Table of Contents<\/h3>\n\n\n\n- Early life<\/a><\/li>
- Monastic training: traditional roots<\/a><\/li>
- Monastic training: seeking a new path<\/a><\/li>
- Creating a renewed, engaged Buddhism<\/a><\/li>
- Experimental community 1957-61<\/a><\/li>
- Princeton Theological Seminary & Columbia 1961-63 <\/a><\/li>
- Leader in the Buddhist peace & social work movements 1963-66<\/a><\/li>
- Leaving Vietnam to call for peace 1966-<\/a><\/li>
- Brotherhood: friendship with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.<\/a><\/li>
- Paris Peace Talks & engaging new elements<\/a><\/li>
- Miracle of mindfulness 1975-82<\/a><\/li>
- Pioneering communities of mindfulness and peace 1982- <\/a><\/li>
- Deepening roots; extending branches<\/a><\/li>
- Buddhism without borders<\/a><\/li>
- Return to Vietnam 2005-8<\/a><\/li>
- Global spiritual leader and \u201cFather of Mindfulness\u201d<\/a><\/li>
- A cloud never dies<\/a><\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\t
Editor\u2019s note on names:<\/h5>\t\t
Th\u00edch Nh\u1ea5t H\u1ea1nh (pronounced Tik – N’yat – Haan), is a religious name (or \u201cDharma title\u201d) that our teacher has gone by since his early twenties, and the name by which he is known worldwide to millions as a writer, teacher, poet, and peace activist. For simplicity and ease of reading, this biography refers to Th\u00edch Nh\u1ea5t H\u1ea1nh simply as Th\u1ea7y. It is the informal Vietnamese word for \u201cteacher\u201d and the name by which he is known to his students.<\/p>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
Early life<\/h3>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/dev.plumvillage.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/01-Thich-Nhat-Hanh-at-16-PHOTO-PVCEB-729x1024.jpg\")
Thich Nhat Hanh aged 16 in Hu\u1ebf, Vietnam<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\nTh\u1ea7y was born on October 11, 1926, into a large family in the ancient imperial capital of Hu\u1ebf in central Vietnam. His father Nguy\u1ec5n \u0110\u00ecnh Ph\u00fac was from Th\u00e0nh Trung village in the province of Th\u1eeba Thi\u00ean, Hu\u1ebf, and was an official for land reform in the Imperial Administration under the French.Th\u1ea7y is the 15th generation in the \u201cNguy\u1ec5n \u0110\u00ecnh\u201d line. The most distinguished poet in 19th<\/sup> Century Vietnam, Nguy\u1ec5n \u0110\u00ecnh Chi\u1ec3u, author of the epic poem L\u1ee5c V\u00e2n Ti\u00ean<\/em> was Th\u1ea7y\u2019s ancestor, belonging to the 9th<\/sup> generation of the Nguy\u1ec5n \u0110\u00ecnh\u201d line. Note<\/em>: It is customary in Vietnam (as in France) to write the family names first (Nguy\u1ec5n \u0110\u00ecnh) before the given name.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\nHis mother, Tr\u1ea7n Th\u1ecb D\u0129, was from H\u00e0 Trung village, in Gio Linh District, in the neighboring province of Qu\u1ea3ng Tr\u1ecb.Th\u1ea7y\u2019s mother\u2019s Dharma name (her spiritual name as a Buddhist) was Tr\u1eebng Th\u00ednh. She received this name and the Five Precepts from Th\u1ea7y\u2019s teacher (together with Th\u1ea7y\u2019s father) at T\u1eeb Hi\u1ebfu Temple when they came to visit their son right after T\u1ebft (Lunar New Year) 1947.<\/span>He was the second-youngest of their six children, with three older brothers, an elder sister, and a younger brother born soon after him. He lived until aged five with his extended family, including uncles, aunts, and cousins, at the home of his paternal grandmother\u2014a large house with a traditional courtyard and garden, with a lotus pond and bamboo grove, within the old imperial city walls. <\/p>\n\n\n\nWhen Th\u1ea7y was four, his father was assigned to work in the northern province of Thanh H\u00f3a, about 500 kilometers north in the mountains. A year later, the family moved up to join him. As a boy, Th\u1ea7y began to eagerly read the Buddhist books and magazines brought home by his elder brother Nho, whom he loved and admired. He registered for a nearby informal homeschool, with the family name \u201cNguy\u1ec5n \u0110\u00ecnh Lang.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In his later talks and lectures, Th\u1ea7y often recalled a pivotal moment when, perhaps as early as age nine, he was captivated by a peaceful image of the Buddha on the cover of one of Nho\u2019s Buddhist magazines. The illustration of the Buddha sitting on the grass, naturally at ease and smiling, captured his imagination and left a lasting impression of peace and tranquility. It was a stark contrast to the injustice and suffering he saw around him under French colonial rule. The image awakened a clear and strong desire in him to become just like that Buddha: someone who embodied calm, peace, and ease, and who could help others around him also be calm, peaceful, and at ease.The magazine was called \u0110u\u1ed1c Tu\u1ec7<\/em> (\u201cTorch of Wisdom\u201d). This story is told in Thich Nhat Hanh, A Pebble for Your Pocket (2001).<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\nA year or so later, Th\u1ea7y and his brothers and friends were talking about what they wanted to be when they grew up. His elder brother Nho was the first to say he wanted to become a monk. The boys discussed it for a long time and finally all agreed to become monks. Thay later said, \u201cDuring that discussion, it was clear that some decision or some aspiration was there very strong in me already. Inside, I knew that I wanted to be a monk.\u201dSee Thich Nhat Hanh Dharma Talk, June 8, 1992: \u201cWhen I was eleven, one day we discussed among ourselves\u2014three brothers and two friends, five boys\u2014after dinner we talked about this and that, and finally we asked ourselves the question, \u201cWhat do we want to be in the future?\u201d Someone said, \u201cI want to be a doctor.\u201d \u201cI want to become a lawyer.\u201d We talked a lot about that. Finally my big brother said, \u201cI want to become a monk.\u201d This was original and new. I don\u2019t know why but we came to the conclusion that five of us would become monks. For me it was easy, because I had that kind of something like \u201cfalling in love with the Buddha.\u201d Just by seeing the image of a person sitting quietly and calmly like that. So that seed had been growing. During that discussion, it was clear that some decision or some aspiration was there very strong in me already. Inside, I knew that I wanted to be a monk. How? We did not know at all. Being a monk was a vague idea. It meant to follow the path of the Buddha\u2014that\u2019s all. But to follow in what way? We did not know.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\nAbout six months later, on a school trip to a nearby sacred mountain aged eleven, Th\u1ea7y had what he would later describe as his first spiritual experience.Thich Nhat Hanh, Q&A at Brock University, Toronto, 15 August 2013. See also Thich Nhat Hanh, Q&A in Plum Village, July 19, 2009. It was \u201ca kind of deep, deep spiritual experience.\u201d<\/span>As his fellow schoolmates sat down to eat, he slipped away to explore alone, eager to find the old hermit rumored to live there.The mountain in Thanh H\u00f3a is known as N\u00fai Na (\u201cNa Mountain\u201d). The story of the N\u00fai Na hermit appears in the writings of Nguy\u1ec5n D\u1eef, the renowned 16th<\/sup> Century Vietnamese poet, and may have been based on the true story of a royal official in the Tran Dynasty, who retreated up into the mountain in the 14th<\/sup> Century. More information here<\/a>.<\/span>He didn\u2019t find the hermit but, hot and thirsty, came upon a natural well of fresh, pure water. He drank his fill before falling into a deep sleep on the nearby rocks. The experience created a profound feeling of satisfaction in the young boy. Having found the water, he felt completely fulfilled. He felt that he had somehow met the hermit in the form of the well, and found the best possible water to quench his thirst. This story is told in Thich Nhat Hanh, The Hermit and the Well<\/em> (2001). <\/span>A sentence came to his mind in French: J\u2019ai gout\u00e9 l\u2019eau la plus d\u00e9licieuse du monde<\/em> (I have tasted the most delicious water in the world).Thich Nhat Hanh, Cultivating the Mind of Love<\/em> (1996), pp.11-13.<\/span>The wish to become a monk continued to grow in Th\u1ea7y\u2019s heart, and a few years later that dream would be realized.Thich Nhat Hanh, Q&A in Vancouver, Canada, August 12, 2001. See also Hanh, \u201cCultivating our Deepest Desire\u201d (1993): \u201cTwo years later, when I was eleven, five of us\u2014three brothers and two friends\u2014discussed what we wanted to be in the future. One boy said, „I want to be a doctor.“ Another said, „I want to become a lawyer.“ We talked about choices like these. Then my big brother said, „I want to become a monk.“ This was original and new. I don’t know why, but all five of us came to the conclusion that we wanted to be monks. For me it was easy, because I had already fallen in love with the Buddha. During our discussion, it was clear that some strong aspiration was already there in me. I did not know what it meant\u2014being a monk was a vague idea, something about following the path of the Buddha\u2014but I knew inside that it was what I wanted.“<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\nIn 1942, at the age of sixteen, with his parents\u2019 permission, Th\u1ea7y returned to Hu\u1ebf to begin novice training at T\u1eeb Hi\u1ebfu Temple, under Zen Master Th\u00edch Ch\u00e2n Th\u1eadt (1884-1968), entering the Vietnamese Zen Buddhist tradition in the lineage of the renowned Master Linji (Rinzai) and Master Li\u1ec5u Qu\u00e1n.Th\u1ea7y\u2019s teacher, Th\u00edch Ch\u00e2n Th\u1eadt, belonged to the 41st generation of the Linji School (\u81e8\u6fdf\u5b97, Vietnamese: T\u00f4ng L\u00e2m T\u1ebf, Japanese: Rinzai) and seventh generation of the Li\u1ec5u Qu\u00e1n Dharma line. Zen Master Th\u00edch Ch\u00e2n Th\u1eadt had the Lineage name Thanh Qu\u00fd \u6e05\u5b63; Dharma name C\u1ee9u C\u00e1nh \u7a76\u7adf; and Dharma title Ch\u00e2n Th\u1eadt \u771f\u5bd4. According to Vietnamese Buddhist tradition every practitioner receives a lineage name when first committing to practice the Five Precepts; on becoming a monk they receive a monastic Dharma name. Later, monks may take or be given by their teacher or community one or many Dharma titles, marking the development of their career<\/a>. Every monastic member in the Vietnamese Buddhist tradition has a name which begins with Th\u00edch, which represents the Buddha\u2019s family name \u201cShakya\u201d (\u91cb\u8fe6). It can be considered a family name or surname for Buddhist monastics in Vietnam.<\/span> After three years of instruction, he formally received the novice precepts in the early morning of the full moon of the ninth lunar month of 1945.Th\u1ea7y was initially given the aspirant name \u201cSung\u201d and was known as \u201c\u0110i\u1ec7u Sung.\u201d \u0110i\u1ec7u means \u201caspirant\u201d and Sung comes from the words sung t\u00fac<\/em>, meaning \u201cprosperity\u201d or \u201cto prosper.\u201d When he received the Five Precepts he was given the Lineage name Tr\u1eebng Quang (\u6f84\u5149, \u201cCalm Light\u201d), marking his generation in this particular Buddhist school; and when he received the Ten Novice Precepts, he was given the monastic Dharma name Ph\u00f9ng Xu\u00e2n (\u9022\u6625, „Meeting Spring“), the name by which was known in the temple. The full moon of the ninth lunar month would have been 21 October 1945. See Thich Nhat Hanh, My Master\u2019s Robe<\/em> (2002): \u201cIn our first year we studied the daily liturgy and precepts of novices. In our second year we studied the commentaries on the precepts and well-known sutras. By the third year, of the four of us, Brother Man and I had excelled in our studies and we had great hopes of being the first to have novice ordination. Novice ordination meant to officially take the vows of a monk [bhikkhu]. We awaited this moment as though we were waiting for some great success. For me, I yearned for this moment even more than a scholar might yearn for the announcement of the results of an exam taken after many years of study.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n(Return to table of contents<\/a>)<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\nMonastic training: traditional roots<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Despite the tension beyond the temple walls, with the Japanese occupation of Vietnam (1940-45), and the scarcity of food during the catastrophic 1945 famine, Th\u1ea7y recalled his novicehood as a happy time.Thich Nhat Hanh, Q&A session, Plum Village, 24 July 2012 (Question no.4), and \u201cThe Little Buffalo in Pursuit of the Sun,\u201d a chapter on his novicehood memories in Thich Nhat Hanh, Call Me By My True Names: The Collected Poems of Thich Nhat Hanh<\/em>(1999) pp.103-115.<\/span>His years at T\u1eeb Hi\u1ebfu Temple were a time of rustic simplicity.Nhat Hanh, My Master\u2019s Robe<\/em> (2002).<\/span>There was no electricity or running water and no toilets. As a young novice in training, his daily tasks included chopping wood, carrying water from the well, sweeping the courtyard, working in the garden, tending the cows, and, when the season came, helping to harvest, thresh, and mill the rice. Whenever Th\u1ea7y had a chance to be his teacher\u2019s attendant, he would wake before dawn to light a fire and boil water to prepare his tea.Thich Nhat Hanh, Call Me By My True Names: The Collected Poems of Thich Nhat Hanh<\/em> (1999) p.111.<\/span>The temple followed the Zen principle of \u201cno work, no food,\u201d which applied to everyone from the highest monk to the newest member.ibid., p.9<\/span>In the spirit of the Zen lineage of Master Linji, Th\u1ea7y was taught to become fully present and concentrated in every task, whether washing the dishes, closing the door, sounding the temple bell, or offering incense at the altar. He was given a little book, Essential Vinaya for Daily Use<\/em>\u2014forty-five short verses in Sino-Vietnamese which he had to memorize and recite silently during every act of daily life to maintain concentration.Essential Vinaya for Daily Use (\u6bd7\u5c3c\u65e5\u7528\u5207\u8981) compiled by Vinaya Master Duti (\u8b80\u9ad4, 1601-1679), also known as Jianyue L\u00fcshi (\u898b\u6708\u5f8b\u5e2b). Th\u1ea7y also studied the Ten Novice Precepts and the Twenty-Four Chapters of Mindful Manners<\/em> by Master Zhourong, and the Encouraging Words<\/em> of Master Guishan. The meditation he learned as a novice in T\u1eeb Hi\u1ebfu Temple was from the Tiantai school.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\nTh\u1ea7y witnessed at close hand the Japanese occupation and Great Famine of 1945. Stepping out of the temple he saw bodies out in the streets of those who had died of hunger, and witnessed trucks carrying away dozens of corpses.Th\u1ea7y described what he saw in an interview with Don Lattin for The San Francisco Chronicle<\/em>, October 12, 1997: \u201cThere was a time when every morning when I got up I saw many dead bodies on the street, because people did not have anything to eat. [We] Young students had to go and beg for rice. And at lunch, we went into each house and asked for a rice bowl. We collected this rice and then we divided it into a smaller rice bowl and distributed it to the dying people. They were dying of hunger…I never can forget such an experience.\u201d<\/span>When the French returned to reclaim Vietnam in 1945, the violence only increased. Although many young monks were tempted by the Marxist pamphlets\u2019 call to arms, Th\u1ea7y was convinced that Buddhism, if updated and restored to its core teachings and practices, could<\/em> truly help relieve suffering in society, and offer a nonviolent path to peace, prosperity, and independence from colonising powers, just as it had during the renowned Ly and Tran dynasties in medieval Vietnam.Hanh, My Master\u2019s Robe<\/em> (2002). For more on Th\u1ea7y describing being tempted by the communist path himself, see: Mindfulness Bell<\/em>, issue #34, Autumn 2003 <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\nIn 1947, Th\u1ea7y\u2019s teacher sent him to study and live at the nearby B\u00e1o Qu\u1ed1c Institute of Buddhist Studies in Hu\u1ebf.Unfortunately the B\u00e1o Qu\u1ed1c Institute\u2019s records are no longer extant (they were deliberately burned in 1975 and what remained was lost in a later accidental fire).<\/span>His studies took place against the backdrop of the First Indochina War (1946-54), as, following the withdrawal of the Japanese, a violent struggle emerged between the French forces and the nationalist Vi\u1ec7t Minh engaging in guerrilla warfare to end colonial rule.The First Indochina War lasted eight years, from 1946-54, as the French fought to reclaim their colony after the Japanese withdrew in 1945, against a growing Vietnamese resistance.<\/span>Over 50,000 people would die in the fighting, as the Vietnamese fought for the kind of independence India would win from the British. The skirmishes and violence did not spare the monks or temples. They became a place of sanctuary and refuge for revolutionaries fleeing the French.Th\u1ea7y recalls sheltering revolutionaries in his letter, Nhat Hanh, \u201cThe Magical Sound of the Sitar,\u201d October 13, 2009.<\/span>Although unarmed and nonviolent, many monks, including some of Th\u1ea7y\u2019s close friends, were shot and killed.Th\u00edch T\u00e2m Th\u01b0\u1eddng, a very close friend was among those killed. See Nhat Hanh, Inside the Now <\/em>(2015), p.15.<\/span>French soldiers frequently raided the temples, searching for resistance fighters or food. Th\u1ea7y vividly recalled one raid where soldiers demanded the last of their rice.Nhat Hanh, Inside the Now <\/em>(2015); see also \u201cThe Last Sack of Rice\u201d and \u201cA French Soldier\u201d in Thich Nhat Hanh, At Home in the World: Stories and Essential Teachings from a Monk\u2019s Life <\/em>(2016).<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\nAt B\u00e1o Qu\u1ed1c, Th\u1ea7y continued to read progressive Buddhist magazines which explored ideas for a \u201csocially conscious\u201d Buddhism that was concerned not only with transforming the mind, but also the wider environment and conditions in society, including the economic and political roots of poverty, oppression, and war.For example, Ti\u1ebfn H\u00f3a <\/em>Buddhist magazine. Th\u1ea7y was also inspired by the writings of Zen Master Th\u00edch M\u1eadt Th\u1ec3 (1912-1961) and the author Nguy\u1ec5n Tr\u1ecdng Thu\u1eadt (1883\u20131940). Both figures saw the deep riches in Vietnamese Zen history and the capacity of Buddhism to bring about \u201ca new spring\u201d for Vietnam, the kind of Buddhist renewal also being proposed by other reformers and modernists elsewhere, for example, the Chinese Master Taixu (1890-1947). Th\u00edch M\u1eadt Th\u1ec3 studied with Master Tinh Nghi\u00eam (Qing Yan) in China, and brought back his ideas to Hu\u1ebf.<\/span>Ti\u1ebfn H\u00f3a<\/em> published articles on the importance of studying science and economics in order to understand the actual roots of suffering, and not rely only on chanting and prayer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n(Return to contents<\/a>)<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\nMonastic training: seeking a new path<\/h3>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/dev.plumvillage.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/03-Thich-Nhat-Hanh-age-25-soon-after-receiving-Bhikkhu-ordination-1951-PHOTO-PVCEB-688x1024.jpg\")
Aged 25, shortly after receiving the Bhikshu precepts in 1951.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\nIn late spring 1949, after two years at the B\u00e1o Qu\u1ed1c Institute, 23-year-old Th\u1ea7y left Hu\u1ebf with two other monks and a friend to further their studies in Saigon.Thich Nhat Hanh, Creating True Peace: Ending Conflict in Yourself, Your Community and the World<\/em> (2001) p.22, \u201cI left the Buddhist Institute because I did not find an appropriate teaching and practice there for responding to the reality of life in Vietnam, but I did not leave monastic life.\u201d Thich Nhat Hanh, Cultivating the Mind of Love<\/em> (1996) p.21, \u201cWe left the Buddhist Institute in Hue because we felt we weren\u2019t getting the teachings we needed.\u201d<\/span>As battles were still raging, they took a long route, and in parts travelled by boat to avoid the military roadblocks. Along the way, the young monks decided to affirm their deep aspiration to become bodhisattvas<\/em> of action by taking new names. They all took the name H\u1ea1nh, meaning \u201caction.\u201d In this way, Th\u1ea7y (Ph\u00f9ng Xu\u00e2n) became Nh\u1ea5t H\u1ea1nh (\u201cOne Action\u201d).Th\u1ea7y\u2019s private papers. With the name \u201cH\u1ea1nh,\u201d they may have been evoking the name of Zen Master V\u1ea1n H\u1ea1nh, an eminent Vietnamese monk from the 10-11th Centuries, who was a master of Buddhism, Confucianism, and Taoism, and who served as adviser to the King. The name V\u1ea1n H\u1ea1nh means \u201cTen Thousand Actions,\u201d whereas Nh\u1ea5t H\u1ea1nh means \u201cOne Action.\u201d Speaking later about his name, Th\u1ea7y said that he, unlike his eminent predecessor, needed to concentrate on one thing. Source: Sallie B. King, \u201cThich Nhat Hanh and the Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam: Nondualism in Action,\u201d in Christopher S. Queen and Sallie B. King (Eds.) Engaged Buddhism: Buddhist Liberation Movements in Asia<\/em> (1996), Ch.9<\/span>As the name of every Vietnamese Buddhist begins with Th\u00edch, so it was that, from this time, Th\u1ea7y became known as Th\u00edch Nh\u1ea5t H\u1ea1nh.Nhat Hanh, My Master\u2019s Robe<\/em> (2002)<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\nWhen they arrived in Saigon, the war with the French was still going on. Th\u1ea7y and his friends stayed and studied at a number of other different temples, for weeks or months at a time, while they pursued their self-directed studies. Th\u1ea7y soon published his first books of poetry.
