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Thich Nhat Hanh (Thích Nhất Hạnh; IPA: ; born in 1926, is an expatriate Vietnamese Buddhist monk, peace activist, and prolific author in both Vietnamese and English. (The title Thích applies to all Vietnamese Buddhist monks. Further nuances are discussed below.)

Introduction

Thich Nhat Hanh was born Nguyễn Xuân Bảo in Thừa Thiên (Central Vietnam) in 1926. At the age of 16 he entered the monastery at Từ Hiếu Temple near Huế, Vietnam, where his primary teacher was Dhyana (meditation; Zen) Master Thanh Quý Chân Thật http://www.woodmoorvillage.org/2005/08/the_tu_hieu_lin.html http://www.interbeing.org.uk/teachers/thay.html. A graduate of Bao Quoc Buddhist Academy in Central Vietnam, http://www.giaodiem.com/FotoNews/nh_quannhu.htm Thich Nhat Hanh received training in Zen (in Vietnamese: Thiền) and the Mahayana school of Buddhism and was ordained as a monk in 1949. Thich Nhat Hanh is now recognized as a Dharmacharya and as the spiritual head of the Từ Hiếu Temple and associated monasteries. http://www.plumvillage.org/news/Press_Application%20for%20the%20publication%20of%20books%20and%20sutras%20-%20Tu%20Hie.htm He is the Elder of the Từ Hiếu branch of the 8th generation of the Liễu Quán lineage in the 42nd generation of the Lâm Tế Dhyana school (Lin Chi Chan 臨濟禪 in Chinese or Rinzai Zen in Japanese).http://www.plumvillage.org/general/spiritual%20lineage.htm On May 1st, 1966 at Từ Hiếu Temple, Thich Nhat Hanh received the “lamp transmission”, making him a Dharmacharya or Dharma Teacher, from Master Chân Thật. http://www.plumvillage.org/general/spiritual%20lineage.htm Thich Nhat Hanh has combined his deep knowledge of a variety of traditional Zen teaching methods with methods from Theravada Buddhism and ideas from Western psychology to form his approach to modern Zen practice. Thich Nhat Hanh has become an important influence in the development of Western Buddhism.

In 1956 he was named Editor-in-Chief of Vietnamese Buddhism, the periodical of the Unified Vietnam Buddhist Association (Giáo Hội Phật Giáo Việt Nam Thống Nhất). In the following years he founded Lá Bối Press, the Van Hanh Buddhist University in Saigon, and the School of Youth for Social Service (SYSS), a corps of Buddhist peaceworkers who went into rural areas to establish schools, build healthcare clinics, and help re-build villages. http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/buddhism/features/thich_nhat_hanh/

During the Vietnam War

Van Hanh Buddhist University became a prestigious private university that focused on Buddhist studies, Vietnamese culture, and languages. Nhat Hanh taught Buddhist psychology and Prajnaparamita literature. At a meeting in April 1965, Van Hanh Union students issued a Call for Peace statement. Its main theme was: "It is time for North and South Vietnam to find a way to stop the war and help all Vietnamese people live peacefully and with mutual respect." When Thich Nhat Hanh left for the U.S. shortly afterwards, control over Van Hanh University was taken over by one of the Chancellors who wished to sever ties with Thich Nhat Hanh and the SYSS, calling Sister Chan Khong, who was left in control of the organization, a "communist". From that point, the SYSS struggled to raise funds and endured a number of attacks on its members, many of whom were threatened, harassed, and murdered. The SYSS persisted in their efforts, refusing to take sides in the conflict and continuing to provide aid to people in need. http://www.giaodiem.com/FotoNews/nh_quannhu.htm

Thich Nhat Hanh has been a leader in the Engaged Buddhism movement and he is credited with bringing the idea to the West. He credits the thirteenth-century Vietnamese King Tran Nhan Tong with the origination of the concept. Tran Nhan Tong abdicated his throne to become a monk, and founded the still dominant Vietnamese Buddhist school, the Bamboo Forest tradition. http://langmai.org/TNH/BaoChiTPhuong/Data/A%20Monk%20for.pdf

In 1960, Thich Nhat Hanh came to the U.S. to study comparative religion at Princeton University, and he was subsequently appointed lecturer in Buddhism at Columbia University. By then, he had gained fluency in French, Chinese, Sanskrit, Pali, Japanese, and English, in addition to his native Vietnamese. In 1963 he returned to Vietnam to aid his fellow monks in their non-violent peace efforts.

