tu hành
Definition
- Verb:
- To practice asceticism or religious discipline: To lead a life devoted to religious or spiritual practice, often involving self-discipline, meditation, and adherence to specific precepts or rules of a religion or spiritual path.
- To be a monk/nun or religious practitioner: To live as a monastic or dedicated follower, often separating from ordinary secular life to focus on spiritual cultivation.
Usage Examples
- Verb:
- Ông ấy đã từ bỏ tất cả để đi tu hành trên núi. (He gave up everything to go practice asceticism in the mountains.)
- Cô ấy đã tu hành trong chùa hơn mười năm. (She has been a monastic in the temple for over ten years.)
- Tu hành đòi hỏi sự kiên nhẫn và tâm thanh tịnh. (Religious practice requires patience and a pure mind.)
Advanced Usage
- The term often implies a lifelong or long-term commitment to spiritual development rather than a casual practice.
- It can be used figuratively to describe someone living a very disciplined, simple, or austere life, even if not in a formal religious context.
- Anh ấy sống như người tu hành, rất giản dị và nghiêm khắc với bản thân. (He lives like an ascetic, very simple and strict with himself.)
Variants and Related Words
Tu tập (v): To cultivate, to practice (spirituality). Often used similarly to "tu hành" but can emphasize the ongoing process of cultivation.
- Mục đích của tu tập là để tâm trí được an lạc. (The goal of spiritual cultivation is to attain peace of mind.)
Nhà tu hành (n): A religious practitioner; a monk, nun, or ascetic.
- Các nhà tu hành thường ăn chay. (Religious practitioners often eat vegetarian food.)
Synonyms
- To practice asceticism: To live a life of severe self-discipline and abstention from indulgence, typically for religious reasons.
- To lead a monastic life: To live as a member of a religious community under vows.
- To cultivate spirituality: To devote effort to developing one's spiritual life.
Related Idioms
- Ăn chay niệm Phật, tu hành giữ giới: (To be vegetarian, recite Buddha's name, practice asceticism, and keep precepts.) A phrase describing the core practices of a devout Buddhist lifestyle.
- Cụ bà sống một cuộc đời ăn chay niệm Phật, tu hành giữ giới. (The elderly woman lives a life of being vegetarian, reciting Buddha's name, practicing asceticism, and keeping precepts.)