Ti\u1ebfng \u0110\u1ecbch Chi\u1ec1u Thu (\u201cReed Flute in the Autumn Twilight,\u201d a collection of fifty poems and a play in verse) published under the name Nh\u1ea5t H\u1ea1nh by Dragon River Press in autumn 1949. This was followed by Th\u01a1 Ng\u1ee5 Ng\u00f4n<\/em> (\u201cFables\u201d), published under the pen name \u201cHo\u00e0ng Hoa\u201d by \u0110u\u1ed1c Tu\u1ec7 publishing house in 1950. \u00c1nh Xu\u00e2n V\u00e0ng<\/em> (\u201cThe Golden Light of Spring\u201d), was published soon after, in 1950.<\/span>Capturing his experiences of war and loss, his poetry was well received and were considered some of the best examples of Vietnam\u2019s new and influential \u201cfree verse\u201d poetry movement.Thich Nhat Hanh, Inside the Now: Meditations on Time<\/em> (2015), pp.23-24<\/span>From this time, he established a reputation first and foremost as a poet rather than as a monk or teacher; a real distinction since for centuries poets had been esteemed figures in Vietnamese culture and society.<\/p>\n\n\n\nIn autumn 1950, Th\u1ea7y helped co-found \u1ea4n Quang Pagoda, a new temple built of bamboo and thatch. It would later host a reformist Buddhist institute where he would become one of the youngest teachers, and is today one of the most prominent temples in the city. Thich Nhat Hanh, Dharma Talk in Hanoi, May 6, 2008. They founded the temple in 1949 together with the Venerable Tr\u00ed H\u1eefu. At first they called it \u1ee8ng Quang. Today \u1ea4n Quang temple is one of the most well-known temples in the city.<\/span><\/em>It was there that Thay received the Bhikshu precepts the following year.In October 1951, at the age of 25, Th\u1ea7y formally received full ordination as a bhikshu at \u1ea4n Quang Temple, with Venerable Th\u00edch \u0110\u00f4n H\u1eadu as his Ordination Master. See: Ti\u1ec3u s\u1eed danh t\u0103ng Vi\u1ec7t Nam th\u1ebf k\u1ef7 XX (1995) (\u201cBiographies of Renowned Vietnamese Monks of the Twentieth Century\u201d), Ch. 1, p. 322, compiled by Venerable Th\u00edch \u0110\u1ed3ng B\u1ed5n, published by the Buddhist Association of H\u1ed3 Ch\u00ed Minh city.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\nWhile completing the formalities of his education, Th\u1ea7y published in 1950 his first book on Buddhism, Oriental Logic<\/em>, a discussion of Eastern logic in the light of Aristotle, Hegel, Marx and Engels.Th\u1ea7y\u2019s first book on Buddhism: \u0110\u00f4ng Ph\u01b0\u01a1ng Lu\u1eadn L\u00fd H\u1ecdc<\/em> (\u201cOriental Logic\u201d) was published by H\u01b0\u01a1ng Qu\u00ea publishing house in 1950. Formalities of his education: Th\u1ea7y took the baccalaur\u00e9at exams at V\u01b0\u01a1ng Gia C\u1ea7n High School in Saigon, and in 1954 was accepted into the first cohort at the newly-opened Facult\u00e9 des Lettres de l’Universit\u00e9 de Saigon. Th\u1ea7y completed his university studies while continuing to teach and publish his own poems, articles, and books, and was awarded a BA in French and Vietnamese Literature.<\/span>He also continued with initiatives to renew Buddhism and apply Buddhist teachings to the issues and challenges of his time. He was invited to \u0110\u00e0 L\u1ea1t, up in the Central Highlands north of Saigon, to edit a Buddhist magazine and train young monks. There he began to publish a new kind of book for lay Buddhists, proposing ways to apply the teachings in daily family life, beyond just offering incense and prayers.Nh\u1ea5t H\u1ea1nh, L\u00e0 Ph\u1eadt T\u1eed<\/em> (\u201cBeing Buddhist,\u201d 1953), published by H\u01b0\u01a1ng Qu\u00ea; and Nh\u1ea5t H\u1ea1nh, Gia \u0110\u00ecnh Tin Ph\u1eadt <\/em>(\u201cBuddhist Families,\u201d 1953), published by \u0110u\u1ed1c Tu\u1ec7 (this was a collection of articles first printed in the magazine H\u01b0\u1edbng Thi\u1ec7n<\/em> in Dalat in 1951).<\/span>For the Lunar New Year of 1952 in \u0110\u00e0 L\u1ea1t, Th\u1ea7y directed his students in his adaptation of Le Tartuffe<\/em>.Later published with the title C\u1eadu \u0110\u1ed3ng<\/em><\/span>Reflecting later on this time, Th\u1ea7y wrote, \u201cI was full of creative energy, an artist, and a poet. More than anything else, I wanted to help renew Buddhism in my country, to make it relevant to the needs of the young people.Nhat Hanh, Cultivating the Mind of Love<\/em> (1996), p.11<\/span> <\/p>\n\n\n\n(<\/em><\/a>Return to table of contents<\/a>)<\/em><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\nCreating a renewed, engaged Buddhism<\/h3>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/dev.plumvillage.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/02-Thich-Nhat-Hanh-with-his-students-at-An-Quang-Buddhist-Institute-in-early-1950s-PHOTO-PVCEB.jpg\")
Thich Nhat Hanh as a young Dharma Teacher (back row, right) with his students, 1950s.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\nIn July 1954, following the Geneva Accords, which officially ended hostilities between the French and the Viet Minh, Vietnam was divided into two. The North became communist and the South soon became anti-communist, supported by the U.S. The separation of the country ushered in a turbulent time, with huge numbers migrating from North to South, in an atmosphere of confusion and uncertainty. To strengthen their voice and collect their energy, Buddhist leaders formed a National Buddhist Association (T\u1ed5ng H\u1ed9i Ph\u1eadt Gi\u00e1o Vi\u1ec7t Nam) of all the schools and lineages in the South.It was created in 1951.<\/span>The board of the \u1ea4n Quang Institute invited Th\u1ea7y back to Saigon to help stabilize and renew the program of studies and practice for the young generation of monks and nuns, many of whom were drawn to Marxist ideals; or, feeling that Buddhist courses were neither rigorous nor relevant, were drawn by the promise of diplomas in secular professions, like medicine or engineering. Th\u1ea7y was charged with creating a more relevant and inspiring Buddhist program, which would also, for the first time, offer them a diploma comparable to secular courses. While teaching at \u1ea4n Quang, Th\u1ea7y completed his own university studies and graduated with a BA in French and Vietnamese Literature from the newly-opened university Facult\u00e9 des Lettres de l\u2019Universit\u00e9 de Saigon. He also continued to write and publish his own poems, articles and books.Tr\u00ed Kh\u00f4ng, unpublished memoirs.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\nIn 1955, the regime of Vietnamese Catholic leader Ng\u00f4 \u0110\u00ecnh Di\u1ec7m began to consolidate power, using every means possible. Catholics were explicitly favoured and Buddhists increasingly suppressed and marginalized. Hopes for democratic elections soon faded as guerrilla fighters continued to gain ground, and the government\u2014under foreign influence\u2014did everything they could to stymie a free ballot.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Th\u1ea7y was asked to write a series of ten high-profile articles for the politically-neutral daily newspaper, Democracy <\/em>(D\u00e2n Ch\u1ee7).According to Thich Nhat Hanh\u2019s private papers, they were published in 1955.<\/span>They asked him to show the strength of Vietnam\u2019s own Buddhist heritage, and prove that Buddhism was not irrelevant or obsolete, as many were claiming. And so, in the turmoil and pressure of the division of the country, Th\u1ea7y\u2019s vision for engaged Buddhism crystallised. Published on the front page, under the pen name Th\u1ea1c \u00d0\u1ee9c, and entitled \u201cA Fresh Look at Buddhism\u201d (\u0110\u1ea1o Ph\u1eadt Qua Nh\u1eadn Th\u1ee9c M\u1edbi<\/em>), Th\u1ea7y\u2019s daring articles proposed a new way forward in terms of democracy, freedom, human rights, religion, and education. They sent shock-waves across the country.Thich Nhat Hanh, Dharma Talk in Hanoi, May 6, 2008.<\/span>The tenth and final article was a bold Buddhist critique of President Di\u1ec7m\u2019s doctrine of \u201cpersonalism.\u201dHis alternative to liberalism and communism which every government employee was required to follow<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\nIn 1955 Th\u1ea7y made his first trip back to Hu\u1ebf, to his home temple and family, seven years after leaving. He received a warm welcome at his Root Temple and at the B\u00e1o Qu\u1ed1c Institute they organized a talk for him with the students. Th\u1ea7y also enjoyed a happy visit with his parents. It would be the last time he saw his mother in good health.Nhat Hanh, unpublished private papers.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\nAs his recognition and standing grew, in 1956 Th\u1ea7y was appointed Editor in Chief of Vietnamese Buddhism<\/em>, the official magazine of the new National Buddhist Association.Vietnamese Buddhism magazine: Ph\u1eadt Gi\u00e1o Vi\u1ec7t Nam<\/em><\/span>He used a dozen pseudonyms to author articles on Vietnamese history, international literature (including Tolstoy, Albert Camus, Victor Hugo), philosophy, Buddhist texts, current affairs, short stories, and even folk poetry\u2014doing everything he could to promote reconciliation and a spirit of togetherness between Buddhists of North and South.His pseudonyms included Ho\u00e0ng Hoa (poetry), Th\u1ea1c \u00d0\u1ee9c (philosophy, Engaged Buddhism, current affairs and reconciliation), Nguy\u1ec5n Lang, (history of Buddhism), D\u00e3 Th\u1ea3o (renewing Buddhism, role of Buddhism in society, influence of Buddhism on Western philosophy; critique of Buddhist institutions), T\u00e2m Ki\u00ean (modern folk poetry), Minh H\u1ea1nh (literary commentary, French literature, cultural critiques), Ph\u01b0\u01a1ng B\u1ed1i (deep Buddhism, message to youth), B\u2019su Danglu (renewed Buddhism), Tu\u1ec7 Uy\u1ec3n (Buddhist ethics), Minh Th\u01b0 and Thi\u1ec1u Chi (Buddhism, short stories, interviews with leading monks). He edited as Nh\u1ea5t H\u1ea1nh, and also wrote Buddhist commentary and some poems as Nh\u1ea5t H\u1ea1nh.<\/span>He dug deep into Vietnam\u2019s own history to propose a truly Vietnamese way out of the situation, drawing on the very engaged role Buddhism had played during the Tr\u1ea7n and L\u00fd Dynasties between the 11th and 13th Centuries, that had so inspired him as a young monk. <\/p>\n\n\n\n(Return to contents)<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\nExperimental community<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Towards the end of 1956, Th\u1ea7y began to spend more time in B\u2019lao, a remote tea-growing region in the central highlands. There, Th\u1ea7y retreated to a small thatched hut built out among the tea trees in the grounds of Ph\u01b0\u1edbc Hu\u1ec7 Temple. It was a simple hut, at the end of a little path through the tea plantation, with just a bed and a table\u2014and stacks of books.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Th\u1ea7y dreamed of creating a monastic community there in the mountains, and was soon joined by a number of young monastic brothers and students from \u1ea4n Quang and B\u00e1o Qu\u1ed1c. It was from here that Th\u1ea7y wrote and edited articles for the national Vietnamese Buddhism<\/em> magazine over the next two years, while teaching the young monks. And it was also here that Th\u1ea7y had a memorable dream, recorded in his writings, in which he saw his late mother. <\/p>\n\n\n\nIn 1957, Th\u1ea7y and his friends found sixty acres of land available to buy in the heart of the \u0110\u1ea1i L\u00e3o Forest, in a quiet spot near the Montagnard village of B\u2019su Danlu, about 10km from B\u2019lao and Ph\u01b0\u1edbc Hu\u1ec7 Temple.The land was bought from K’Briu and K’Br\u00f4i on August 7, 1957.<\/span>In January 1958 they began clearing the land, and that summer started erecting some simple wooden structures.<\/p>\n\n\n\nThey called this new community \u201cPh\u01b0\u01a1ng B\u1ed1i\u201d (Fragrant Palm Leaves), after the name of Th\u1ea7y\u2019s hut in the tea field of Ph\u01b0\u1edbc Hu\u1ec7. Th\u1ea7y recalled that Ph\u01b0\u01a1ng B\u1ed1i \u201coffered us her untamed hills as an enormous soft cradle, blanketed with wildflowers, grasses, and forest. Here, for the first time, we were sheltered from the harshness of worldly affairs.\u201dNhat Hanh, Fragrant Palm Leaves <\/em>(1999), p.19<\/span>With this new dream of a \u201crural practice center\u201d Th\u1ea7y definitively broke free of the mould of the traditional Buddhist temple with its ceremonies and rituals, and created an environment exclusively dedicated to spiritual practice, study, healing, music, poetry, and community-building. They enjoyed sitting meditation in the early morning, tea meditation in the afternoons, and sitting meditation in the evenings. Ph\u01b0\u01a1ng B\u1ed1i was an experimental model for the renewal and reinvigoration of Buddhism. Though few may have foreseen it, Ph\u01b0\u01a1ng B\u1ed1i became a prototype for Th\u1ea7y\u2019s many \u201cmindfulness practice centers\u201d that would flourish around the world by the end of the century. <\/p>\n\n\n\nTh\u1ea7y put great effort into editing Vietnamese Buddhism <\/em>magazine. But in 1958, after just two years of publication, its funding was discontinued. Th\u1ea7y felt that it wasn\u2019t just about a lack of funds, but also resistance in the Buddhist hierarchy to his bold articles. He felt he had failed in his effort to renew and unify Vietnamese Buddhism.ibid., p.50. \u201c<\/em>The hierarchy did not know how to deal with us, so they silenced our voices. For eight years, we tried to speak about the need for a humanistic Buddhism and a unified Buddhist church in Vietnam that could respond to the needs of the people. We sowed those seeds against steep odds, and while waiting for them to take root, we endured false accusations, hatred, deception, and intolerance. Still we refused to give up hope.\u201d<\/span>With this setback, and still grieving his mother\u2019s death, and enduring the painful division of the country, Th\u1ea7y struggled to keep his hope alive. Th\u1ea7y fell sick and was hospitalized for almost a month in Grall Hospital in Saigon, where he was treated by French doctors.ibid., p.7<\/span>His body was weak and he suffered from chronic insomnia. Even the doctors were unable to help, and his spirits were lower than ever. <\/p>\n\n\n\nTh\u1ea7y later described this period as a time of deep depression.Nhat Hanh, Dharma Talk in Plum Village, June 20, 2014: \u201c…after my mother died, and the country [had been] divided, and the war continued, I had depression\u2026 The doctors could not help. It was by the practice of mindful walking and mindful breathing that I could heal myself. […] When you practice sitting or walking, you can know<\/em> whether your breathing is healing or not. You can see<\/em> the effect of healing right away when you breathe in. And when you walk, if every step brings you happiness and joy, …that is very nourishing and healing, and you know<\/em> it. And with your depression, if you breathe and walk like that for one week, I know that you can transform. That is the practice of stopping<\/em> and healing\u2014 stopping<\/em> the running, stopping the fact that you are being carried away. You resist, you do not want to be carried away; you want to live<\/em> your life, and you have your [own] insight as to how to do it.\u201d<\/span>But Th\u1ea7y had the intuition that, if only he could master his full awareness of breathing and walking, he would be able to truly heal. It was the very challenges of the 1950s that forged the deepening of Th\u1ea7y\u2019s personal practice, and gave him the spiritual strength he needed to find a way forward. As a young monk, Th\u1ea7y studied the principle of counting and following the breath and trained in formal slow walking meditation (kinh h\u00e0nh<\/em>). But Buddhist Institutes in Vietnam did not teach an applied meditation practice for personal healing; only meditation theory. And so, faced with deep suffering, Th\u1ea7y had to discover for himself a healing way to meditate. He experimented with a new method to combine his breath and steps more naturally while walking and, instead of counting only the breath, he counted the steps in harmony with the breath. With this concentration he was able to tenderly embrace his pain and acute despair without being swept away by strong feelings. \u201cWith the practice of mindful breathing,\u201d he said, \u201cI got out of the situation.\u201dNhat Hanh, Q&A in Plum Village, July 25, 2013:<\/span>He began this practice at \u1ea4n Quang and continued to experiment with it in B\u2019lao and at Ph\u01b0\u01a1ng B\u1ed1i, and later at Princeton University in the US; and over the coming decades as his understanding of the sutras on meditation and breathing deepened.Nhat Hanh, unpublished private papers<\/span> <\/p>\n\n\n\nNew hope<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