Thich Nhat Hanh returned to the US in 1966 to lead a symposium in Vietnamese Buddhism at Cornell University and to continue his work for peace. That year, Thich Nhat Hanh established the Unified Buddhist Church in France (not a part of the Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam). Thich Nhat Hanh had written a letter to Martin Luther King, Jr. in 1965 entitled: “Searching for the Enemy of Man” and it was during his 1966 stay in the U.S. that Thich Nhat Hanh met with Martin Luther King, Jr. and urged him to publicly denounce the Vietnam War. http://www.aavw.org/protest/king_journey_abstract09.html - TNHs letter to MLK

Dr. King gave his famous speech at the Riverside Church in New York City in 1967 http://www.aavw.org/special_features/speeches_speech_king01.html, his first to publicly question the U.S. involvement in Vietnam. Later that year, Dr. King nominated Thich Nhat Hanh for the 1967 Nobel Peace Prize. In his nomination Rev. King said, "I do not personally know of anyone more worthy of prize than this gentle monk from Vietnam. His ideas for peace, if applied, would build a monument to ecumenism, to world brotherhood, to humanity." (Despite King's high praise, the committee decided not to make an award that year. King's revelation of his nomination was a violation of tradition and the explicit "strong request" of the prize committee.) http://www.hartford-hwp.com/archives/45a/025.html - resource for letter from MLK to the Nobel Committee

In 1969, Thich Nhat Hanh was the delegate for the Buddhist Peace Delegation at the Paris Peace talks. When the Paris Peace Accords were signed in 1973, the Vietnamese government denied Thich Nhat Hanh permission to return to Vietnam, and he went into exile in France. From 1976 through 1977, he led efforts to help rescue Vietnamese boat people in the Gulf of Siam, but was forced to stop because of the hostility of the governments of Thailand and Singapore. http://www.integrativespirituality.org/postnuke/html/modules.php?op=modload&name=Sections&file=index&req=printpage&artid=308

Establishing the Order of Interbeing

In 1975, formed the Sweet Potatoes Meditation Center. The center grew and in 1982 he and his colleague Sister Chân Không founded Plum Village Buddhist Center (Làng Mai), a monastery and Practice Center in the Dordogne in the south of France. http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/buddhism/features/thich_nhat_hanh/ As of 2006 he heads a monastic and lay group, the Order of Inter-Being, teaching the Five and Fourteen Mindfulness Trainings and "Engaged Buddhism." The Unified Buddhist Church is the legally recognized governance body for Plum Village (Làng Mai) in France; for Maple Forest Monastery and Green Mountain Dharma Center in Vermont, the Community of Mindful Living, Parallax Press, Deer Park Monastery in California, and Magnolia Village in Mississippi. http://www.iamhome.org/about.htm

There are now two monasteries in Vietnam, at the original Từ Hiếu Temple near Huế and at Prajna Temple in the central highlands. Thich Nhat Hanh and the Order of Interbeing have established monasteries and Dharma centers in the United States at Deer Park Monastery (Tu Viện Lộc Uyển) in Escondido, California, Maple Forest Monastery (Tu Viện Rừng Phong) and Green Mountain Dharma Center (Ðạo Tràng Thanh Sơn), both in Vermont, and Magnolia Village Practice Center (Đạo Tràng Mộc Lan) in Mississippi. These monasteries are open to the public during much of the year and provide on-going retreats for lay people. The Order of Interbeing also holds focused retreats for groups of lay people, such as families, teenagers, veterans http://www.deerparkmonastery.org/about_us/ourteacher.html, the entertainment industry, members of Congress http://www.faithandpolitics.org/stories/TNHFall2003StoriesfromTheFaithPoliticsInstitute.php, law enforcement officers http://www.christiansciencemonitor.com/2003/0925/p15s01-lire.html, people of color http://www.iamhome.org/articles/true_home.htm] http://www.plumvillage.org/retreats/NorthAmerica/PVUSA-CalendarOfRetreats.htm, and professional and scientific http://www.plumvillage.org/retreats/SpecialRetreats/ScientistRetreat_2006.htm interest groups.

Return to Vietnam

From January 12 until April 11, 2005, Thich Nhat Hanh returned to Vietnam after a series of negotiations that allowed him to teach, have select titles of his books published in Vietnamese, and allowed 100 monastic and 90 lay members of his Order to accompany him in his travels around the country, including a return to his root temple, Tu Hieu Temple in Hue. http://www.time.com/time/asia/magazine/article/0,13673,501050124-1018137,00.html http://www.buddhistchannel.tv/index.php?id=2,627,0,0,1,0

Prior to the 2005 trip, TNH’s organization had been highly critical of the restrictions proposed by the Vietnamese government regarding a possible visit, including not allowing his monastics to stay in Buddhist monastaries, not allowing him to teach to large crowds as he does in the West, and not allowing his books to be published. http://www.plumvillage.org/news/Press_When%20Will%20Thay%20Nhat%20Hanh%20Return%20to%20Vietnam.htm

