Nhat Hanh

Thích Nhất Hạnh
Thich Nhat Hanh 12.jpg
Information
Birth name:  Nguyễn Xuân Bảo
Other name(s): Thầy (teacher)
Born: October 11, 1926 (1926-10-11) (age 83)
Place of birth: Tha Tien, Quang Ngai province, Vietnam
Religion: Buddhist
School(s): Mahayana
Lineage(s): Lâm Tế Dhyana, founder of the Order of Interbeing
Title(s): Thiền Sư
(Zen master)
Workplace: Plum Village (Lang Mai)
Teacher(s): Thích Chân Thật
Website

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Nhat Hanh (Vietnamese: Nhất Hạnh; pronounced [tʰǐk ɲɜ̌t hɐ̂ʔɲ] listen (born October 11, 1926 in central Vietnam) is an expatriate Vietnamese Zen Buddhist monk, teacher, author, poet and peace activist. He joined a Zen monastery at the age of 16, studied Buddhism as a novice, and was fully ordained as a monk in 1949. Commonly referred to as Thich Nhat Hanh (Vietnamese: Thích Nhất Hạnh), the title Thích is used by all Vietnamese monks and nuns, meaning that they are part of the Shakya (Shakyamuni Buddha) clan.[1]

In the early 1960s, he founded the School of Youth for Social Services (SYSS) in Saigon, a grassroots relief organization that rebuilt bombed villages, set up schools and medical centers, and resettled families left homeless during the Vietnam War.[2] He traveled to the U.S. a number of times to study at Princeton University, and later to lecture at Cornell University and teach at Columbia University. His main goal of those travels, however, was to urge the U.S. government to withdraw from Vietnam. He urged Martin Luther King, Jr., to oppose the Vietnam War publicly, and spoke with many people and groups about peace. In a January 25, 1967, letter to the Nobel Institute in Norway, King nominated him for the Nobel Peace Prize.[3] Nhat Hanh led the Buddhist delegation to the Paris Peace Talks.

One of the best known Buddhist teachers in the West,[4][5] Thich Nhat Hanh's teachings and practices appeal to people from various religious, spiritual, and political backgrounds. He offers a practice of mindfulness adapted to Western sensibilities.[6] He created the Order of Interbeing in 1966, and established monastic and practice centers around the world. As of 2007 his home is Plum Village Monastery in the Dordogne region in the South of France[2] and he travels internationally giving retreats and talks. He coined the term Engaged Buddhism in his book Vietnam: Lotus in a Sea of Fire.[7]

Exiled from Vietnam for many years, he was allowed to return for a trip in 2005[8] and again in 2007.[9] He has published more than 100 books, including more than 40 in English. He also publishes a quarterly Dharma talk in the journal of the Order of Interbeing, the Mindfulness Bell. Nhat Hanh continues to be active in the peace movement, sponsoring retreats for Israelis and Palestinians, encouraging them to listen and learn about each other. He has given speeches urging warring countries to stop fighting and look for non-violent solutions to problems;[10] conducted a peace walk in Los Angeles in 2005, and again in 2007, attended by thousands of people;[11] and urging support of the demonstrating monks in Myanmar.[12] He was awarded the Courage of Conscience award June 16, 1991.[13]

Contents

Biography

Thich Nhat Hanh in Vught, The Netherlands, 2006

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.[1][14][15] A graduate of Bao Quoc Buddhist Academy in Central Vietnam,[7] 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.[16] 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 Chán 臨濟禪 in Chinese or Rinzai Zen in Japanese).[1] On May 1, 1966 at Từ Hiếu Temple, Thich Nhat Hanh received the “lamp transmission”, making him a Dharmacharya or Dharma Teacher, from Master Chân Thật.[1] Thich Nhat Hanh has combined his deep knowledge of a variety of traditional Zen teachings with methods from Theravada Buddhism, insights from Mahayana Buddhism, and ideas from Western psychology to form his approach to modern meditation 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 neutral corps of Buddhist peaceworkers who went into rural areas to establish schools, build healthcare clinics, and help re-build villages.[2]

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.[7]

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.[17]

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. 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.[18]

Dr. King gave his famous speech at the Riverside Church in New York City in 1967,[19] 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 [this 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.)[3]

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.[20] In 1969, Thich Nhat Hanh established the Unified Buddhist Church (Église Bouddhique Unifiée) in France (not a part of the Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam).