In spring 1959, known for his work as the Editor of Vietnamese Buddhism<\/em> magazine, Th\u1ea7y was invited to attend the international Buddha\u2019s birthday celebrations in Japan. Although his health was still weak (for part of the trip he was hospitalized in Tokyo), it proved to be an important journey that expanded his horizons. It was Th\u1ea7y\u2019s first trip outside of Vietnam and the first to expose him to the network of the wider Buddhist community, who had gathered from around the world. From the other delegates, Th\u1ea7y heard about the great Buddhist collections in libraries in the west; and he realised the importance of learning English. On his return, he resolved to master the language within a year.<\/p>\n\n\n\nIn November 1959, at a weekly lecture series he started giving for Saigon university students at X\u00e1 L\u1ee3i Temple, Th\u1ea7y met many young people eager to help him in his work. Among them was Cao Ng\u1ecdc Ph\u01b0\u1ee3ng, a young biology student, who became one of his \u201cThirteen Cedars,\u201d a group of passionate young activists who studied with him and supported his vision for a modernized Buddhism. Known as \u201cPh\u01b0\u1ee3ng,\u201d she was already actively leading social work programs in the Saigon slums and urged Th\u1ea7y to develop spiritual practices that could support such engaged action. He accepted the challenge, and it was in the process of guiding Ph\u01b0\u1ee3ng and \u201cthe thirteen cedars,\u201d in social work, education, and relief projects, that Th\u1ea7y\u2019s teaching, captured in his articles, books, and lectures, for the first time found its practical application and field of action. As Th\u1ea7y reflected later, \u201cIt was not easy because the tradition does not directly offer Engaged Buddhism. So we had to do it by ourselves.\u201dShambhala Sun interview, July 1, 2003<\/span>Ph\u01b0\u1ee3ng went on to become his principal collaborator over the next six decades, later becoming known as Sister Ch\u00e2n Kh\u00f4ng; today a renowned and much-loved teacher in her own right. <\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/dev.plumvillage.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/04-Thich-Nhat-Hanh-teaching-children-to-read-and-write-using-song-about-bodhisattva-of-compassion-1960s-PHOTO-PVCEB-1024x735.jpg\")
Teaching children to read and write using a song about the Bodhisattva of Great Compassion, early 1960s.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n(<\/em><\/a>Return to table of contents<\/a>)<\/em><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\nPrinceton & Columbia <\/h3>\n\n\n\n
In 1961, Th\u1ea7y was offered a Fulbright Scholarship to broaden his experience and scholarship, and travelled to the U.S. to study Comparative Religion at Princeton Theological Seminary, from 1961-62. It was in Princeton that he experienced his first autumn, his first snows, and the fresh beauties of spring following winter. In the peace and calm, Th\u1ea7y\u2019s insights had a chance to ripen: \u201cIt was there that I truly tasted, for the first time, the peace of dwelling happily in the present moment\u201d (the ancient Buddhist teaching of d\u1e5b\u1e63\u1e6dadharmasukhavih\u0101ra<\/em>).Nhat Hanh, Fragrant Palm Leaves <\/em>(1999)<\/span>Th\u1ea7y later reflected on these formative years in the U.S.: \u201cI grew up in Vietnam. I became a monk in Vietnam. I learned and practiced Buddhism in Vietnam. And before coming to the West, I taught several generations of Buddhist students in Vietnam. But I can say now that it was in the West that I realized my path.\u201dNhat Hanh, At Home in the World <\/em>(2016), p. 87<\/span> <\/p>\n\n\n\nIn summer 1962, while guiding young people at Camp Ockanickon in Medford, New Jersey, Th\u1ea7y captured these \u201cfirst blossoms of awakening\u201d in A Rose for Your Pocket<\/em>. It was a simple, lyrical little book in celebration of mothers, inspiring the reader to cherish what they have right now in the present moment.Nh\u1ea5t H\u1ea1nh, B\u00f4ng H\u1ed3ng C\u00e0i \u00c1o <\/em>(1962)<\/span>Th\u1ea7y sent it to one of his student \u201ccedars\u201d in Vietnam, who arranged for its publication right away.He send it to C\u00f4 Nhi\u00ean. First published in Vietnamese in the Buddhist magazine Lotus<\/em> in 1962, under his own name Nh\u1ea5t H\u1ea1nh, with the title Seeing Your Mother Deeply (Nh\u00ecn k\u1ef9 M\u1eb9).<\/em>It was subsequently one of the first books to be printed by L\u00e1 B\u1ed1i publishing house. In 1965, the professional singer Ph\u1ea1m Th\u1ebf M\u1ef9 performed it as a modern Vietnamese song.<\/span>The spirit and approach of A Rose Your Pocket <\/em>broke entirely new ground in Buddhist writing, and crystallised Th\u1ea7y\u2019s distinctive writing style. There had never before been a book in Vietnamese which so lyrically applied Buddhist insights into a spiritual perspective on daily life, and it rapidly became a bestseller. Written in natural, poetic language that even children could understand, A Rose for Your Pocket<\/em> didn\u2019t have the form of a Buddhist teaching, but was in essence a guided meditation to help the reader to touch the wonder of their mother\u2019s presence in the here and now. For the first time, a Buddhist monk was showing how meditative awareness could be a bright and gentle energy. The reader could touch the fruit of meditation without having to turn their heart and mind into a battlefield, fighting anger, grief, or craving. With its publication Th\u1ea7y, who hitherto had been known as a poet, editor and Buddhist scholar, became known for his deep and accessible Buddhism. Already on Mother\u2019s Day that year, Th\u1ea7y\u2019s students organised a \u201cRose Festival\u201d to celebrate motherhood, based on the book.The cedars organized for 200 handwritten copies to be prepared for the first Rose Ceremony. A red rose or a white rose was attached to each copy depending to the person who received it, whose mother was still alive or deceased.<\/span><\/em>The festival soon became an annual tradition celebrated across Vietnam, and it is today an integral part of Buddhist culture in the country. The book has sold over a million copies, and can be found in every Buddhist home.The \u201ccedars\u201d organized for the text to be published in the Buddhist magazine Lotus<\/em>, and in 1964 it was published in book form by L\u00e1 B\u1ed1i Press. The tradition of the Rose Ceremony for mother\u2019s day in Vietnam began.<\/span>Its fresh and intimate tone that so appealed to Vietnamese Buddhists created a new genre in modern Buddhist writing, adopted in both East and West.<\/p>\n\n\n\nAfter completing his year at Princeton, Th\u1ea7y stayed on in the U.S. and continued his research at Columbia (1962-3). There, he made the most of the extensive Buddhist collection in the Butler Library, and benefited from the mentorship of the distinguished Professor Anton Zigmund-Cerbu and encountered the work of contemporary theologians.Professor Anton Zigmund-Cerbu was a specialist in Buddhism<\/a>, and was said to have mastered 40 languages<\/a>. Ten years older than Th\u1ea7y, Prof. Cerbu passed away after undergoing heart surgery just a few months after Th\u1ea7y returned to Vietnam. <\/span>(Half a century later, in 2017, Columbia\u2019s Union Theological Seminary would create a \u201cThich Nhat Hanh Master\u2019s Program for Engaged Buddhism\u201d in his honor.) <\/p>\n\n\n\nIn November and December 1962, Th\u1ea7y experienced a series of deepening spiritual breakthroughs. He had been profoundly moved by the writings of Dietrich Bonhoeffer\u2014a German pastor and theologian, and a bold, outspoken critic of the Nazi regime, who was imprisoned and later executed in 1945.Nhat Hanh, Fragrant Palm Leaves<\/em> (1999), pp.109-111. Bonhoeffer considered taking refuge in the U.S., but soon realised: \u201cI will have no right to participate in the reconstruction of Christian life in Germany after the war if I do not share the trials of this time with my people.\u201d He was also critical of the Church\u2019s response to the situation: \u201cthe Church was silent when it should have cried out, because the blood of the innocent was crying aloud to heaven.\u201d Quoted in Franklin Sherman, \u201cDietrich Bonhoeffer,\u201d in Encyclopaedia Britannica <\/em>(2019)<\/span>Reading Bonhoeffer\u2019s account of his decision to return home to Germany from the U.S., even though it put his life at risk, Th\u1ea7y was struck by his description of his final days in prison: <\/p>\n\n\n\n...I was awakened to the starry sky that dwells in each of us. I felt a surge of joy, accompanied by the faith that I could endure even greater suffering than I had thought possible<\/em>. Bonhoeffer was the drop that made my cup overflow, the last link in a long chain, the breeze that nudged the ripened fruit to fall. After experiencing such a night, I will never complain about life again. [...] All feelings, passions, and sufferings revealed themselves as wonders, yet I remained grounded in my body. Some people might call such an experience \u2018religious,\u2019 but what I felt was totally and utterly human.<\/em> I knew in that moment that there was no enlightenment outside of my own mind and the cells of my body. Life is miraculous, even in its suffering. Without suffering, life would not be possible.<\/em>Th\u1ea7y\u2019s account of his insights on the night of November 2, 1962 (italics added). Nhat Hanh, Fragrant Palm Leaves <\/em>(1999), p.85<\/span><\/pre>\n\n\n\nIt was in 1963, during the annual spring Vesak festival, that the Di\u1ec7m regime\u2019s suppression of Buddhists dramatically escalated.He submitted his documents on 8 October, 1963, the day of the U.N. debate on President Ng\u00f4 \u0110\u00ecnh Di\u1ec7m\u2019s suppression of the Buddhists.<\/span>In America, Th\u1ea7y found himself becoming an active spokesman for the Buddhist peace movement back home. He gave talks and media interviews, and submitted a report to the United Nations on the human rights violations. In June, Th\u1ea7y learned of the self-immolation of the senior monk, Venerable Th\u00edch Qu\u1ea3ng \u0110\u1ee9c in the The New York Times<\/em>.„Man Sets Himself Afire“,
Editor\u2019s note on names:<\/h5>\t\t
Th\u00edch Nh\u1ea5t H\u1ea1nh (pronounced Tik – N’yat – Haan), is a religious name (or \u201cDharma title\u201d) that our teacher has gone by since his early twenties, and the name by which he is known worldwide to millions as a writer, teacher, poet, and peace activist. For simplicity and ease of reading, this biography refers to Th\u00edch Nh\u1ea5t H\u1ea1nh simply as Th\u1ea7y. It is the informal Vietnamese word for \u201cteacher\u201d and the name by which he is known to his students.<\/p>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
Early life<\/h3>\n\n\n\nThich Nhat Hanh aged 16 in Hu\u1ebf, Vietnam<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\nTh\u1ea7y was born on October 11, 1926, into a large family in the ancient imperial capital of Hu\u1ebf in central Vietnam. His father Nguy\u1ec5n \u0110\u00ecnh Ph\u00fac was from Th\u00e0nh Trung village in the province of Th\u1eeba Thi\u00ean, Hu\u1ebf, and was an official for land reform in the Imperial Administration under the French.Th\u1ea7y is the 15th generation in the \u201cNguy\u1ec5n \u0110\u00ecnh\u201d line. The most distinguished poet in 19th<\/sup> Century Vietnam, Nguy\u1ec5n \u0110\u00ecnh Chi\u1ec3u, author of the epic poem L\u1ee5c V\u00e2n Ti\u00ean<\/em> was Th\u1ea7y\u2019s ancestor, belonging to the 9th<\/sup> generation of the Nguy\u1ec5n \u0110\u00ecnh\u201d line. Note<\/em>: It is customary in Vietnam (as in France) to write the family names first (Nguy\u1ec5n \u0110\u00ecnh) before the given name.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\nHis mother, Tr\u1ea7n Th\u1ecb D\u0129, was from H\u00e0 Trung village, in Gio Linh District, in the neighboring province of Qu\u1ea3ng Tr\u1ecb.Th\u1ea7y\u2019s mother\u2019s Dharma name (her spiritual name as a Buddhist) was Tr\u1eebng Th\u00ednh. She received this name and the Five Precepts from Th\u1ea7y\u2019s teacher (together with Th\u1ea7y\u2019s father) at T\u1eeb Hi\u1ebfu Temple when they came to visit their son right after T\u1ebft (Lunar New Year) 1947.<\/span>He was the second-youngest of their six children, with three older brothers, an elder sister, and a younger brother born soon after him. He lived until aged five with his extended family, including uncles, aunts, and cousins, at the home of his paternal grandmother\u2014a large house with a traditional courtyard and garden, with a lotus pond and bamboo grove, within the old imperial city walls. <\/p>\n\n\n\nWhen Th\u1ea7y was four, his father was assigned to work in the northern province of Thanh H\u00f3a, about 500 kilometers north in the mountains. A year later, the family moved up to join him. As a boy, Th\u1ea7y began to eagerly read the Buddhist books and magazines brought home by his elder brother Nho, whom he loved and admired. He registered for a nearby informal homeschool, with the family name \u201cNguy\u1ec5n \u0110\u00ecnh Lang.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In his later talks and lectures, Th\u1ea7y often recalled a pivotal moment when, perhaps as early as age nine, he was captivated by a peaceful image of the Buddha on the cover of one of Nho\u2019s Buddhist magazines. The illustration of the Buddha sitting on the grass, naturally at ease and smiling, captured his imagination and left a lasting impression of peace and tranquility. It was a stark contrast to the injustice and suffering he saw around him under French colonial rule. The image awakened a clear and strong desire in him to become just like that Buddha: someone who embodied calm, peace, and ease, and who could help others around him also be calm, peaceful, and at ease.The magazine was called \u0110u\u1ed1c Tu\u1ec7<\/em> (\u201cTorch of Wisdom\u201d). This story is told in Thich Nhat Hanh, A Pebble for Your Pocket (2001).<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\nA year or so later, Th\u1ea7y and his brothers and friends were talking about what they wanted to be when they grew up. His elder brother Nho was the first to say he wanted to become a monk. The boys discussed it for a long time and finally all agreed to become monks. Thay later said, \u201cDuring that discussion, it was clear that some decision or some aspiration was there very strong in me already. Inside, I knew that I wanted to be a monk.\u201dSee Thich Nhat Hanh Dharma Talk, June 8, 1992: \u201cWhen I was eleven, one day we discussed among ourselves\u2014three brothers and two friends, five boys\u2014after dinner we talked about this and that, and finally we asked ourselves the question, \u201cWhat do we want to be in the future?\u201d Someone said, \u201cI want to be a doctor.\u201d \u201cI want to become a lawyer.\u201d We talked a lot about that. Finally my big brother said, \u201cI want to become a monk.