<P> The term "Đạo Mẫu" refers to the worship of mother goddesses in Vietnam . While scholars like Ngô Đức Thịnh propose that it represents a systematic mother goddess cult, the term draws together fairly disparate beliefs and practices . These include the worship of goddesses such as Thiên YA Na, The Lady of the Realm (Bà Chúa Xứ), The Lady of the Storehouse (Bà Chúa Kho) and Princess Liễu Hạnh, legendary figures like Âu Cơ, the Trung Sisters (Hai Bà Trưng), and Lady Trieu (Bà Triệu), as well as the cult of the Four Palaces . Đạo Mẫu is commonly associated with spirit mediumship rituals--known in Vietnam as lên đồng--much as practiced in other parts of Asia, such as Taiwan, Singapore and Hong Kong . Although the Communist government had initially forbidden the practice of such rituals, deeming them to be superstitions, they relented in 1987, once again legalizing their practice . </P> <P> Buddhism came to Vietnam as early as the second century AD through the North from China and via Southern routes from India . Mahayana Buddhism first spread from China to Vietnam's Red River Delta region around 300 AD . Theravada Buddhism arrived from India into the southern Mekong Delta region many years later, between 300 - 600 AD . Buddhism as practiced by the ethnic Vietnamese is mainly of the Mahayana school, although some ethnic minorities (such as the Khmer Krom in the southern Delta region of Vietnam) adhere to the Theravada school . </P> <P> Buddhist practice in Vietnam differs from that of other Asian countries, and does not contain the same institutional structures, hierarchy, or sanghas that exist in other traditional Buddhist settings . It has instead grown from a symbiotic relationship with Taoism, Chinese spirituality, and the indigenous Vietnamese religion, with the majority of Buddhist practitioners focusing on devotional rituals rather than meditation . </P> <P> Pure Land Buddhism is a broad branch of Mahayana Buddhism and is said to be one of the most popular schools of Buddhism in Vietnam, in which practitioners commonly recite sutras, chants and dharanis looking to gain protection from bodhisattvas or Dharma - Protectors . While Pure Land traditions, practices and concepts are found within Mahayana cosmology, and form an important component of Buddhist traditions in Vietnam, Pure Land Buddhism was not independently recognized as a sect of Buddhism (as Pure Land schools have been recognized, for example, in Japan) until 2007, with the official recognition of the Vietnamese Pure Land Buddhism Association as an independent and legal religious organization . </P>

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