Thích Minh Tuệ

Thích Minh Tuệ
Personal
Born	Lê Anh Tú 1981 Kỳ Anh district, Hà Tĩnh province
Religion	Buddhism
Nationality	Vietnam
Organization
Institute	No fixed place
Senior posting
Period in office	2015-

Thích Minh Tuệ (1981), is a Vietnamese Buddhist monk known for his arduous pilgrimages across Vietnam.

Biography

Lê Anh Tú was born in 1981 in Ky Van commune, Ky Anh district, Ha Tinh province, Vietnam. He was the second child in a family of four children. In 1994, he moved with his family to Ia To commune, Ia Grai district, Gia Lai province.

In Gia Lai, after completing high school, he went to fulfill his military service. After demobilization, he attended the Tay Nguyen College of Forestry; after graduating, he worked as a land surveyor for a private company based in Phu Yen province.

In 2015, Le Anh Tu decided to leave the secular world and become a monk, taking the dharma name Thích Minh Tuệ. He then left the monastery and went into solitary retreat in the mountains, living in a cave and begging for food daily. From 2017 to 2023, Venerable Minh Tue embarked on three walking pilgrimages as part of his "Dhutanga" practice, but these went unnoticed. His fourth pilgrimage in 2024, however, drew widespread attention, with crowds of up to hundreds of people following him on his journey. He ended his alms-begging pilgrimage in early June of the following year after discussions with Vietnamese authorities.

VnExpress quoted Thích Minh Tuệ as saying that he has never claimed to be a monk and he himself also "feels unworthy of being a monk because his morality has not yet reached that level". The Vietnam Buddhist Sangha also affirmed that he is not a Buddhist monk, does not practice, and is not a staff member of any temple or monastery of the Vietnam Buddhist Sangha.

Impact

Adopting the image of an anonymous person who self-proclaims as "learning" according to Buddha's teachings and walking barefoot across the country, Thích Minh Tuệ has become an internet phenomenon in Vietnam. Some people have also used his image on social media to increase interaction for online businesses. Even on e-commerce platforms and social networks, there have been clothes and accessories designed in the colors of his attire. His personal activities such as sleeping, bathing, and using the toilet have also been disturbed. This internet phenomenon was likened to "view parties" by Dân Việt newspaper, reflecting the problem of excessive praise by content creators on digital platforms.

Vietnamese authorities fear that dissidents in the country could exploit the "Thích Minh Tuệ phenomenon" to oppose the religious policies of the Communist Party of Vietnam and the Vietnamese government on social media, arguing that opposition organizations are trying to cause "division" and "conflict" in order to weaken the "national unity bloc" and go against traditional values. Local police forces have also coordinated with relevant units to implement a number of measures to ensure traffic safety and public order when Thích Minh Tuệ walks through the provinces.

The Executive Board of the Vietnam Buddhist Sangha in Ba Ria - Vung Tau province has disciplined Venerable Thich Minh Dao, abbot of Minh Dao Monastery, after he posted a video praising Thich Minh Tue. The Executive Board later concluded that Venerable Thich Minh Dao's "comments about Mr. Le Anh Tu are the right of each individual to think," but "the mistake is in using words that are not in line with his functions - authority leading to misunderstandings from many places." Father Anton Maria Vu Quoc Thinh of the Society of Jesus called to inquire about Venerable Minh Dao after hearing that he had been disciplined.

On May 30, 2024, a man following Thich Minh Tue on a pilgrimage died of heatstroke, multiple organ failure, and rhabdomyolysis. The man collapsed while traveling with Thich Minh Tue through Trieu Phong district, Quang Tri province, and was taken to a local hospital for emergency treatment, but did not survive. In the following days, several cases of heatstroke were reported. The crowds following Thich Minh Tue caused traffic congestion, refused to give way to ambulances, littered, and defecated indiscriminately, causing unsanitary conditions.

According to information from the Committee for Religious Affairs of the Vietnamese government, Mr. Thich Minh Tue has voluntarily stopped his pilgrimage on foot since June 3, 2024. According to the leadership of the Thua Thien Hue Police Department, the Gia Lai Police Department has assisted in making an ID card for Mr. Minh Tue.

Reception

Professor Doctor Nguyen Huu Liem commented that the alms round of Buddhist monks from the past to the present is not a strange thing, so he also considers the pilgrimage of Thich Minh Tue as “normal”. According to Superior Monk Thich Thanh Huan, the “phenomenon of Thich Minh Tue” is not worth fussing over.

According to Công Thương newspaper, although Thích Minh Tuệ does not practice at any pagoda and chooses his own path for his practice, he has become "unintentionally famous". In response to the Buddhist Sangha of Vietnam's statement that Thích Minh Tuệ is not a Buddhist monk, Dr. Hoang Van Chung, Head of the Department of Religious Theory and Policy Research at the Institute of Religious Studies, said: "As long as people believe and practice Buddhism, they have their own rights. It is not necessary to have a certificate from the Buddhist Sangha to be a Buddhist monk. Buddhism does not belong to anyone."