The trip was not without controversy. Thich Vien Dinh writing on behalf of the Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam (considered illegal by the Vietnamese government) called for Thich Nhat Hanh to make a statement against the Vietnam government’s poor record on religious freedom. Thich Vien Dinh, feared that the trip would be used as propaganda by the Vietnamese government, making the world believe that the issues of religious freedom are improving there, while abuses continue. ref>http://www.buddhistchannel.tv/index.php?id=1,686,0,0,1,0 http://usinfo.state.gov/dhr/Archive/2003/Dec/01-499319.html http://www.hrw.org/reports/1995/Vietnam.htm

Names applied to him

The Vietnamese title Thích (釋) is from "Thích Ca" or "Thích Già" (釋迦), means "of the Shakya (Shakyamuni Buddha) clan." http://www.plumvillage.org/general/spiritual%20lineage.htm All Vietnamese (and Chinese) Buddhist monks and nuns adopt this title as their "family" or surname implying that their first family is the Buddhist community.

Neither Nhất (一) nor Hạnh (行) — which approximate the roles of middle or intercalary name and given name, respectively, when referring to him in English — was part of his name at birth. Nhất (一) means "one", implying "first-class," or "of best quality," in English; Hạnh (行) means "move", implying "right conduct" or "good nature." Thích Nhất Hạnh has translated his Dharma Names in the following manner: Nhất = One, and Hạnh = Action. Taken collectively, his Dharma Names are best translated as "One Action". Vietnamese names follow this naming convention, placing the family or surname first, then the middle or intercalary name which often refers to the person's position in the family or generation, followed by the given name. http://www.thingsasian.com/goto_article/article.630.html

Thich Nhat Hanh is often referred to as "Thay" (Vietnamese: Thầy, "master; teacher") or Thay Nhat Hanh by his followers. On the Vietnamese version of the Plum Village website, he is referred to as Thiền Sư Nhất Hạnh which can translated as "Zen Priest" or "Zen Master". http://www.langmai.org/ Any Vietnamese Monk can be referred to and are often addressed as "Thầy" or "Thầy tu" ("priest; monk"); Nuns are addressed as "Sư Cô" or "Sư Bà" ("sister").

Selected works

  • Vietnam: Lotus in a sea of fire. New York, Hill and Wang. 1967.
  • Being Peace, Parallax Press, 1987, ISBN 0938077007
  • Old Path White Clouds: Walking in the Footsteps of the Buddha, Parallax Press, 1991
  • Peace Is Every Step: The Path of Mindfulness in Everyday Life, Bantam reissue, 1992, ISBN 0553351397
  • Touching Peace: Practicing the Art of Mindful Living, Parallax Press, 1992, ISBN 0-938077-57-0
  • Zen Keys: A Guide to Zen Practice, Three Leaves, 1994, ISBN 0385475616
  • Living Buddha, Living Christ, Riverhead Trade, 1997, ISBN 1573225681
  • Fragrant Palm Leaves: Journals, 1962-1966, Riverhead Trade, 1999, ISBN 157322796X
  • Going Home: Jesus and Buddha as Brothers, Riverhead Books, 1999, ISBN 1-57322-145-7
  • The Heart of the Buddha's Teaching, Broadway Books, 1999, ISBN 0767903692
  • Interbeing: Fourteen Guidelines for Engaged Buddhism, Parallax Press 3rd edition, 1999, ISBN 1888375086
  • The Miracle of Mindfulness: A Manual on Meditation, Beacon Press, 1999, ISBN 0807012394 (Vietnamese: Phép lạ c̉ua sư t̉inh thưc).
  • The Raft Is Not the Shore: Conversations Toward a Buddhist/Christian Awareness, Daniel Berrigan (Co-author), Orbis Books, 2000, ISBN 157075344X
  • Essential Writings, Robert Ellsberg (Editor), Orbis Books, 2001, ISBN 1570753709
  • Anger, Riverhead Trade, 2002, ISBN 1573229377
  • No Death, No Fear, Riverhead Trade reissue, 2003, ISBN 1573223336
  • Touching the Earth: Intimate Conversations with the Buddha, Parallax Press, 2004, ISBN 1888375418

See also

Footnotes

External links

About Thich Nhat Hanh and the Order of Interbeing

Official websites for Thich Nhat Hanh and the Order of Interbeing

Order of Interbeing | 1926 births | Living people | Buddhists | Buddhist teachers | Monks and nuns | Pacifists | Vietnam War people | Vietnamese people | Nonviolence

Thích Nhất Hạnh | Thich Nhat Hanh | Thich Nhat Hanh | Thich Nhat Hanh | Thích Nhất Hạnh | 一行禪師

 

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