Who He Is
Thich Nhat Hanh is the man Martin Luther King, Jr. called “an apostle of peace and nonviolence” and credited for his own anti-war stance when he nominated the monk for the Nobel Peace Prize in 1967. He is known affectionately as “Thay”—the Vietnamese word for “teacher”—to the students who study with him at his monastery in southwest France and the millions more who read his words: The Miracle of Mindfulness and Peace Is Every Step are two essential titles among the more than 100 books he has published. Thay is the founder of Engaged Buddhism, a movement that views activism to be intrinsically tied to meditation and mindfulness which emerged from his spiritual community’s active response to the suffering they witnessed during the Vietnam War. Thay’s teachings are an increasingly relevant resource in today’s turbulent reality.
What He Teaches
Thay’s insight is powerfully simple, clear, and deep. He is a Zen master whose teachings stem from the use of mindfulness to engage fully in every single moment, recognizing that the present is our home and the only thing that truly exists. Many of Thay’s meditation practices are a gentle reminder to slow down, to simplify, to let go of all the complications the mind creates to recognize the profound joy in breathing in and breathing out, the joy in everything around us, the joy of being alive.
Why You’ll Love Him
Anyone who has ever heard Thich Nhat Hanh speak will not forget his voice. Its quiet timbre is one of the purest vessels for a frequency that resonates deep in the heart, an auditory incarnation of a smile. He is vividly alive in a way that renders each and every moment miraculous, and this is conveyed in the wisdom he imparts to others. “Walk as if you are kissing the earth with your feet,” he advises, and suddenly this vision is clear, it hits home, it transforms a mundane task into one that is an expression of spirit. It is, in fact, these minute-by-minute transformations that lead to lasting peace, the radical simplicity that reveals the big cosmic secret. It is possible to be fully alive and happy while washing the dishes.
Don’t let Thay’s gentleness fool you, however. This is a fierce warrior, a man so dedicated to his convictions of peace that he was exiled from Vietnam by both the North and the South in the 1960s. Even this decade, as he continues to heal the wounds of war, he faces opposition from other Buddhist monks. Thay is an example for anyone who wants their own spiritual development to impact the evolution of the whole.
How He Found the Spiritual Path
When Thay was a young boy he saw a picture of the Buddha and felt a desire well up in him to become a monk. He left for Tu Hieu Temple at age sixteen where he studied with his primary teacher, Zen master Thanh Quy Chan That. Seven years later, after training in traditions of Mahayana Buddhism and Vietnamese Thien Buddhism, Thay became an ordained monk.
When war erupted in Vietnam, Thay found himself in a community of monks and nuns that struggled with the question of what to do: remain devoted to a contemplative life or help those who were suffering. Thay chose to do both, using the dharma to advocate for peace between the two sides. He and a small group of other volunteers would travel to the middle of the conflict, to places no other relief workers dared to go, to deliver supplies amid bombs and bullets. Thay also founded the School of Youth for Social Service, which trained thousands of peace workers to rebuild devastated remote villages, Van Hanh Buddhist University in Saigon, a publishing house, and an influential peace activist magazine.
After teaching at Princeton University, Thay made several trips back to the United States to call for the end of hostilities in Vietnam. It was during one of these trips that he met Martin Luther King, Jr. and angered both sides of his own country to the extent that they banned his return. Thay spent thirty-nine years in exile, during which time he continued to travel, teach, and establish Plum Village, now the West’s largest Buddhist monastery.
People from all faiths and backgrounds follow Thay’s teachings, and the spiritual leader does not encourage anyone to convert to Buddhism. In the past twenty years, more than 100,000 retreatants made a commitment to follow Thay’s modernized code of global ethics, and his entreaty for peace has manifested in many different ways.
What He Says
“We really have to understand the person we want to love. If our love is only a will to possess, it is not love. If we only think of ourselves, if we know only our own needs and ignore the needs of the other person, we cannot love. We must look deeply in order to see and understand the needs, aspirations, and suffering of the person we love. This is the ground of real love. You cannot resist loving another person when you really understand him or her.
From time to time, sit close to the one you love, hold his or her hand, and ask, ‘Darling, do I understand you enough? Or am I making you suffer? Please tell me so that I can learn to love you properly. I don't want to make you suffer, and if I do so because of my ignorance, please tell me so that I can love you better, so that you can be happy.’ If you say this in a voice that communicates your real openness to understand, the other person may cry.
That is a good sign, because it means the door of understanding is opening and everything will be possible again.”
Where You Can Find Him
Thay suffered a severe stroke in 2014, when he was eighty-eight, and has since been recovering. He returned to Plum Village in 2016 and continues to make steady progress regaining his physical strength, though he is still unable to speak. Plum Village posts periodic updates on his condition and continues to lead retreats, share dharma talks, and otherwise continue his work. Visit their website to plan a visit.