\u201d This was original and new. I don\u2019t know why but we came to the conclusion that five of us would become monks. For me it was easy, because I had that kind of something like \u201cfalling in love with the Buddha.\u201d Just by seeing the image of a person sitting quietly and calmly like that. So that seed had been growing. During that discussion, it was clear that some decision or some aspiration was there very strong in me already. Inside, I knew that I wanted to be a monk. How? We did not know at all. Being a monk was a vague idea. It meant to follow the path of the Buddha\u2014that\u2019s all. But to follow in what way? We did not know.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\nAbout six months later, on a school trip to a nearby sacred mountain aged eleven, Th\u1ea7y had what he would later describe as his first spiritual experience.Thich Nhat Hanh, Q&A at Brock University, Toronto, 15 August 2013. See also Thich Nhat Hanh, Q&A in Plum Village, July 19, 2009. It was \u201ca kind of deep, deep spiritual experience.\u201d<\/span>As his fellow schoolmates sat down to eat, he slipped away to explore alone, eager to find the old hermit rumored to live there.The mountain in Thanh H\u00f3a is known as N\u00fai Na (\u201cNa Mountain\u201d). The story of the N\u00fai Na hermit appears in the writings of Nguy\u1ec5n D\u1eef, the renowned 16th<\/sup> Century Vietnamese poet, and may have been based on the true story of a royal official in the Tran Dynasty, who retreated up into the mountain in the 14th<\/sup> Century. More information here<\/a>.<\/span>He didn\u2019t find the hermit but, hot and thirsty, came upon a natural well of fresh, pure water. He drank his fill before falling into a deep sleep on the nearby rocks. The experience created a profound feeling of satisfaction in the young boy. Having found the water, he felt completely fulfilled. He felt that he had somehow met the hermit in the form of the well, and found the best possible water to quench his thirst. This story is told in Thich Nhat Hanh, The Hermit and the Well<\/em> (2001). <\/span>A sentence came to his mind in French: J\u2019ai gout\u00e9 l\u2019eau la plus d\u00e9licieuse du monde<\/em> (I have tasted the most delicious water in the world).Thich Nhat Hanh, Cultivating the Mind of Love<\/em> (1996), pp.11-13.<\/span>The wish to become a monk continued to grow in Th\u1ea7y\u2019s heart, and a few years later that dream would be realized.Thich Nhat Hanh, Q&A in Vancouver, Canada, August 12, 2001. See also Hanh, \u201cCultivating our Deepest Desire\u201d (1993): \u201cTwo years later, when I was eleven, five of us\u2014three brothers and two friends\u2014discussed what we wanted to be in the future. One boy said, „I want to be a doctor.“ Another said, „I want to become a lawyer.“ We talked about choices like these. Then my big brother said, „I want to become a monk.“ This was original and new. I don’t know why, but all five of us came to the conclusion that we wanted to be monks. For me it was easy, because I had already fallen in love with the Buddha. During our discussion, it was clear that some strong aspiration was already there in me. I did not know what it meant\u2014being a monk was a vague idea, something about following the path of the Buddha\u2014but I knew inside that it was what I wanted.“<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\nIn 1942, at the age of sixteen, with his parents\u2019 permission, Th\u1ea7y returned to Hu\u1ebf to begin novice training at T\u1eeb Hi\u1ebfu Temple, under Zen Master Th\u00edch Ch\u00e2n Th\u1eadt (1884-1968), entering the Vietnamese Zen Buddhist tradition in the lineage of the renowned Master Linji (Rinzai) and Master Li\u1ec5u Qu\u00e1n.Th\u1ea7y\u2019s teacher, Th\u00edch Ch\u00e2n Th\u1eadt, belonged to the 41st generation of the Linji School (\u81e8\u6fdf\u5b97, Vietnamese: T\u00f4ng L\u00e2m T\u1ebf, Japanese: Rinzai) and seventh generation of the Li\u1ec5u Qu\u00e1n Dharma line. Zen Master Th\u00edch Ch\u00e2n Th\u1eadt had the Lineage name Thanh Qu\u00fd \u6e05\u5b63; Dharma name C\u1ee9u C\u00e1nh \u7a76\u7adf; and Dharma title Ch\u00e2n Th\u1eadt \u771f\u5bd4. According to Vietnamese Buddhist tradition every practitioner receives a lineage name when first committing to practice the Five Precepts; on becoming a monk they receive a monastic Dharma name. Later, monks may take or be given by their teacher or community one or many Dharma titles, marking the development of their career<\/a>. Every monastic member in the Vietnamese Buddhist tradition has a name which begins with Th\u00edch, which represents the Buddha\u2019s family name \u201cShakya\u201d (\u91cb\u8fe6). It can be considered a family name or surname for Buddhist monastics in Vietnam.<\/span> After three years of instruction, he formally received the novice precepts in the early morning of the full moon of the ninth lunar month of 1945.Th\u1ea7y was initially given the aspirant name \u201cSung\u201d and was known as \u201c\u0110i\u1ec7u Sung.\u201d \u0110i\u1ec7u means \u201caspirant\u201d and Sung comes from the words sung t\u00fac<\/em>, meaning \u201cprosperity\u201d or \u201cto prosper.\u201d When he received the Five Precepts he was given the Lineage name Tr\u1eebng Quang (\u6f84\u5149, \u201cCalm Light\u201d), marking his generation in this particular Buddhist school; and when he received the Ten Novice Precepts, he was given the monastic Dharma name Ph\u00f9ng Xu\u00e2n (\u9022\u6625, „Meeting Spring“), the name by which was known in the temple. The full moon of the ninth lunar month would have been 21 October 1945. See Thich Nhat Hanh, My Master\u2019s Robe<\/em> (2002): \u201cIn our first year we studied the daily liturgy and precepts of novices. In our second year we studied the commentaries on the precepts and well-known sutras. By the third year, of the four of us, Brother Man and I had excelled in our studies and we had great hopes of being the first to have novice ordination. Novice ordination meant to officially take the vows of a monk [bhikkhu]. We awaited this moment as though we were waiting for some great success. For me, I yearned for this moment even more than a scholar might yearn for the announcement of the results of an exam taken after many years of study.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n(Return to table of contents<\/a>)<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\nMonastic training: traditional roots<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Despite the tension beyond the temple walls, with the Japanese occupation of Vietnam (1940-45), and the scarcity of food during the catastrophic 1945 famine, Th\u1ea7y recalled his novicehood as a happy time.Thich Nhat Hanh, Q&A session, Plum Village, 24 July 2012 (Question no.4), and \u201cThe Little Buffalo in Pursuit of the Sun,\u201d a chapter on his novicehood memories in Thich Nhat Hanh, Call Me By My True Names: The Collected Poems of Thich Nhat Hanh<\/em>(1999) pp.103-115.<\/span>His years at T\u1eeb Hi\u1ebfu Temple were a time of rustic simplicity.Nhat Hanh, My Master\u2019s Robe<\/em> (2002).<\/span>There was no electricity or running water and no toilets. As a young novice in training, his daily tasks included chopping wood, carrying water from the well, sweeping the courtyard, working in the garden, tending the cows, and, when the season came, helping to harvest, thresh, and mill the rice. Whenever Th\u1ea7y had a chance to be his teacher\u2019s attendant, he would wake before dawn to light a fire and boil water to prepare his tea.Thich Nhat Hanh, Call Me By My True Names: The Collected Poems of Thich Nhat Hanh<\/em> (1999) p.111.<\/span>The temple followed the Zen principle of \u201cno work, no food,\u201d which applied to everyone from the highest monk to the newest member.ibid., p.9<\/span>In the spirit of the Zen lineage of Master Linji, Th\u1ea7y was taught to become fully present and concentrated in every task, whether washing the dishes, closing the door, sounding the temple bell, or offering incense at the altar. He was given a little book, Essential Vinaya for Daily Use<\/em>\u2014forty-five short verses in Sino-Vietnamese which he had to memorize and recite silently during every act of daily life to maintain concentration.Essential Vinaya for Daily Use (\u6bd7\u5c3c\u65e5\u7528\u5207\u8981) compiled by Vinaya Master Duti (\u8b80\u9ad4, 1601-1679), also known as Jianyue L\u00fcshi (\u898b\u6708\u5f8b\u5e2b). Th\u1ea7y also studied the Ten Novice Precepts and the Twenty-Four Chapters of Mindful Manners<\/em> by Master Zhourong, and the Encouraging Words<\/em> of Master Guishan. The meditation he learned as a novice in T\u1eeb Hi\u1ebfu Temple was from the Tiantai school.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\nTh\u1ea7y witnessed at close hand the Japanese occupation and Great Famine of 1945. Stepping out of the temple he saw bodies out in the streets of those who had died of hunger, and witnessed trucks carrying away dozens of corpses.Th\u1ea7y described what he saw in an interview with Don Lattin for The San Francisco Chronicle<\/em>, October 12, 1997: \u201cThere was a time when every morning when I got up I saw many dead bodies on the street, because people did not have anything to eat. [We] Young students had to go and beg for rice. And at lunch, we went into each house and asked for a rice bowl. We collected this rice and then we divided it into a smaller rice bowl and distributed it to the dying people. They were dying of hunger…I never can forget such an experience.\u201d<\/span>When the French returned to reclaim Vietnam in 1945, the violence only increased. Although many young monks were tempted by the Marxist pamphlets\u2019 call to arms, Th\u1ea7y was convinced that Buddhism, if updated and restored to its core teachings and practices, could<\/em> truly help relieve suffering in society, and offer a nonviolent path to peace, prosperity, and independence from colonising powers, just as it had during the renowned Ly and Tran dynasties in medieval Vietnam.Hanh, My Master\u2019s Robe<\/em> (2002). For more on Th\u1ea7y describing being tempted by the communist path himself, see: Mindfulness Bell<\/em>, issue #34, Autumn 2003 <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\nIn 1947, Th\u1ea7y\u2019s teacher sent him to study and live at the nearby B\u00e1o Qu\u1ed1c Institute of Buddhist Studies in Hu\u1ebf.Unfortunately the B\u00e1o Qu\u1ed1c Institute\u2019s records are no longer extant (they were deliberately burned in 1975 and what remained was lost in a later accidental fire).<\/span>His studies took place against the backdrop of the First Indochina War (1946-54), as, following the withdrawal of the Japanese, a violent struggle emerged between the French forces and the nationalist Vi\u1ec7t Minh engaging in guerrilla warfare to end colonial rule.The First Indochina War lasted eight years, from 1946-54, as the French fought to reclaim their colony after the Japanese withdrew in 1945, against a growing Vietnamese resistance.<\/span>Over 50,000 people would die in the fighting, as the Vietnamese fought for the kind of independence India would win from the British. The skirmishes and violence did not spare the monks or temples. They became a place of sanctuary and refuge for revolutionaries fleeing the French.Th\u1ea7y recalls sheltering revolutionaries in his letter, Nhat Hanh, \u201cThe Magical Sound of the Sitar,\u201d October 13, 2009.<\/span>Although unarmed and nonviolent, many monks, including some of Th\u1ea7y\u2019s close friends, were shot and killed.Th\u00edch T\u00e2m Th\u01b0\u1eddng, a very close friend was among those killed. See Nhat Hanh, Inside the Now <\/em>(2015), p.15.<\/span>French soldiers frequently raided the temples, searching for resistance fighters or food. Th\u1ea7y vividly recalled one raid where soldiers demanded the last of their rice.Nhat Hanh, Inside the Now <\/em>(2015); see also \u201cThe Last Sack of Rice\u201d and \u201cA French Soldier\u201d in Thich Nhat Hanh, At Home in the World: Stories and Essential Teachings from a Monk\u2019s Life <\/em>(2016).<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\nAt B\u00e1o Qu\u1ed1c, Th\u1ea7y continued to read progressive Buddhist magazines which explored ideas for a \u201csocially conscious\u201d Buddhism that was concerned not only with transforming the mind, but also the wider environment and conditions in society, including the economic and political roots of poverty, oppression, and war.For example, Ti\u1ebfn H\u00f3a <\/em>Buddhist magazine. Th\u1ea7y was also inspired by the writings of Zen Master Th\u00edch M\u1eadt Th\u1ec3 (1912-1961) and the author Nguy\u1ec5n Tr\u1ecdng Thu\u1eadt (1883\u20131940). Both figures saw the deep riches in Vietnamese Zen history and the capacity of Buddhism to bring about \u201ca new spring\u201d for Vietnam, the kind of Buddhist renewal also being proposed by other reformers and modernists elsewhere, for example, the Chinese Master Taixu (1890-1947). Th\u00edch M\u1eadt Th\u1ec3 studied with Master Tinh Nghi\u00eam (Qing Yan) in China, and brought back his ideas to Hu\u1ebf.<\/span>Ti\u1ebfn H\u00f3a<\/em> published articles on the importance of studying science and economics in order to understand the actual roots of suffering, and not rely only on chanting and prayer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n(Return to contents<\/a>)<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\nMonastic training: seeking a new path<\/h3>\n\n\n\nAged 25, shortly after receiving the Bhikshu precepts in 1951.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\nIn late spring 1949, after two years at the B\u00e1o Qu\u1ed1c Institute, 23-year-old Th\u1ea7y left Hu\u1ebf with two other monks and a friend to further their studies in Saigon.Thich Nhat Hanh, Creating True Peace: Ending Conflict in Yourself, Your Community and the World<\/em> (2001) p.22, \u201cI left the Buddhist Institute because I did not find an appropriate teaching and practice there for responding to the reality of life in Vietnam, but I did not leave monastic life.\u201d Thich Nhat Hanh, Cultivating the Mind of Love<\/em> (1996) p.21, \u201cWe left the Buddhist Institute in Hue because we felt we weren\u2019t getting the teachings we needed.\u201d<\/span>As battles were still raging, they took a long route, and in parts travelled by boat to avoid the military roadblocks. Along the way, the young monks decided to affirm their deep aspiration to become bodhisattvas<\/em> of action by taking new names. They all took the name H\u1ea1nh, meaning \u201caction.\u201d In this way, Th\u1ea7y (Ph\u00f9ng Xu\u00e2n) became Nh\u1ea5t H\u1ea1nh (\u201cOne Action\u201d).Th\u1ea7y\u2019s private papers. With the name \u201cH\u1ea1nh,\u201d they may have been evoking the name of Zen Master V\u1ea1n H\u1ea1nh, an eminent Vietnamese monk from the 10-11th Centuries, who was a master of Buddhism, Confucianism, and Taoism, and who served as adviser to the King. The name V\u1ea1n H\u1ea1nh means \u201cTen Thousand Actions,\u201d whereas Nh\u1ea5t H\u1ea1nh means \u201cOne Action.\u201d Speaking later about his name, Th\u1ea7y said that he, unlike his eminent predecessor, needed to concentrate on one thing. Source: Sallie B. King, \u201cThich Nhat Hanh and the Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam: Nondualism in Action,\u201d in Christopher S. Queen and Sallie B. King (Eds.) Engaged Buddhism: Buddhist Liberation Movements in Asia<\/em> (1996), Ch.9<\/span>As the name of every Vietnamese Buddhist begins with Th\u00edch, so it was that, from this time, Th\u1ea7y became known as Th\u00edch Nh\u1ea5t H\u1ea1nh.Nhat Hanh, My Master\u2019s Robe<\/em> (2002)<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\nWhen they arrived in Saigon, the war with the French was still going on. Th\u1ea7y and his friends stayed and studied at a number of other different temples, for weeks or months at a time, while they pursued their self-directed studies. Th\u1ea7y soon published his first books of poetry.