Establishing the Order of Interbeing

Deer Park Monastery in California

In 1975, he 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.[2] Since the mid 60s he has headed 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 governing body for Plum Village (Làng Mai) in France, for Blue Cliff Monastery in Pine Bush, New York, the Community of Mindful Living, Parallax Press, Deer Park Monastery in California, and the Magnolia Village in Mississippi.[21]

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) in Vermont both of which closed in 2007 and moved to the Blue Cliff Monastery in Pine Bush, New York, 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,[22] the entertainment industry, members of Congress,[23] law enforcement officers,[24] people of color,[25][26][27] and professional and scientific[28] interest groups.

Notable students of Thich Nhat Hanh include: Skip Ewing founder of the Nashville Mindfulness Center, Natalie Goldberg author and teacher, Joan Halifax founder of the Upaya Institute, Stephanie Kaza environmentalist, Sister Chan Khong Dharma teacher, Sister Annibell Laity translator of many of Thich Nhat Hanh's books and director of North American Dharma centers, Noah Levine author, Albert Low Zen teacher and author, Joanna Macy environmentalist and author, Caitriona Reed Dharma teacher and co-founder of Manzanita Village Retreat Center, Leila Seth author and Chief Justice of the Delhi High Court, and Pritam Singh real estate developer and editor of several of Thich Nhat Hanh's books.

Return to Vietnam

Nhat Hanh at a festival in Da Nang on his 2007 trip 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.[8][29]

Prior to the 2005 trip, Thich Nhat Hanh’s organization had been highly critical of the restrictions imposed by the Vietnamese government regarding a possible visit. Those restrictions included: not allowing his monastics to stay in Buddhist monasteries, not allowing him to teach to large crowds as he does in the West, and not allowing his books to be published in Vietnamese.[30]

Nhat Hanh at Huong Son temple on his 2007 trip to Vietnam

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.[31][32][33]

Nhat Hanh returned to Vietnam in 2007 despite continued controversy over his return and the continued house arrest of two top officials of the government-banned Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam.[9] According to the Plum Village Website, the three goals of his 2007 trip back to Vietnam are to support new monastics in his Order, organize and conduct "Great Chanting Ceremonies" intended to help heal remaining wounds from the Vietnam war, and to lead retreats for monastics and lay people.[34] The chanting ceremonies were originally called "Grand Requiem for Praying Equally for All to Untie the Knots of Unjust Suffering," but Vietnamese officials objected, saying it was improper to "equally" pray for soldiers in the South Vietnamese army or U.S. soldiers. Nhat Hanh agreed to change the name to "Grand Requiem For Praying."[9]

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."[1] All Vietnamese (and Chinese) Buddhist monks and nuns adopt this title as their "family" name or surname implying that their first family is the Buddhist community. In many Buddhist traditions, there are a progression of names that a person can receive. The first, the lineage name, is given when a person takes refuge in the Three Jewels. Thich Nhat Hanh's lineage name is Trừng Quang. The next is a Dharma name, given when a person, lay or monastic, takes additional vows or when one is ordained as a monastic. Thich Nhat Hahn's Dharma name is Phung Xuan. Additionally, Dharma titles are sometimes given, and Thich Nhat Hanh's Dharma title is "Nhat Hanh".[1]

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.[35]

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 also referred to as Thiền Sư Nhất Hạnh which can translated as "Zen Priest", "Zen Master", or "Dhyana Master".[36] Any Vietnamese monk or nun in the Mahayana tradition can be addressed as "Thầy" ("teacher"). Vietnamese Buddhist monks are addressed "Thầy tu" ("priest" or "monk") and nuns are addressed "Sư Cô" ("sister") or "Sư Bà" ("elder sister").

