Paris, 5 July 2008 (IBIB) - The 4th Supreme Patriarch Thich Huyen Quang of the Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam (UBCV), who passed away on 5th July at the Nguyen Thieu Monastery in Binh Dinh, was one of Vietnam’s most loved and respected spiritual leaders. He was also a determined opponent of tyranny in all its forms. For his uncompromising determination to stand firm, he paid a high price, spending over half his life in prison, internal exile or under house arrest under a succession of political regimes. Together with the Most Venerable Thich Quang Do, Thich Huyen Quang waged three decades of peaceful opposition to the Communist regime, becoming a symbol of the non-violent Buddhist movement for religious freedom and human rights. But he was also a great peacemaker and a man of dialogue, seeking every opportunity towards harmony and the healing of divisions in a Vietnam torn by war and conflicting ideologies. In April 2003, he was received in Hanoi by Vietnamese Prime Minister Phan Van Khai to discuss the situation of Buddhism. This is the first time a political prisoner had ever been received by a top government official in Communist Vietnam. The International Buddhist Information Bureau wishes to make public some salient points of his life and work. More information and translation of his major texts will be posted on the IBIB website. On 20.11.1993, from house arrest, Thich Huyen Quang issued a landmark 12-point “Buddhist Proposal for Democracy and Human Rights”. This was a turning point for the UBCV. Whereas the Buddhists had limited their demands to religious freedom, Thich Huyen Quang called for fundamental political reforms such as free elections, a multi-party system, and the end of the Communist Party’s political monopoly. "The abolition of Article 4 (of the Constitution on the VCP’s political mastery) does not imply the exclusion or the dissolution of the Communist Party... [it will] stimulate the participation of all sectors of the population, regardless of their political affiliations or religious beliefs [and] foster competition as a mutually reinforcing relationship, not as a race to oust one's opponents. After all, whether our compatriots be communists or members of any other political party, they are first and foremost Vietnamese. Our common heritage of 5,000 years' civilisation will form the basis for future dialogue and co-operation, and we will be bound together in one common aim - that of forging a place within the community of nations for a stable, flourishing and prosperous Viet Nam" . Thich Huyen Quang’s Proposal defined the Buddhist vision of a just and open society, and underlined the UBCV's resolve to struggle not only for religious freedom and Church independence, but for the fundamental rights and freedoms of Vietnamese people as a whole. He also stressed the role of Buddhism and religious movements this process: "After 50 years of devastating war waged in the name of conflicting, imported ideologies, religious movements alone possess an unparalleled capacity to temper hatreds, defuse conflict and restore moral values in a society plunged in a spiritual and moral crisis. As such, they have a vital role to play in the reconstruction of our country...".   more »