Ti\u1ebfng \u0110\u1ecbch Chi\u1ec1u Thu (\u201cReed Flute in the Autumn Twilight,\u201d a collection of fifty poems and a play in verse) published under the name Nh\u1ea5t H\u1ea1nh by Dragon River Press in autumn 1949. This was followed by Th\u01a1 Ng\u1ee5 Ng\u00f4n<\/em> (\u201cFables\u201d), published under the pen name \u201cHo\u00e0ng Hoa\u201d by \u0110u\u1ed1c Tu\u1ec7 publishing house in 1950. \u00c1nh Xu\u00e2n V\u00e0ng<\/em> (\u201cThe Golden Light of Spring\u201d), was published soon after, in 1950.<\/span>Capturing his experiences of war and loss, his poetry was well received and were considered some of the best examples of Vietnam\u2019s new and influential \u201cfree verse\u201d poetry movement.Thich Nhat Hanh, Inside the Now: Meditations on Time<\/em> (2015), pp.23-24<\/span>From this time, he established a reputation first and foremost as a poet rather than as a monk or teacher; a real distinction since for centuries poets had been esteemed figures in Vietnamese culture and society.<\/p>\n\n\n\nIn autumn 1950, Th\u1ea7y helped co-found \u1ea4n Quang Pagoda, a new temple built of bamboo and thatch. It would later host a reformist Buddhist institute where he would become one of the youngest teachers, and is today one of the most prominent temples in the city. Thich Nhat Hanh, Dharma Talk in Hanoi, May 6, 2008. They founded the temple in 1949 together with the Venerable Tr\u00ed H\u1eefu. At first they called it \u1ee8ng Quang. Today \u1ea4n Quang temple is one of the most well-known temples in the city.<\/span><\/em>It was there that Thay received the Bhikshu precepts the following year.In October 1951, at the age of 25, Th\u1ea7y formally received full ordination as a bhikshu at \u1ea4n Quang Temple, with Venerable Th\u00edch \u0110\u00f4n H\u1eadu as his Ordination Master. See: Ti\u1ec3u s\u1eed danh t\u0103ng Vi\u1ec7t Nam th\u1ebf k\u1ef7 XX (1995) (\u201cBiographies of Renowned Vietnamese Monks of the Twentieth Century\u201d), Ch. 1, p. 322, compiled by Venerable Th\u00edch \u0110\u1ed3ng B\u1ed5n, published by the Buddhist Association of H\u1ed3 Ch\u00ed Minh city.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\nWhile completing the formalities of his education, Th\u1ea7y published in 1950 his first book on Buddhism, Oriental Logic<\/em>, a discussion of Eastern logic in the light of Aristotle, Hegel, Marx and Engels.Th\u1ea7y\u2019s first book on Buddhism: \u0110\u00f4ng Ph\u01b0\u01a1ng Lu\u1eadn L\u00fd H\u1ecdc<\/em> (\u201cOriental Logic\u201d) was published by H\u01b0\u01a1ng Qu\u00ea publishing house in 1950. Formalities of his education: Th\u1ea7y took the baccalaur\u00e9at exams at V\u01b0\u01a1ng Gia C\u1ea7n High School in Saigon, and in 1954 was accepted into the first cohort at the newly-opened Facult\u00e9 des Lettres de l’Universit\u00e9 de Saigon. Th\u1ea7y completed his university studies while continuing to teach and publish his own poems, articles, and books, and was awarded a BA in French and Vietnamese Literature.<\/span>He also continued with initiatives to renew Buddhism and apply Buddhist teachings to the issues and challenges of his time. He was invited to \u0110\u00e0 L\u1ea1t, up in the Central Highlands north of Saigon, to edit a Buddhist magazine and train young monks. There he began to publish a new kind of book for lay Buddhists, proposing ways to apply the teachings in daily family life, beyond just offering incense and prayers.Nh\u1ea5t H\u1ea1nh, L\u00e0 Ph\u1eadt T\u1eed<\/em> (\u201cBeing Buddhist,\u201d 1953), published by H\u01b0\u01a1ng Qu\u00ea; and Nh\u1ea5t H\u1ea1nh, Gia \u0110\u00ecnh Tin Ph\u1eadt <\/em>(\u201cBuddhist Families,\u201d 1953), published by \u0110u\u1ed1c Tu\u1ec7 (this was a collection of articles first printed in the magazine H\u01b0\u1edbng Thi\u1ec7n<\/em> in Dalat in 1951).<\/span>For the Lunar New Year of 1952 in \u0110\u00e0 L\u1ea1t, Th\u1ea7y directed his students in his adaptation of Le Tartuffe<\/em>.Later published with the title C\u1eadu \u0110\u1ed3ng<\/em><\/span>Reflecting later on this time, Th\u1ea7y wrote, \u201cI was full of creative energy, an artist, and a poet. More than anything else, I wanted to help renew Buddhism in my country, to make it relevant to the needs of the young people.Nhat Hanh, Cultivating the Mind of Love<\/em> (1996), p.11<\/span> <\/p>\n\n\n\n(<\/em><\/a>Return to table of contents<\/a>)<\/em><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\nCreating a renewed, engaged Buddhism<\/h3>\n\n\n\nThich Nhat Hanh as a young Dharma Teacher (back row, right) with his students, 1950s.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\nIn July 1954, following the Geneva Accords, which officially ended hostilities between the French and the Viet Minh, Vietnam was divided into two. The North became communist and the South soon became anti-communist, supported by the U.S. The separation of the country ushered in a turbulent time, with huge numbers migrating from North to South, in an atmosphere of confusion and uncertainty. To strengthen their voice and collect their energy, Buddhist leaders formed a National Buddhist Association (T\u1ed5ng H\u1ed9i Ph\u1eadt Gi\u00e1o Vi\u1ec7t Nam) of all the schools and lineages in the South.It was created in 1951.<\/span>The board of the \u1ea4n Quang Institute invited Th\u1ea7y back to Saigon to help stabilize and renew the program of studies and practice for the young generation of monks and nuns, many of whom were drawn to Marxist ideals; or, feeling that Buddhist courses were neither rigorous nor relevant, were drawn by the promise of diplomas in secular professions, like medicine or engineering. Th\u1ea7y was charged with creating a more relevant and inspiring Buddhist program, which would also, for the first time, offer them a diploma comparable to secular courses. While teaching at \u1ea4n Quang, Th\u1ea7y completed his own university studies and graduated with a BA in French and Vietnamese Literature from the newly-opened university Facult\u00e9 des Lettres de l\u2019Universit\u00e9 de Saigon. He also continued to write and publish his own poems, articles and books.Tr\u00ed Kh\u00f4ng, unpublished memoirs.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\nIn 1955, the regime of Vietnamese Catholic leader Ng\u00f4 \u0110\u00ecnh Di\u1ec7m began to consolidate power, using every means possible. Catholics were explicitly favoured and Buddhists increasingly suppressed and marginalized. Hopes for democratic elections soon faded as guerrilla fighters continued to gain ground, and the government\u2014under foreign influence\u2014did everything they could to stymie a free ballot.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Th\u1ea7y was asked to write a series of ten high-profile articles for the politically-neutral daily newspaper, Democracy <\/em>(D\u00e2n Ch\u1ee7).According to Thich Nhat Hanh\u2019s private papers, they were published in 1955.<\/span>They asked him to show the strength of Vietnam\u2019s own Buddhist heritage, and prove that Buddhism was not irrelevant or obsolete, as many were claiming. And so, in the turmoil and pressure of the division of the country, Th\u1ea7y\u2019s vision for engaged Buddhism crystallised. Published on the front page, under the pen name Th\u1ea1c \u00d0\u1ee9c, and entitled \u201cA Fresh Look at Buddhism\u201d (\u0110\u1ea1o Ph\u1eadt Qua Nh\u1eadn Th\u1ee9c M\u1edbi<\/em>), Th\u1ea7y\u2019s daring articles proposed a new way forward in terms of democracy, freedom, human rights, religion, and education. They sent shock-waves across the country.Thich Nhat Hanh, Dharma Talk in Hanoi, May 6, 2008.<\/span>The tenth and final article was a bold Buddhist critique of President Di\u1ec7m\u2019s doctrine of \u201cpersonalism.\u201dHis alternative to liberalism and communism which every government employee was required to follow<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\nIn 1955 Th\u1ea7y made his first trip back to Hu\u1ebf, to his home temple and family, seven years after leaving. He received a warm welcome at his Root Temple and at the B\u00e1o Qu\u1ed1c Institute they organized a talk for him with the students. Th\u1ea7y also enjoyed a happy visit with his parents. It would be the last time he saw his mother in good health.Nhat Hanh, unpublished private papers.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\nAs his recognition and standing grew, in 1956 Th\u1ea7y was appointed Editor in Chief of Vietnamese Buddhism<\/em>, the official magazine of the new National Buddhist Association.Vietnamese Buddhism magazine: Ph\u1eadt Gi\u00e1o Vi\u1ec7t Nam<\/em><\/span>He used a dozen pseudonyms to author articles on Vietnamese history, international literature (including Tolstoy, Albert Camus, Victor Hugo), philosophy, Buddhist texts, current affairs, short stories, and even folk poetry\u2014doing everything he could to promote reconciliation and a spirit of togetherness between Buddhists of North and South.His pseudonyms included Ho\u00e0ng Hoa (poetry), Th\u1ea1c \u00d0\u1ee9c (philosophy, Engaged Buddhism, current affairs and reconciliation), Nguy\u1ec5n Lang, (history of Buddhism), D\u00e3 Th\u1ea3o (renewing Buddhism, role of Buddhism in society, influence of Buddhism on Western philosophy; critique of Buddhist institutions), T\u00e2m Ki\u00ean (modern folk poetry), Minh H\u1ea1nh (literary commentary, French literature, cultural critiques), Ph\u01b0\u01a1ng B\u1ed1i (deep Buddhism, message to youth), B\u2019su Danglu (renewed Buddhism), Tu\u1ec7 Uy\u1ec3n (Buddhist ethics), Minh Th\u01b0 and Thi\u1ec1u Chi (Buddhism, short stories, interviews with leading monks). He edited as Nh\u1ea5t H\u1ea1nh, and also wrote Buddhist commentary and some poems as Nh\u1ea5t H\u1ea1nh.<\/span>He dug deep into Vietnam\u2019s own history to propose a truly Vietnamese way out of the situation, drawing on the very engaged role Buddhism had played during the Tr\u1ea7n and L\u00fd Dynasties between the 11th and 13th Centuries, that had so inspired him as a young monk. <\/p>\n\n\n\n(Return to contents)<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\nExperimental community<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Towards the end of 1956, Th\u1ea7y began to spend more time in B\u2019lao, a remote tea-growing region in the central highlands. There, Th\u1ea7y retreated to a small thatched hut built out among the tea trees in the grounds of Ph\u01b0\u1edbc Hu\u1ec7 Temple. It was a simple hut, at the end of a little path through the tea plantation, with just a bed and a table\u2014and stacks of books.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Th\u1ea7y dreamed of creating a monastic community there in the mountains, and was soon joined by a number of young monastic brothers and students from \u1ea4n Quang and B\u00e1o Qu\u1ed1c. It was from here that Th\u1ea7y wrote and edited articles for the national Vietnamese Buddhism<\/em> magazine over the next two years, while teaching the young monks. And it was also here that Th\u1ea7y had a memorable dream, recorded in his writings, in which he saw his late mother. <\/p>\n\n\n\nIn 1957, Th\u1ea7y and his friends found sixty acres of land available to buy in the heart of the \u0110\u1ea1i L\u00e3o Forest, in a quiet spot near the Montagnard village of B\u2019su Danlu, about 10km from B\u2019lao and Ph\u01b0\u1edbc Hu\u1ec7 Temple.The land was bought from K’Briu and K’Br\u00f4i on August 7, 1957.<\/span>In January 1958 they began clearing the land, and that summer started erecting some simple wooden structures.<\/p>\n\n\n\nThey called this new community \u201cPh\u01b0\u01a1ng B\u1ed1i\u201d (Fragrant Palm Leaves), after the name of Th\u1ea7y\u2019s hut in the tea field of Ph\u01b0\u1edbc Hu\u1ec7. Th\u1ea7y recalled that Ph\u01b0\u01a1ng B\u1ed1i \u201coffered us her untamed hills as an enormous soft cradle, blanketed with wildflowers, grasses, and forest. Here, for the first time, we were sheltered from the harshness of worldly affairs.\u201dNhat Hanh, Fragrant Palm Leaves <\/em>(1999), p.19<\/span>With this new dream of a \u201crural practice center\u201d Th\u1ea7y definitively broke free of the mould of the traditional Buddhist temple with its ceremonies and rituals, and created an environment exclusively dedicated to spiritual practice, study, healing, music, poetry, and community-building. They enjoyed sitting meditation in the early morning, tea meditation in the afternoons, and sitting meditation in the evenings. Ph\u01b0\u01a1ng B\u1ed1i was an experimental model for the renewal and reinvigoration of Buddhism. Though few may have foreseen it, Ph\u01b0\u01a1ng B\u1ed1i became a prototype for Th\u1ea7y\u2019s many \u201cmindfulness practice centers\u201d that would flourish around the world by the end of the century. <\/p>\n\n\n\nTh\u1ea7y put great effort into editing Vietnamese Buddhism <\/em>magazine. But in 1958, after just two years of publication, its funding was discontinued. Th\u1ea7y felt that it wasn\u2019t just about a lack of funds, but also resistance in the Buddhist hierarchy to his bold articles. He felt he had failed in his effort to renew and unify Vietnamese Buddhism.ibid., p.50. \u201c<\/em>The hierarchy did not know how to deal with us, so they silenced our voices. For eight years, we tried to speak about the need for a humanistic Buddhism and a unified Buddhist church in Vietnam that could respond to the needs of the people. We sowed those seeds against steep odds, and while waiting for them to take root, we endured false accusations, hatred, deception, and intolerance. Still we refused to give up hope.\u201d<\/span>With this setback, and still grieving his mother\u2019s death, and enduring the painful division of the country, Th\u1ea7y struggled to keep his hope alive. Th\u1ea7y fell sick and was hospitalized for almost a month in Grall Hospital in Saigon, where he was treated by French doctors.ibid., p.7<\/span>His body was weak and he suffered from chronic insomnia. Even the doctors were unable to help, and his spirits were lower than ever. <\/p>\n\n\n\nTh\u1ea7y later described this period as a time of deep depression.Nhat Hanh, Dharma Talk in Plum Village, June 20, 2014: \u201c…after my mother died, and the country [had been] divided, and the war continued, I had depression\u2026 The doctors could not help. It was by the practice of mindful walking and mindful breathing that I could heal myself. […] When you practice sitting or walking, you can know<\/em> whether your breathing is healing or not. You can see<\/em> the effect of healing right away when you breathe in. And when you walk, if every step brings you happiness and joy, …that is very nourishing and healing, and you know<\/em> it. And with your depression, if you breathe and walk like that for one week, I know that you can transform. That is the practice of stopping<\/em> and healing\u2014 stopping<\/em> the running, stopping the fact that you are being carried away. You resist, you do not want to be carried away; you want to live<\/em> your life, and you have your [own] insight as to how to do it.\u201d<\/span>But Th\u1ea7y had the intuition that, if only he could master his full awareness of breathing and walking, he would be able to truly heal. It was the very challenges of the 1950s that forged the deepening of Th\u1ea7y\u2019s personal practice, and gave him the spiritual strength he needed to find a way forward. As a young monk, Th\u1ea7y studied the principle of counting and following the breath and trained in formal slow walking meditation (kinh h\u00e0nh<\/em>). But Buddhist Institutes in Vietnam did not teach an applied meditation practice for personal healing; only meditation theory. And so, faced with deep suffering, Th\u1ea7y had to discover for himself a healing way to meditate. He experimented with a new method to combine his breath and steps more naturally while walking and, instead of counting only the breath, he counted the steps in harmony with the breath. With this concentration he was able to tenderly embrace his pain and acute despair without being swept away by strong feelings. \u201cWith the practice of mindful breathing,\u201d he said, \u201cI got out of the situation.\u201dNhat Hanh, Q&A in Plum Village, July 25, 2013:<\/span>He began this practice at \u1ea4n Quang and continued to experiment with it in B\u2019lao and at Ph\u01b0\u01a1ng B\u1ed1i, and later at Princeton University in the US; and over the coming decades as his understanding of the sutras on meditation and breathing deepened.Nhat Hanh, unpublished private papers<\/span> <\/p>\n\n\n\nNew hope<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
