It is interesting that you openly admit to using AI (ChatGPT/Gemini) to draft this critique. It explains why your tone sounds less like a compassionate Dharma reflection and more like a rigid administrative verdict.
You focus heavily on ‘legal terms,’ ‘institutional boundaries,’ and ‘quorums’ to deny the status of a practitioner. However, reality contradicts your theoretical argument:
True practice speaks for itself. It does not need a stamped certificate from an institution to be valid.
Dear Madam,
Thank you for taking the time to engage with this topic and for sharing your perspective.
As someone shaped by a tradition that also values sacred continuity and canon law, you may appreciate why, in Buddhism, the Vinaya is not mere “bureaucracy,” but part of the very framework that has safeguarded the Dhamma for centuries.
I do not deny that individual sincerity and local recognition can be moving, admirable, and even spiritually fruitful. My concern, however, is not only with the spirit of the path, but also with the vessel that carries it. Without the formal Sangha and the procedures laid down in the Vinaya, the distinction between personal admiration and monastic legitimacy becomes uncertain.
Sincerity may inspire the seeker, but discipline and continuity preserve the tradition. From a Theravāda standpoint, both are essential.
With respect and mettā.
Thank you venerable Minh Tue for sharing
Thich Minh Tue’s insights are remarkably direct and profound. His emphasis on personal ethics and the Precepts as the foundation for world peace is a practical message for modern society. The Dharma needs no adornment only practice.
Thanks to the Master, I have gradually reduced greed, anger, and ignorance; I have learned to let go, to live mindfully, and to experience a simpler and more genuine sense of happiness. The greatest value he offers does not lie in lofty teachings or outward appearances, but in his way of living and practicing: simplicity, non-attachment, compassion, and inner freedom. The path he walks helps many people return to the essence of Buddhism, reflect honestly on themselves, and live with greater awareness, conscience, and kindness