Quotes

See also

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 Phap Dung, Brother (2006) "A Letter to Friends About Our Lineage", published on the Plum Village website[1]
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Author and date unknown, "Thich Nhat Hanh", feature article on the BBC website [2]
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 "Nomination of Thich Nhat Hanh for the Nobel Peace Prize" letter by Martin Luther King, Jr., 1967, archived on the Hartford Web Publishing website [3]
  4. ↑ "Thich Nhat Hanh". BBC (2006-04-04). Retrieved on 2008-05-25. "Thich Nhat Hanh is a world renowned Zen master, writer, poet, scholar, and peacemaker. With the exception of the Dalai Lama, he is today's best known Buddhist teacher."
  5. ↑ "Thich Nhat Hanh". Time (November 5, 2006). Retrieved on 2008-05-25. "One of the most important religious thinkers and activists of our time, Nhat Hanh understood, from his own experience, why popular secular ideologies and movements?nationalism, fascism, communism and colonialism?unleashed the unprecedented violence of the 20th century.[...] Nhat Hanh, now 80 years old and living in a monastery in France, has played an important role in the transmission of an Asian spiritual tradition to the modern, largely secular West."
  6. ↑ Laity, Annabel (date unknown) "About Our Teacher", Green Mountain Dharma Center website[4]
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 Nhu, Quan (2002) "Nhat Hanh's Peace Activities" in "Vietnamese Engaged Buddhism: The Struggle Movement of 1963-66", reprinted on the Giao Diem website [5]
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 Johnson, Kay (2005) "A Long Journey Home", Time Asia Magazine (online version) [6]
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 Johnson, Kay (2007) "The Fighting Monks of Vietnam", Time Magazine (online version accessed 3/7/2007) [7]
  10. ↑ Farah, Samar (April 04, 2002), "An advocate for peace starts with listening", The Christian Science Monitor, Religion and Ethics online journal.[8]
  11. ↑ Be The Cause Gallery [9]
  12. ↑ "Thich Nhat Hanh on Burma", Buddhist Channel, accessed 11/5/2007.[10]
  13. ↑ The Peace Abbey Courage of Conscience Recipients List
  14. ↑ Cordova, Nathaniel (2005) "The Tu Hieu Lineage of Thien (Zen) Buddhism", blog entry on the Woodmore Village website [11]
  15. ↑ Author and date unknown, "Thich Nhat Hanh", published on the Community of Interbeing, UK website [12]
  16. ↑ Mau, Thich Chi (1999) "Application for the publication of books and sutras", letter to the Vietnamese Governmental Committee of Religious Affairs, re-printed on the Plum Village website [13]
  17. ↑ Information on the Vietnamese Plum Village website [14]
  18. ↑ "Searching for the Enemy of Man", in Nhat Nanh, Ho Huu Tuong, Tam Ich, Bui Giang, Pham Cong Thien. Dialogue. Saigon: La Boi, 1965. P. 11-20., archived on the African-American Involvement in the Vietnam War website [15]
  19. ↑ "Beyond Vietnam", April 4, 1967, speech made by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. at the Riverside Church, NYC, archived on the African-American Involvement in the Vietnam War website [16]
  20. ↑ Author and date unknown, "Thich Nhat Hanh", article on the Integrative Spirituality website [17]
  21. ↑ Information about Practice Centers from the official Community of Mindful Living site [18]
  22. ↑ Information about retreats from the Deer Park Monastery site [19]
  23. ↑ "Thich Nhat Hahn Leads Retreat for Members of Congress" (2004) from the Faith and Politics newsletter, Rev. W. Douglas Tanner, Jr., president, linked on the Faith and Politics Institute website [20]
  24. ↑ Bures, Frank (2003) "Zen and the Art of Law Enforcement", Christian Science Monitor [21]
  25. ↑ Information about the "Colors of Compassion" retreat for people of color on the official Community of Mindful Living site [22]
  26. ↑ Archived information referencing the "Colors of Compassion" retreat on the official Plum Village site[23]
  27. ↑ Information about the 2006 "Soul of Gratitude" retreat for people of color at the Deer Park Monastery[24]
  28. ↑ Information about retreats on the official Plum Village site [25]
  29. ↑ Warth, Gary (2005) "Local Buddhist Monks Return to Vietnam as Part of Historic Trip", North County Times, re-published on the Buddhist Channel news website [26]
  30. ↑ Phap An, Brother (1999) "When will Thay Nhat Hanh Return to Vietnam?", archived article on the Plum Village website [27]
  31. ↑ "Buddhist monk requests Thich Nhat Hanh "to see true situation in Vietnam", 2005, Letter from Thich Vien Dinh as reported by the Buddhist Channel news website [28]
  32. ↑ "Vietnam: International Religious Freedom Report 2005", Released by the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor, 2005, report published by the U.S. State Department [29]
  33. ↑ "Vietnam: The Suppression of the Unified Buddhist Church", Vol.7, No.4, 1995, Human Rights Watch, Kenneth Roth, executive director [30]
  34. ↑ Sr. Tue Nghiem, (2006) "78 Days with Thay Nhat Hanh", Plum Village Website (accessed 3/7/2007) [31]
  35. ↑ "Vietnamese Names", Excerpted from "Culture Briefing: Vietnam", published by Geotravel Research Center, Kissimmee, Florida, 1995, on the Things Asian website [32]
  36. ↑ Title attributed to TNH on the Vietnamese Plum Village site [33]

Further reading

External links

About Thich Nhat Hanh and the Order of Interbeing

Official websites for the Order of Interbeing

Media

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Persondata
NAME Nhat Hanh
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Thich Nhat Hanh; Nhat Hanh, Thich; TNH
SHORT DESCRIPTION Religious leader and peace activist
DATE OF BIRTH October 11, 1926
PLACE OF BIRTH Thừa Thiên, Central Vietnam
DATE OF DEATH
PLACE OF DEATH