In spring 1959, known for his work as the Editor of Vietnamese Buddhism<\/em> magazine, Th\u1ea7y was invited to attend the international Buddha\u2019s birthday celebrations in Japan. Although his health was still weak (for part of the trip he was hospitalized in Tokyo), it proved to be an important journey that expanded his horizons. It was Th\u1ea7y\u2019s first trip outside of Vietnam and the first to expose him to the network of the wider Buddhist community, who had gathered from around the world. From the other delegates, Th\u1ea7y heard about the great Buddhist collections in libraries in the west; and he realised the importance of learning English. On his return, he resolved to master the language within a year.<\/p>\n\n\n\nIn November 1959, at a weekly lecture series he started giving for Saigon university students at X\u00e1 L\u1ee3i Temple, Th\u1ea7y met many young people eager to help him in his work. Among them was Cao Ng\u1ecdc Ph\u01b0\u1ee3ng, a young biology student, who became one of his \u201cThirteen Cedars,\u201d a group of passionate young activists who studied with him and supported his vision for a modernized Buddhism. Known as \u201cPh\u01b0\u1ee3ng,\u201d she was already actively leading social work programs in the Saigon slums and urged Th\u1ea7y to develop spiritual practices that could support such engaged action. He accepted the challenge, and it was in the process of guiding Ph\u01b0\u1ee3ng and \u201cthe thirteen cedars,\u201d in social work, education, and relief projects, that Th\u1ea7y\u2019s teaching, captured in his articles, books, and lectures, for the first time found its practical application and field of action. As Th\u1ea7y reflected later, \u201cIt was not easy because the tradition does not directly offer Engaged Buddhism. So we had to do it by ourselves.\u201dShambhala Sun interview, July 1, 2003<\/span>Ph\u01b0\u1ee3ng went on to become his principal collaborator over the next six decades, later becoming known as Sister Ch\u00e2n Kh\u00f4ng; today a renowned and much-loved teacher in her own right. <\/p>\n\n\n\nTeaching children to read and write using a song about the Bodhisattva of Great Compassion, early 1960s.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n(<\/em><\/a>Return to table of contents<\/a>)<\/em><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\nPrinceton & Columbia <\/h3>\n\n\n\n
In 1961, Th\u1ea7y was offered a Fulbright Scholarship to broaden his experience and scholarship, and travelled to the U.S. to study Comparative Religion at Princeton Theological Seminary, from 1961-62. It was in Princeton that he experienced his first autumn, his first snows, and the fresh beauties of spring following winter. In the peace and calm, Th\u1ea7y\u2019s insights had a chance to ripen: \u201cIt was there that I truly tasted, for the first time, the peace of dwelling happily in the present moment\u201d (the ancient Buddhist teaching of d\u1e5b\u1e63\u1e6dadharmasukhavih\u0101ra<\/em>).Nhat Hanh, Fragrant Palm Leaves <\/em>(1999)<\/span>Th\u1ea7y later reflected on these formative years in the U.S.: \u201cI grew up in Vietnam. I became a monk in Vietnam. I learned and practiced Buddhism in Vietnam. And before coming to the West, I taught several generations of Buddhist students in Vietnam. But I can say now that it was in the West that I realized my path.\u201dNhat Hanh, At Home in the World <\/em>(2016), p. 87<\/span> <\/p>\n\n\n\nIn summer 1962, while guiding young people at Camp Ockanickon in Medford, New Jersey, Th\u1ea7y captured these \u201cfirst blossoms of awakening\u201d in A Rose for Your Pocket<\/em>. It was a simple, lyrical little book in celebration of mothers, inspiring the reader to cherish what they have right now in the present moment.Nh\u1ea5t H\u1ea1nh, B\u00f4ng H\u1ed3ng C\u00e0i \u00c1o <\/em>(1962)<\/span>Th\u1ea7y sent it to one of his student \u201ccedars\u201d in Vietnam, who arranged for its publication right away.He send it to C\u00f4 Nhi\u00ean. First published in Vietnamese in the Buddhist magazine Lotus<\/em> in 1962, under his own name Nh\u1ea5t H\u1ea1nh, with the title Seeing Your Mother Deeply (Nh\u00ecn k\u1ef9 M\u1eb9).<\/em>It was subsequently one of the first books to be printed by L\u00e1 B\u1ed1i publishing house. In 1965, the professional singer Ph\u1ea1m Th\u1ebf M\u1ef9 performed it as a modern Vietnamese song.<\/span>The spirit and approach of A Rose Your Pocket <\/em>broke entirely new ground in Buddhist writing, and crystallised Th\u1ea7y\u2019s distinctive writing style. There had never before been a book in Vietnamese which so lyrically applied Buddhist insights into a spiritual perspective on daily life, and it rapidly became a bestseller. Written in natural, poetic language that even children could understand, A Rose for Your Pocket<\/em> didn\u2019t have the form of a Buddhist teaching, but was in essence a guided meditation to help the reader to touch the wonder of their mother\u2019s presence in the here and now. For the first time, a Buddhist monk was showing how meditative awareness could be a bright and gentle energy. The reader could touch the fruit of meditation without having to turn their heart and mind into a battlefield, fighting anger, grief, or craving. With its publication Th\u1ea7y, who hitherto had been known as a poet, editor and Buddhist scholar, became known for his deep and accessible Buddhism. Already on Mother\u2019s Day that year, Th\u1ea7y\u2019s students organised a \u201cRose Festival\u201d to celebrate motherhood, based on the book.The cedars organized for 200 handwritten copies to be prepared for the first Rose Ceremony. A red rose or a white rose was attached to each copy depending to the person who received it, whose mother was still alive or deceased.<\/span><\/em>The festival soon became an annual tradition celebrated across Vietnam, and it is today an integral part of Buddhist culture in the country. The book has sold over a million copies, and can be found in every Buddhist home.The \u201ccedars\u201d organized for the text to be published in the Buddhist magazine Lotus<\/em>, and in 1964 it was published in book form by L\u00e1 B\u1ed1i Press. The tradition of the Rose Ceremony for mother\u2019s day in Vietnam began.<\/span>Its fresh and intimate tone that so appealed to Vietnamese Buddhists created a new genre in modern Buddhist writing, adopted in both East and West.<\/p>\n\n\n\nAfter completing his year at Princeton, Th\u1ea7y stayed on in the U.S. and continued his research at Columbia (1962-3). There, he made the most of the extensive Buddhist collection in the Butler Library, and benefited from the mentorship of the distinguished Professor Anton Zigmund-Cerbu and encountered the work of contemporary theologians.Professor Anton Zigmund-Cerbu was a specialist in Buddhism<\/a>, and was said to have mastered 40 languages<\/a>. Ten years older than Th\u1ea7y, Prof. Cerbu passed away after undergoing heart surgery just a few months after Th\u1ea7y returned to Vietnam. <\/span>(Half a century later, in 2017, Columbia\u2019s Union Theological Seminary would create a \u201cThich Nhat Hanh Master\u2019s Program for Engaged Buddhism\u201d in his honor.) <\/p>\n\n\n\nIn November and December 1962, Th\u1ea7y experienced a series of deepening spiritual breakthroughs. He had been profoundly moved by the writings of Dietrich Bonhoeffer\u2014a German pastor and theologian, and a bold, outspoken critic of the Nazi regime, who was imprisoned and later executed in 1945.Nhat Hanh, Fragrant Palm Leaves<\/em> (1999), pp.109-111. Bonhoeffer considered taking refuge in the U.S., but soon realised: \u201cI will have no right to participate in the reconstruction of Christian life in Germany after the war if I do not share the trials of this time with my people.\u201d He was also critical of the Church\u2019s response to the situation: \u201cthe Church was silent when it should have cried out, because the blood of the innocent was crying aloud to heaven.\u201d Quoted in Franklin Sherman, \u201cDietrich Bonhoeffer,\u201d in Encyclopaedia Britannica <\/em>(2019)<\/span>Reading Bonhoeffer\u2019s account of his decision to return home to Germany from the U.S., even though it put his life at risk, Th\u1ea7y was struck by his description of his final days in prison: <\/p>\n\n\n\n...I was awakened to the starry sky that dwells in each of us. I felt a surge of joy, accompanied by the faith that I could endure even greater suffering than I had thought possible<\/em>. Bonhoeffer was the drop that made my cup overflow, the last link in a long chain, the breeze that nudged the ripened fruit to fall. After experiencing such a night, I will never complain about life again. [...] All feelings, passions, and sufferings revealed themselves as wonders, yet I remained grounded in my body. Some people might call such an experience \u2018religious,\u2019 but what I felt was totally and utterly human.<\/em> I knew in that moment that there was no enlightenment outside of my own mind and the cells of my body. Life is miraculous, even in its suffering. Without suffering, life would not be possible.<\/em>Th\u1ea7y\u2019s account of his insights on the night of November 2, 1962 (italics added). Nhat Hanh, Fragrant Palm Leaves <\/em>(1999), p.85<\/span><\/pre>\n\n\n\nIt was in 1963, during the annual spring Vesak festival, that the Di\u1ec7m regime\u2019s suppression of Buddhists dramatically escalated.He submitted his documents on 8 October, 1963, the day of the U.N. debate on President Ng\u00f4 \u0110\u00ecnh Di\u1ec7m\u2019s suppression of the Buddhists.<\/span>In America, Th\u1ea7y found himself becoming an active spokesman for the Buddhist peace movement back home. He gave talks and media interviews, and submitted a report to the United Nations on the human rights violations. In June, Th\u1ea7y learned of the self-immolation of the senior monk, Venerable Th\u00edch Qu\u1ea3ng \u0110\u1ee9c in the The New York Times<\/em>.„Man Sets Himself Afire“,
Th\u1ea7y was born on October 11, 1926, into a large family in the ancient imperial capital of Hu\u1ebf in central Vietnam. His father Nguy\u1ec5n \u0110\u00ecnh Ph\u00fac was from Th\u00e0nh Trung village in the province of Th\u1eeba Thi\u00ean, Hu\u1ebf, and was an official for land reform in the Imperial Administration under the French.Th\u1ea7y is the 15th generation in the \u201cNguy\u1ec5n \u0110\u00ecnh\u201d line. The most distinguished poet in 19th<\/sup> Century Vietnam, Nguy\u1ec5n \u0110\u00ecnh Chi\u1ec3u, author of the epic poem L\u1ee5c V\u00e2n Ti\u00ean<\/em> was Th\u1ea7y\u2019s ancestor, belonging to the 9th<\/sup> generation of the Nguy\u1ec5n \u0110\u00ecnh\u201d line. Note<\/em>: It is customary in Vietnam (as in France) to write the family names first (Nguy\u1ec5n \u0110\u00ecnh) before the given name.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n His mother, Tr\u1ea7n Th\u1ecb D\u0129, was from H\u00e0 Trung village, in Gio Linh District, in the neighboring province of Qu\u1ea3ng Tr\u1ecb.Th\u1ea7y\u2019s mother\u2019s Dharma name (her spiritual name as a Buddhist) was Tr\u1eebng Th\u00ednh. She received this name and the Five Precepts from Th\u1ea7y\u2019s teacher (together with Th\u1ea7y\u2019s father) at T\u1eeb Hi\u1ebfu Temple when they came to visit their son right after T\u1ebft (Lunar New Year) 1947.<\/span>He was the second-youngest of their six children, with three older brothers, an elder sister, and a younger brother born soon after him. He lived until aged five with his extended family, including uncles, aunts, and cousins, at the home of his paternal grandmother\u2014a large house with a traditional courtyard and garden, with a lotus pond and bamboo grove, within the old imperial city walls. <\/p>\n\n\n\n When Th\u1ea7y was four, his father was assigned to work in the northern province of Thanh H\u00f3a, about 500 kilometers north in the mountains. A year later, the family moved up to join him. As a boy, Th\u1ea7y began to eagerly read the Buddhist books and magazines brought home by his elder brother Nho, whom he loved and admired. He registered for a nearby informal homeschool, with the family name \u201cNguy\u1ec5n \u0110\u00ecnh Lang.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n In his later talks and lectures, Th\u1ea7y often recalled a pivotal moment when, perhaps as early as age nine, he was captivated by a peaceful image of the Buddha on the cover of one of Nho\u2019s Buddhist magazines. The illustration of the Buddha sitting on the grass, naturally at ease and smiling, captured his imagination and left a lasting impression of peace and tranquility. It was a stark contrast to the injustice and suffering he saw around him under French colonial rule. The image awakened a clear and strong desire in him to become just like that Buddha: someone who embodied calm, peace, and ease, and who could help others around him also be calm, peaceful, and at ease.The magazine was called \u0110u\u1ed1c Tu\u1ec7<\/em> (\u201cTorch of Wisdom\u201d). This story is told in Thich Nhat Hanh, A Pebble for Your Pocket (2001).<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n A year or so later, Th\u1ea7y and his brothers and friends were talking about what they wanted to be when they grew up. His elder brother Nho was the first to say he wanted to become a monk. The boys discussed it for a long time and finally all agreed to become monks. Thay later said, \u201cDuring that discussion, it was clear that some decision or some aspiration was there very strong in me already. Inside, I knew that I wanted to be a monk.\u201dSee Thich Nhat Hanh Dharma Talk, June 8, 1992: \u201cWhen I was eleven, one day we discussed among ourselves\u2014three brothers and two friends, five boys\u2014after dinner we talked about this and that, and finally we asked ourselves the question, \u201cWhat do we want to be in the future?\u201d Someone said, \u201cI want to be a doctor.\u201d \u201cI want to become a lawyer.\u201d We talked a lot about that. Finally my big brother said, \u201cI want to become a monk.\u201d This was original and new. I don\u2019t know why but we came to the conclusion that five of us would become monks. For me it was easy, because I had that kind of something like \u201cfalling in love with the Buddha.\u201d Just by seeing the image of a person sitting quietly and calmly like that. So that seed had been growing. During that discussion, it was clear that some decision or some aspiration was there very strong in me already. Inside, I knew that I wanted to be a monk. How? We did not know at all. Being a monk was a vague idea. It meant to follow the path of the Buddha\u2014that\u2019s all. But to follow in what way? We did not know.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n About six months later, on a school trip to a nearby sacred mountain aged eleven, Th\u1ea7y had what he would later describe as his first spiritual experience.Thich Nhat Hanh, Q&A at Brock University, Toronto, 15 August 2013. See also Thich Nhat Hanh, Q&A in Plum Village, July 19, 2009. It was \u201ca kind of deep, deep spiritual experience.\u201d<\/span>As his fellow schoolmates sat down to eat, he slipped away to explore alone, eager to find the old hermit rumored to live there.The mountain in Thanh H\u00f3a is known as N\u00fai Na (\u201cNa Mountain\u201d). The story of the N\u00fai Na hermit appears in the writings of Nguy\u1ec5n D\u1eef, the renowned 16th<\/sup> Century Vietnamese poet, and may have been based on the true story of a royal official in the Tran Dynasty, who retreated up into the mountain in the 14th<\/sup> Century. More information here<\/a>.<\/span>He didn\u2019t find the hermit but, hot and thirsty, came upon a natural well of fresh, pure water. He drank his fill before falling into a deep sleep on the nearby rocks. The experience created a profound feeling of satisfaction in the young boy. Having found the water, he felt completely fulfilled. He felt that he had somehow met the hermit in the form of the well, and found the best possible water to quench his thirst. This story is told in Thich Nhat Hanh, The Hermit and the Well<\/em> (2001). <\/span>A sentence came to his mind in French: J\u2019ai gout\u00e9 l\u2019eau la plus d\u00e9licieuse du monde<\/em> (I have tasted the most delicious water in the world).Thich Nhat Hanh, Cultivating the Mind of Love<\/em> (1996), pp.11-13.<\/span>The wish to become a monk continued to grow in Th\u1ea7y\u2019s heart, and a few years later that dream would be realized.Thich Nhat Hanh, Q&A in Vancouver, Canada, August 12, 2001. See also Hanh, \u201cCultivating our Deepest Desire\u201d (1993): \u201cTwo years later, when I was eleven, five of us\u2014three brothers and two friends\u2014discussed what we wanted to be in the future. One boy said, „I want to be a doctor.“ Another said, „I want to become a lawyer.“ We talked about choices like these. Then my big brother said, „I want to become a monk.“ This was original and new. I don’t know why, but all five of us came to the conclusion that we wanted to be monks. For me it was easy, because I had already fallen in love with the Buddha. During our discussion, it was clear that some strong aspiration was already there in me. I did not know what it meant\u2014being a monk was a vague idea, something about following the path of the Buddha\u2014but I knew inside that it was what I wanted.“<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n In 1942, at the age of sixteen, with his parents\u2019 permission, Th\u1ea7y returned to Hu\u1ebf to begin novice training at T\u1eeb Hi\u1ebfu Temple, under Zen Master Th\u00edch Ch\u00e2n Th\u1eadt (1884-1968), entering the Vietnamese Zen Buddhist tradition in the lineage of the renowned Master Linji (Rinzai) and Master Li\u1ec5u Qu\u00e1n.Th\u1ea7y\u2019s teacher, Th\u00edch Ch\u00e2n Th\u1eadt, belonged to the 41st generation of the Linji School (\u81e8\u6fdf\u5b97, Vietnamese: T\u00f4ng L\u00e2m T\u1ebf, Japanese: Rinzai) and seventh generation of the Li\u1ec5u Qu\u00e1n Dharma line. Zen Master Th\u00edch Ch\u00e2n Th\u1eadt had the Lineage name Thanh Qu\u00fd \u6e05\u5b63; Dharma name C\u1ee9u C\u00e1nh \u7a76\u7adf; and Dharma title Ch\u00e2n Th\u1eadt \u771f\u5bd4. According to Vietnamese Buddhist tradition every practitioner receives a lineage name when first committing to practice the Five Precepts; on becoming a monk they receive a monastic Dharma name. Later, monks may take or be given by their teacher or community one or many Dharma titles, marking the development of their career<\/a>. Every monastic member in the Vietnamese Buddhist tradition has a name which begins with Th\u00edch, which represents the Buddha\u2019s family name \u201cShakya\u201d (\u91cb\u8fe6). It can be considered a family name or surname for Buddhist monastics in Vietnam.<\/span> After three years of instruction, he formally received the novice precepts in the early morning of the full moon of the ninth lunar month of 1945.Th\u1ea7y was initially given the aspirant name \u201cSung\u201d and was known as \u201c\u0110i\u1ec7u Sung.