With the title "the person who brings a new perspective on love and life to millions of followers", Rest of World newspaper on September 30 published a short article about monk Giac Minh Luat, the monk with millions of views on TikTok.

Monk Giac Minh Luat gives charity gifts to the people of India

“If you put too much milk in your coffee, it will turn into a cup of coffee,” said Buddhist monk Giac Minh Luat in a clip posted on TikTok, using a popular drink in Vietnam to talk about love. “In love, if one side gives too much, it is no longer love.” “Sacrifice is not a responsibility,” the monk concluded. The clip, posted in May 2024, has now received 2.6 million views. According to the article, Giac Minh Luat is a 32-year-old Vietnamese monk who has attracted 3.1 million followers on TikTok in just two years. “The young monk’s clips about family and relationship issues, using Gen Z slang and referring to social media trends, seem to have connected with lonely and anxious young people,” the article noted. Speaking to Rest of World, Buddhist monk Giac Minh Luat expressed: “I did not expect my personal channel to be so popular.” According to Luat, his TikTok channel is supported by a group of close Buddhist followers. They cut and edit videos from long sermons in many places for young people. For more than a decade, YouTube has been the preferred platform for sharing Buddhist teachings with a large audience in Vietnam, Chelsea Nguyen, a Buddhist researcher, told Rest of World. But hour-long clips filled with religious terminology do not attract young people, Chelsea Nguyen said. According to Rest of World, Giac Minh Luat delivers his message in one to three short sentences. “Don’t worry about what other people think of you. They are too busy worrying about what you think of them,” he said in one clip.

Master Luat and monks and nuns make pilgrimage to Buddha's land

Sharing with Rest of World, Venerable Giac Minh Luat said that he has found a way to connect with young people regardless of their religion or social status, because he only sees himself as “a companion on the path of rediscovering peaceful and ethical values, not a religious guide or a missionary”. His popularity on social media has helped the young monk become a popular lecturer at temple retreats or even at university lecture halls, sometimes with up to 6,000 attendees. According to Rest of World, Venerable Luat has designed his sharings to be optimized for TikTok. “Students who were previously inattentive, talking to each other or scrolling through their phones during my live lectures now listen more when I use popular, online words”. The newspaper also said that Venerable Luat's unconventional teaching has received much criticism. “I always say that I don’t teach young people how to love, I just advise them to be challenged in love,” explains Venerable Giac Minh Luat, who is studying for a PhD in Psychology in Thailand. For Venerable Giac Minh Luat, talking about love and relationships is a way to help young people face negativity head-on, transform it, and overcome it gently. “Once negative thoughts take over you, you will not be able to focus on more valuable and sustainable things like studying and family,” Venerable Giac Minh Luat tells Rest of World.

Venerable Giac Minh Luat is currently the Director of the Nhan Sinh Volunteer Club and the author of many books such as: Little monk Phap Dang, If you become a monk, So miserable, Let's lighten each other's hearts, etc. Venerable Giac Minh Luat's lectures all include trendy, modern sayings that create a difference but still retain the core meaning of each issue.

Photo: NVCC / Vietnamnet.vn

Source: https://vietnamnet.vn/nha-su-dua-ngon-ngu-cua-gen-z-vao-video-hut-trieu-view-tren-tiktok-2328228.html