\u201d \u0110i\u1ec7u means \u201caspirant\u201d and Sung comes from the words sung t\u00fac<\/em>, meaning \u201cprosperity\u201d or \u201cto prosper.\u201d When he received the Five Precepts he was given the Lineage name Tr\u1eebng Quang (\u6f84\u5149, \u201cCalm Light\u201d), marking his generation in this particular Buddhist school; and when he received the Ten Novice Precepts, he was given the monastic Dharma name Ph\u00f9ng Xu\u00e2n (\u9022\u6625, „Meeting Spring“), the name by which was known in the temple. The full moon of the ninth lunar month would have been 21 October 1945. See Thich Nhat Hanh, My Master\u2019s Robe<\/em> (2002): \u201cIn our first year we studied the daily liturgy and precepts of novices. In our second year we studied the commentaries on the precepts and well-known sutras. By the third year, of the four of us, Brother Man and I had excelled in our studies and we had great hopes of being the first to have novice ordination. Novice ordination meant to officially take the vows of a monk [bhikkhu]. We awaited this moment as though we were waiting for some great success. For me, I yearned for this moment even more than a scholar might yearn for the announcement of the results of an exam taken after many years of study.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n (Return to table of contents<\/a>)<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Despite the tension beyond the temple walls, with the Japanese occupation of Vietnam (1940-45), and the scarcity of food during the catastrophic 1945 famine, Th\u1ea7y recalled his novicehood as a happy time.Thich Nhat Hanh, Q&A session, Plum Village, 24 July 2012 (Question no.4), and \u201cThe Little Buffalo in Pursuit of the Sun,\u201d a chapter on his novicehood memories in Thich Nhat Hanh, Call Me By My True Names: The Collected Poems of Thich Nhat Hanh<\/em>(1999) pp.103-115.<\/span>His years at T\u1eeb Hi\u1ebfu Temple were a time of rustic simplicity.Nhat Hanh, My Master\u2019s Robe<\/em> (2002).<\/span>There was no electricity or running water and no toilets. As a young novice in training, his daily tasks included chopping wood, carrying water from the well, sweeping the courtyard, working in the garden, tending the cows, and, when the season came, helping to harvest, thresh, and mill the rice. Whenever Th\u1ea7y had a chance to be his teacher\u2019s attendant, he would wake before dawn to light a fire and boil water to prepare his tea.Thich Nhat Hanh, Call Me By My True Names: The Collected Poems of Thich Nhat Hanh<\/em> (1999) p.111.<\/span>The temple followed the Zen principle of \u201cno work, no food,\u201d which applied to everyone from the highest monk to the newest member.ibid., p.9<\/span>In the spirit of the Zen lineage of Master Linji, Th\u1ea7y was taught to become fully present and concentrated in every task, whether washing the dishes, closing the door, sounding the temple bell, or offering incense at the altar. He was given a little book, Essential Vinaya for Daily Use<\/em>\u2014forty-five short verses in Sino-Vietnamese which he had to memorize and recite silently during every act of daily life to maintain concentration.Essential Vinaya for Daily Use (\u6bd7\u5c3c\u65e5\u7528\u5207\u8981) compiled by Vinaya Master Duti (\u8b80\u9ad4, 1601-1679), also known as Jianyue L\u00fcshi (\u898b\u6708\u5f8b\u5e2b). Th\u1ea7y also studied the Ten Novice Precepts and the Twenty-Four Chapters of Mindful Manners<\/em> by Master Zhourong, and the Encouraging Words<\/em> of Master Guishan. The meditation he learned as a novice in T\u1eeb Hi\u1ebfu Temple was from the Tiantai school.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n Th\u1ea7y witnessed at close hand the Japanese occupation and Great Famine of 1945. Stepping out of the temple he saw bodies out in the streets of those who had died of hunger, and witnessed trucks carrying away dozens of corpses.Th\u1ea7y described what he saw in an interview with Don Lattin for The San Francisco Chronicle<\/em>, October 12, 1997: \u201cThere was a time when every morning when I got up I saw many dead bodies on the street, because people did not have anything to eat. [We] Young students had to go and beg for rice. And at lunch, we went into each house and asked for a rice bowl. We collected this rice and then we divided it into a smaller rice bowl and distributed it to the dying people. They were dying of hunger…I never can forget such an experience.\u201d<\/span>When the French returned to reclaim Vietnam in 1945, the violence only increased. Although many young monks were tempted by the Marxist pamphlets\u2019 call to arms, Th\u1ea7y was convinced that Buddhism, if updated and restored to its core teachings and practices, could<\/em> truly help relieve suffering in society, and offer a nonviolent path to peace, prosperity, and independence from colonising powers, just as it had during the renowned Ly and Tran dynasties in medieval Vietnam.Hanh, My Master\u2019s Robe<\/em> (2002). For more on Th\u1ea7y describing being tempted by the communist path himself, see: Mindfulness Bell<\/em>, issue #34, Autumn 2003 <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n In 1947, Th\u1ea7y\u2019s teacher sent him to study and live at the nearby B\u00e1o Qu\u1ed1c Institute of Buddhist Studies in Hu\u1ebf.Unfortunately the B\u00e1o Qu\u1ed1c Institute\u2019s records are no longer extant (they were deliberately burned in 1975 and what remained was lost in a later accidental fire).<\/span>His studies took place against the backdrop of the First Indochina War (1946-54), as, following the withdrawal of the Japanese, a violent struggle emerged between the French forces and the nationalist Vi\u1ec7t Minh engaging in guerrilla warfare to end colonial rule.The First Indochina War lasted eight years, from 1946-54, as the French fought to reclaim their colony after the Japanese withdrew in 1945, against a growing Vietnamese resistance.<\/span>Over 50,000 people would die in the fighting, as the Vietnamese fought for the kind of independence India would win from the British. The skirmishes and violence did not spare the monks or temples. They became a place of sanctuary and refuge for revolutionaries fleeing the French.Th\u1ea7y recalls sheltering revolutionaries in his letter, Nhat Hanh, \u201cThe Magical Sound of the Sitar,\u201d October 13, 2009.<\/span>Although unarmed and nonviolent, many monks, including some of Th\u1ea7y\u2019s close friends, were shot and killed.Th\u00edch T\u00e2m Th\u01b0\u1eddng, a very close friend was among those killed. See Nhat Hanh, Inside the Now <\/em>(2015), p.15.<\/span>French soldiers frequently raided the temples, searching for resistance fighters or food. Th\u1ea7y vividly recalled one raid where soldiers demanded the last of their rice.Nhat Hanh, Inside the Now <\/em>(2015); see also \u201cThe Last Sack of Rice\u201d and \u201cA French Soldier\u201d in Thich Nhat Hanh, At Home in the World: Stories and Essential Teachings from a Monk\u2019s Life <\/em>(2016).<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n At B\u00e1o Qu\u1ed1c, Th\u1ea7y continued to read progressive Buddhist magazines which explored ideas for a \u201csocially conscious\u201d Buddhism that was concerned not only with transforming the mind, but also the wider environment and conditions in society, including the economic and political roots of poverty, oppression, and war.For example, Ti\u1ebfn H\u00f3a <\/em>Buddhist magazine. Th\u1ea7y was also inspired by the writings of Zen Master Th\u00edch M\u1eadt Th\u1ec3 (1912-1961) and the author Nguy\u1ec5n Tr\u1ecdng Thu\u1eadt (1883\u20131940). Both figures saw the deep riches in Vietnamese Zen history and the capacity of Buddhism to bring about \u201ca new spring\u201d for Vietnam, the kind of Buddhist renewal also being proposed by other reformers and modernists elsewhere, for example, the Chinese Master Taixu (1890-1947). Th\u00edch M\u1eadt Th\u1ec3 studied with Master Tinh Nghi\u00eam (Qing Yan) in China, and brought back his ideas to Hu\u1ebf.<\/span>Ti\u1ebfn H\u00f3a<\/em> published articles on the importance of studying science and economics in order to understand the actual roots of suffering, and not rely only on chanting and prayer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n (Return to contents<\/a>)<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n In late spring 1949, after two years at the B\u00e1o Qu\u1ed1c Institute, 23-year-old Th\u1ea7y left Hu\u1ebf with two other monks and a friend to further their studies in Saigon.Thich Nhat Hanh, Creating True Peace: Ending Conflict in Yourself, Your Community and the World<\/em> (2001) p.22, \u201cI left the Buddhist Institute because I did not find an appropriate teaching and practice there for responding to the reality of life in Vietnam, but I did not leave monastic life.\u201d Thich Nhat Hanh, Cultivating the Mind of Love<\/em> (1996) p.21, \u201cWe left the Buddhist Institute in Hue because we felt we weren\u2019t getting the teachings we needed.\u201d<\/span>As battles were still raging, they took a long route, and in parts travelled by boat to avoid the military roadblocks. Along the way, the young monks decided to affirm their deep aspiration to become bodhisattvas<\/em> of action by taking new names. They all took the name H\u1ea1nh, meaning \u201caction.\u201d In this way, Th\u1ea7y (Ph\u00f9ng Xu\u00e2n) became Nh\u1ea5t H\u1ea1nh (\u201cOne Action\u201d).Th\u1ea7y\u2019s private papers. With the name \u201cH\u1ea1nh,\u201d they may have been evoking the name of Zen Master V\u1ea1n H\u1ea1nh, an eminent Vietnamese monk from the 10-11th Centuries, who was a master of Buddhism, Confucianism, and Taoism, and who served as adviser to the King. The name V\u1ea1n H\u1ea1nh means \u201cTen Thousand Actions,\u201d whereas Nh\u1ea5t H\u1ea1nh means \u201cOne Action.\u201d Speaking later about his name, Th\u1ea7y said that he, unlike his eminent predecessor, needed to concentrate on one thing. Source: Sallie B. King, \u201cThich Nhat Hanh and the Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam: Nondualism in Action,\u201d in Christopher S. Queen and Sallie B. King (Eds.) Engaged Buddhism: Buddhist Liberation Movements in Asia<\/em> (1996), Ch.9<\/span>As the name of every Vietnamese Buddhist begins with Th\u00edch, so it was that, from this time, Th\u1ea7y became known as Th\u00edch Nh\u1ea5t H\u1ea1nh.Nhat Hanh, My Master\u2019s Robe<\/em> (2002)<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n When they arrived in Saigon, the war with the French was still going on. Th\u1ea7y and his friends stayed and studied at a number of other different temples, for weeks or months at a time, while they pursued their self-directed studies. Th\u1ea7y soon published his first books of poetry. In autumn 1950, Th\u1ea7y helped co-found \u1ea4n Quang Pagoda, a new temple built of bamboo and thatch. It would later host a reformist Buddhist institute where he would become one of the youngest teachers, and is today one of the most prominent temples in the city. Thich Nhat Hanh, Dharma Talk in Hanoi, May 6, 2008. They founded the temple in 1949 together with the Venerable Tr\u00ed H\u1eefu. At first they called it \u1ee8ng Quang. Today \u1ea4n Quang temple is one of the most well-known temples in the city.<\/span><\/em>It was there that Thay received the Bhikshu precepts the following year.In October 1951, at the age of 25, Th\u1ea7y formally received full ordination as a bhikshu at \u1ea4n Quang Temple, with Venerable Th\u00edch \u0110\u00f4n H\u1eadu as his Ordination Master. See: Ti\u1ec3u s\u1eed danh t\u0103ng Vi\u1ec7t Nam th\u1ebf k\u1ef7 XX (1995) (\u201cBiographies of Renowned Vietnamese Monks of the Twentieth Century\u201d), Ch. 1, p. 322, compiled by Venerable Th\u00edch \u0110\u1ed3ng B\u1ed5n, published by the Buddhist Association of H\u1ed3 Ch\u00ed Minh city.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n While completing the formalities of his education, Th\u1ea7y published in 1950 his first book on Buddhism, Oriental Logic<\/em>, a discussion of Eastern logic in the light of Aristotle, Hegel, Marx and Engels.Th\u1ea7y\u2019s first book on Buddhism: \u0110\u00f4ng Ph\u01b0\u01a1ng Lu\u1eadn L\u00fd H\u1ecdc<\/em> (\u201cOriental Logic\u201d) was published by H\u01b0\u01a1ng Qu\u00ea publishing house in 1950. Formalities of his education: Th\u1ea7y took the baccalaur\u00e9at exams at V\u01b0\u01a1ng Gia C\u1ea7n High School in Saigon, and in 1954 was accepted into the first cohort at the newly-opened Facult\u00e9 des Lettres de l’Universit\u00e9 de Saigon. Th\u1ea7y completed his university studies while continuing to teach and publish his own poems, articles, and books, and was awarded a BA in French and Vietnamese Literature.<\/span>He also continued with initiatives to renew Buddhism and apply Buddhist teachings to the issues and challenges of his time. He was invited to \u0110\u00e0 L\u1ea1t, up in the Central Highlands north of Saigon, to edit a Buddhist magazine and train young monks. There he began to publish a new kind of book for lay Buddhists, proposing ways to apply the teachings in daily family life, beyond just offering incense and prayers.Nh\u1ea5t H\u1ea1nh, L\u00e0 Ph\u1eadt T\u1eed<\/em> (\u201cBeing Buddhist,\u201d 1953), published by H\u01b0\u01a1ng Qu\u00ea; and Nh\u1ea5t H\u1ea1nh, Gia \u0110\u00ecnh Tin Ph\u1eadt <\/em>(\u201cBuddhist Families,\u201d 1953), published by \u0110u\u1ed1c Tu\u1ec7 (this was a collection of articles first printed in the magazine H\u01b0\u1edbng Thi\u1ec7n<\/em> in Dalat in 1951).<\/span>For the Lunar New Year of 1952 in \u0110\u00e0 L\u1ea1t, Th\u1ea7y directed his students in his adaptation of Le Tartuffe<\/em>.Later published with the title C\u1eadu \u0110\u1ed3ng<\/em><\/span>Reflecting later on this time, Th\u1ea7y wrote, \u201cI was full of creative energy, an artist, and a poet. More than anything else, I wanted to help renew Buddhism in my country, to make it relevant to the needs of the young people.Nhat Hanh, Cultivating the Mind of Love<\/em> (1996), p.11<\/span> <\/p>\n\n\n\n (<\/em><\/a>Return to table of contents<\/a>)<\/em><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n In July 1954, following the Geneva Accords, which officially ended hostilities between the French and the Viet Minh, Vietnam was divided into two. The North became communist and the South soon became anti-communist, supported by the U.S. The separation of the country ushered in a turbulent time, with huge numbers migrating from North to South, in an atmosphere of confusion and uncertainty. To strengthen their voice and collect their energy, Buddhist leaders formed a National Buddhist Association (T\u1ed5ng H\u1ed9i Ph\u1eadt Gi\u00e1o Vi\u1ec7t Nam) of all the schools and lineages in the South.It was created in 1951.<\/span>The board of the \u1ea4n Quang Institute invited Th\u1ea7y back to Saigon to help stabilize and renew the program of studies and practice for the young generation of monks and nuns, many of whom were drawn to Marxist ideals; or, feeling that Buddhist courses were neither rigorous nor relevant, were drawn by the promise of diplomas in secular professions, like medicine or engineering. Th\u1ea7y was charged with creating a more relevant and inspiring Buddhist program, which would also, for the first time, offer them a diploma comparable to secular courses. While teaching at \u1ea4n Quang, Th\u1ea7y completed his own university studies and graduated with a BA in French and Vietnamese Literature from the newly-opened university Facult\u00e9 des Lettres de l\u2019Universit\u00e9 de Saigon. He also continued to write and publish his own poems, articles and books.Tr\u00ed Kh\u00f4ng, unpublished memoirs.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n In 1955, the regime of Vietnamese Catholic leader Ng\u00f4 \u0110\u00ecnh Di\u1ec7m began to consolidate power, using every means possible. Catholics were explicitly favoured and Buddhists increasingly suppressed and marginalized. Hopes for democratic elections soon faded as guerrilla fighters continued to gain ground, and the government\u2014under foreign influence\u2014did everything they could to stymie a free ballot.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Th\u1ea7y was asked to write a series of ten high-profile articles for the politically-neutral daily newspaper, Democracy <\/em>(D\u00e2n Ch\u1ee7).According to Thich Nhat Hanh\u2019s private papers, they were published in 1955.<\/span>They asked him to show the strength of Vietnam\u2019s own Buddhist heritage, and prove that Buddhism was not irrelevant or obsolete, as many were claiming. And so, in the turmoil and pressure of the division of the country, Th\u1ea7y\u2019s vision for engaged Buddhism crystallised. Published on the front page, under the pen name Th\u1ea1c \u00d0\u1ee9c, and entitled \u201cA Fresh Look at Buddhism\u201d (\u0110\u1ea1o Ph\u1eadt Qua Nh\u1eadn Th\u1ee9c M\u1edbi<\/em>), Th\u1ea7y\u2019s daring articles proposed a new way forward in terms of democracy, freedom, human rights, religion, and education. They sent shock-waves across the country.Thich Nhat Hanh, Dharma Talk in Hanoi, May 6, 2008.<\/span>The tenth and final article was a bold Buddhist critique of President Di\u1ec7m\u2019s doctrine of \u201cpersonalism.\u201dHis alternative to liberalism and communism which every government employee was required to follow<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n In 1955 Th\u1ea7y made his first trip back to Hu\u1ebf, to his home temple and family, seven years after leaving. He received a warm welcome at his Root Temple and at the B\u00e1o Qu\u1ed1c Institute they organized a talk for him with the students. Th\u1ea7y also enjoyed a happy visit with his parents. It would be the last time he saw his mother in good health.Nhat Hanh, unpublished private papers.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n As his recognition and standing grew, in 1956 Th\u1ea7y was appointed Editor in Chief of Vietnamese Buddhism<\/em>, the official magazine of the new National Buddhist Association.Vietnamese Buddhism magazine: Ph\u1eadt Gi\u00e1o Vi\u1ec7t Nam<\/em><\/span>He used a dozen pseudonyms to author articles on Vietnamese history, international literature (including Tolstoy, Albert Camus, Victor Hugo), philosophy, Buddhist texts, current affairs, short stories, and even folk poetry\u2014doing everything he could to promote reconciliation and a spirit of togetherness between Buddhists of North and South.His pseudonyms included Ho\u00e0ng Hoa (poetry), Th\u1ea1c \u00d0\u1ee9c (philosophy, Engaged Buddhism, current affairs and reconciliation), Nguy\u1ec5n Lang, (history of Buddhism), D\u00e3 Th\u1ea3o (renewing Buddhism, role of Buddhism in society, influence of Buddhism on Western philosophy; critique of Buddhist institutions), T\u00e2m Ki\u00ean (modern folk poetry), Minh H\u1ea1nh (literary commentary, French literature, cultural critiques), Ph\u01b0\u01a1ng B\u1ed1i (deep Buddhism, message to youth), B\u2019su Danglu (renewed Buddhism), Tu\u1ec7 Uy\u1ec3n (Buddhist ethics), Minh Th\u01b0 and Thi\u1ec1u Chi (Buddhism, short stories, interviews with leading monks). He edited as Nh\u1ea5t H\u1ea1nh, and also wrote Buddhist commentary and some poems as Nh\u1ea5t H\u1ea1nh.<\/span>He dug deep into Vietnam\u2019s own history to propose a truly Vietnamese way out of the situation, drawing on the very engaged role Buddhism had played during the Tr\u1ea7n and L\u00fd Dynasties between the 11th and 13th Centuries, that had so inspired him as a young monk. <\/p>\n\n\n\n (Return to contents)<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Towards the end of 1956, Th\u1ea7y began to spend more time in B\u2019lao, a remote tea-growing region in the central highlands. There, Th\u1ea7y retreated to a small thatched hut built out among the tea trees in the grounds of Ph\u01b0\u1edbc Hu\u1ec7 Temple. It was a simple hut, at the end of a little path through the tea plantation, with just a bed and a table\u2014and stacks of books.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Th\u1ea7y dreamed of creating a monastic community there in the mountains, and was soon joined by a number of young monastic brothers and students from \u1ea4n Quang and B\u00e1o Qu\u1ed1c. It was from here that Th\u1ea7y wrote and edited articles for the national Vietnamese Buddhism<\/em> magazine over the next two years, while teaching the young monks. And it was also here that Th\u1ea7y had a memorable dream, recorded in his writings, in which he saw his late mother. <\/p>\n\n\n\n In 1957, Th\u1ea7y and his friends found sixty acres of land available to buy in the heart of the \u0110\u1ea1i L\u00e3o Forest, in a quiet spot near the Montagnard village of B\u2019su Danlu, about 10km from B\u2019lao and Ph\u01b0\u1edbc Hu\u1ec7 Temple.The land was bought from K’Briu and K’Br\u00f4i on August 7, 1957.<\/span>In January 1958 they began clearing the land, and that summer started erecting some simple wooden structures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n They called this new community \u201cPh\u01b0\u01a1ng B\u1ed1i\u201d (Fragrant Palm Leaves), after the name of Th\u1ea7y\u2019s hut in the tea field of Ph\u01b0\u1edbc Hu\u1ec7. Th\u1ea7y recalled that Ph\u01b0\u01a1ng B\u1ed1i \u201coffered us her untamed hills as an enormous soft cradle, blanketed with wildflowers, grasses, and forest. Here, for the first time, we were sheltered from the harshness of worldly affairs.\u201dNhat Hanh, Fragrant Palm Leaves <\/em>(1999), p.19<\/span>With this new dream of a \u201crural practice center\u201d Th\u1ea7y definitively broke free of the mould of the traditional Buddhist temple with its ceremonies and rituals, and created an environment exclusively dedicated to spiritual practice, study, healing, music, poetry, and community-building. They enjoyed sitting meditation in the early morning, tea meditation in the afternoons, and sitting meditation in the evenings. Ph\u01b0\u01a1ng B\u1ed1i was an experimental model for the renewal and reinvigoration of Buddhism. Though few may have foreseen it, Ph\u01b0\u01a1ng B\u1ed1i became a prototype for Th\u1ea7y\u2019s many \u201cmindfulness practice centers\u201d that would flourish around the world by the end of the century. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Th\u1ea7y put great effort into editing Vietnamese Buddhism <\/em>magazine. But in 1958, after just two years of publication, its funding was discontinued. Th\u1ea7y felt that it wasn\u2019t just about a lack of funds, but also resistance in the Buddhist hierarchy to his bold articles. He felt he had failed in his effort to renew and unify Vietnamese Buddhism.ibid., p.50. \u201c<\/em>The hierarchy did not know how to deal with us, so they silenced our voices. For eight years, we tried to speak about the need for a humanistic Buddhism and a unified Buddhist church in Vietnam that could respond to the needs of the people. We sowed those seeds against steep odds, and while waiting for them to take root, we endured false accusations, hatred, deception, and intolerance. Still we refused to give up hope.\u201d<\/span>With this setback, and still grieving his mother\u2019s death, and enduring the painful division of the country, Th\u1ea7y struggled to keep his hope alive. Th\u1ea7y fell sick and was hospitalized for almost a month in Grall Hospital in Saigon, where he was treated by French doctors.ibid., p.7<\/span>His body was weak and he suffered from chronic insomnia. Even the doctors were unable to help, and his spirits were lower than ever. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Th\u1ea7y later described this period as a time of deep depression.Nhat Hanh, Dharma Talk in Plum Village, June 20, 2014: \u201c…after my mother died, and the country [had been] divided, and the war continued, I had depression\u2026 The doctors could not help. It was by the practice of mindful walking and mindful breathing that I could heal myself. […] When you practice sitting or walking, you can know<\/em> whether your breathing is healing or not. You can see<\/em> the effect of healing right away when you breathe in. And when you walk, if every step brings you happiness and joy, …that is very nourishing and healing, and you know<\/em> it. And with your depression, if you breathe and walk like that for one week, I know that you can transform. That is the practice of stopping<\/em> and healing\u2014 stopping<\/em> the running, stopping the fact that you are being carried away. You resist, you do not want to be carried away; you want to live<\/em> your life, and you have your [own] insight as to how to do it.\u201d<\/span>But Th\u1ea7y had the intuition that, if only he could master his full awareness of breathing and walking, he would be able to truly heal. It was the very challenges of the 1950s that forged the deepening of Th\u1ea7y\u2019s personal practice, and gave him the spiritual strength he needed to find a way forward. As a young monk, Th\u1ea7y studied the principle of counting and following the breath and trained in formal slow walking meditation (kinh h\u00e0nh<\/em>). But Buddhist Institutes in Vietnam did not teach an applied meditation practice for personal healing; only meditation theory. And so, faced with deep suffering, Th\u1ea7y had to discover for himself a healing way to meditate. He experimented with a new method to combine his breath and steps more naturally while walking and, instead of counting only the breath, he counted the steps in harmony with the breath. With this concentration he was able to tenderly embrace his pain and acute despair without being swept away by strong feelings. \u201cWith the practice of mindful breathing,\u201d he said, \u201cI got out of the situation.\u201dNhat Hanh, Q&A in Plum Village, July 25, 2013:<\/span>He began this practice at \u1ea4n Quang and continued to experiment with it in B\u2019lao and at Ph\u01b0\u01a1ng B\u1ed1i, and later at Princeton University in the US; and over the coming decades as his understanding of the sutras on meditation and breathing deepened.Nhat Hanh, unpublished private papers<\/span> <\/p>\n\n\n\n In spring 1959, known for his work as the Editor of Vietnamese Buddhism<\/em> magazine, Th\u1ea7y was invited to attend the international Buddha\u2019s birthday celebrations in Japan. Although his health was still weak (for part of the trip he was hospitalized in Tokyo), it proved to be an important journey that expanded his horizons. It was Th\u1ea7y\u2019s first trip outside of Vietnam and the first to expose him to the network of the wider Buddhist community, who had gathered from around the world. From the other delegates, Th\u1ea7y heard about the great Buddhist collections in libraries in the west; and he realised the importance of learning English. On his return, he resolved to master the language within a year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In November 1959, at a weekly lecture series he started giving for Saigon university students at X\u00e1 L\u1ee3i Temple, Th\u1ea7y met many young people eager to help him in his work. Among them was Cao Ng\u1ecdc Ph\u01b0\u1ee3ng, a young biology student, who became one of his \u201cThirteen Cedars,\u201d a group of passionate young activists who studied with him and supported his vision for a modernized Buddhism. Known as \u201cPh\u01b0\u1ee3ng,\u201d she was already actively leading social work programs in the Saigon slums and urged Th\u1ea7y to develop spiritual practices that could support such engaged action. He accepted the challenge, and it was in the process of guiding Ph\u01b0\u1ee3ng and \u201cthe thirteen cedars,\u201d in social work, education, and relief projects, that Th\u1ea7y\u2019s teaching, captured in his articles, books, and lectures, for the first time found its practical application and field of action. As Th\u1ea7y reflected later, \u201cIt was not easy because the tradition does not directly offer Engaged Buddhism. So we had to do it by ourselves.\u201dShambhala Sun interview, July 1, 2003<\/span>Ph\u01b0\u1ee3ng went on to become his principal collaborator over the next six decades, later becoming known as Sister Ch\u00e2n Kh\u00f4ng; today a renowned and much-loved teacher in her own right. <\/p>\n\n\n\n (<\/em><\/a>Return to table of contents<\/a>)<\/em><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n In 1961, Th\u1ea7y was offered a Fulbright Scholarship to broaden his experience and scholarship, and travelled to the U.S. to study Comparative Religion at Princeton Theological Seminary, from 1961-62. It was in Princeton that he experienced his first autumn, his first snows, and the fresh beauties of spring following winter. In the peace and calm, Th\u1ea7y\u2019s insights had a chance to ripen: \u201cIt was there that I truly tasted, for the first time, the peace of dwelling happily in the present moment\u201d (the ancient Buddhist teaching of d\u1e5b\u1e63\u1e6dadharmasukhavih\u0101ra<\/em>).Nhat Hanh, Fragrant Palm Leaves <\/em>(1999)<\/span>Th\u1ea7y later reflected on these formative years in the U.S.: \u201cI grew up in Vietnam. I became a monk in Vietnam. I learned and practiced Buddhism in Vietnam. And before coming to the West, I taught several generations of Buddhist students in Vietnam. But I can say now that it was in the West that I realized my path.\u201dNhat Hanh, At Home in the World <\/em>(2016), p. 87<\/span> <\/p>\n\n\n\n In summer 1962, while guiding young people at Camp Ockanickon in Medford, New Jersey, Th\u1ea7y captured these \u201cfirst blossoms of awakening\u201d in A Rose for Your Pocket<\/em>. It was a simple, lyrical little book in celebration of mothers, inspiring the reader to cherish what they have right now in the present moment.Nh\u1ea5t H\u1ea1nh, B\u00f4ng H\u1ed3ng C\u00e0i \u00c1o <\/em>(1962)<\/span>Th\u1ea7y sent it to one of his student \u201ccedars\u201d in Vietnam, who arranged for its publication right away.He send it to C\u00f4 Nhi\u00ean. First published in Vietnamese in the Buddhist magazine Lotus<\/em> in 1962, under his own name Nh\u1ea5t H\u1ea1nh, with the title Seeing Your Mother Deeply (Nh\u00ecn k\u1ef9 M\u1eb9).<\/em>It was subsequently one of the first books to be printed by L\u00e1 B\u1ed1i publishing house. In 1965, the professional singer Ph\u1ea1m Th\u1ebf M\u1ef9 performed it as a modern Vietnamese song.<\/span>The spirit and approach of A Rose Your Pocket <\/em>broke entirely new ground in Buddhist writing, and crystallised Th\u1ea7y\u2019s distinctive writing style. There had never before been a book in Vietnamese which so lyrically applied Buddhist insights into a spiritual perspective on daily life, and it rapidly became a bestseller. Written in natural, poetic language that even children could understand, A Rose for Your Pocket<\/em> didn\u2019t have the form of a Buddhist teaching, but was in essence a guided meditation to help the reader to touch the wonder of their mother\u2019s presence in the here and now. For the first time, a Buddhist monk was showing how meditative awareness could be a bright and gentle energy. The reader could touch the fruit of meditation without having to turn their heart and mind into a battlefield, fighting anger, grief, or craving. With its publication Th\u1ea7y, who hitherto had been known as a poet, editor and Buddhist scholar, became known for his deep and accessible Buddhism. Already on Mother\u2019s Day that year, Th\u1ea7y\u2019s students organised a \u201cRose Festival\u201d to celebrate motherhood, based on the book.The cedars organized for 200 handwritten copies to be prepared for the first Rose Ceremony. A red rose or a white rose was attached to each copy depending to the person who received it, whose mother was still alive or deceased.<\/span><\/em>The festival soon became an annual tradition celebrated across Vietnam, and it is today an integral part of Buddhist culture in the country. The book has sold over a million copies, and can be found in every Buddhist home.The \u201ccedars\u201d organized for the text to be published in the Buddhist magazine Lotus<\/em>, and in 1964 it was published in book form by L\u00e1 B\u1ed1i Press. The tradition of the Rose Ceremony for mother\u2019s day in Vietnam began.<\/span>Its fresh and intimate tone that so appealed to Vietnamese Buddhists created a new genre in modern Buddhist writing, adopted in both East and West.<\/p>\n\n\n\n After completing his year at Princeton, Th\u1ea7y stayed on in the U.S. and continued his research at Columbia (1962-3). There, he made the most of the extensive Buddhist collection in the Butler Library, and benefited from the mentorship of the distinguished Professor Anton Zigmund-Cerbu and encountered the work of contemporary theologians.Professor Anton Zigmund-Cerbu was a specialist in Buddhism<\/a>, and was said to have mastered 40 languages<\/a>. Ten years older than Th\u1ea7y, Prof. Cerbu passed away after undergoing heart surgery just a few months after Th\u1ea7y returned to Vietnam. <\/span>(Half a century later, in 2017, Columbia\u2019s Union Theological Seminary would create a \u201cThich Nhat Hanh Master\u2019s Program for Engaged Buddhism\u201d in his honor.) <\/p>\n\n\n\n In November and December 1962, Th\u1ea7y experienced a series of deepening spiritual breakthroughs. He had been profoundly moved by the writings of Dietrich Bonhoeffer\u2014a German pastor and theologian, and a bold, outspoken critic of the Nazi regime, who was imprisoned and later executed in 1945.Nhat Hanh, Fragrant Palm Leaves<\/em> (1999), pp.109-111. Bonhoeffer considered taking refuge in the U.S., but soon realised: \u201cI will have no right to participate in the reconstruction of Christian life in Germany after the war if I do not share the trials of this time with my people.\u201d He was also critical of the Church\u2019s response to the situation: \u201cthe Church was silent when it should have cried out, because the blood of the innocent was crying aloud to heaven.\u201d Quoted in Franklin Sherman, \u201cDietrich Bonhoeffer,\u201d in Encyclopaedia Britannica <\/em>(2019)<\/span>Reading Bonhoeffer\u2019s account of his decision to return home to Germany from the U.S., even though it put his life at risk, Th\u1ea7y was struck by his description of his final days in prison: <\/p>\n\n\n\n It was in 1963, during the annual spring Vesak festival, that the Di\u1ec7m regime\u2019s suppression of Buddhists dramatically escalated.He submitted his documents on 8 October, 1963, the day of the U.N. debate on President Ng\u00f4 \u0110\u00ecnh Di\u1ec7m\u2019s suppression of the Buddhists.<\/span>In America, Th\u1ea7y found himself becoming an active spokesman for the Buddhist peace movement back home. He gave talks and media interviews, and submitted a report to the United Nations on the human rights violations. In June, Th\u1ea7y learned of the self-immolation of the senior monk, Venerable Th\u00edch Qu\u1ea3ng \u0110\u1ee9c in the The New York Times<\/em>.„Man Sets Himself Afire“, Monastic training: traditional roots<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Monastic training: seeking a new path<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Ti\u1ebfng \u0110\u1ecbch Chi\u1ec1u Thu (\u201cReed Flute in the Autumn Twilight,\u201d a collection of fifty poems and a play in verse) published under the name Nh\u1ea5t H\u1ea1nh by Dragon River Press in autumn 1949. This was followed by Th\u01a1 Ng\u1ee5 Ng\u00f4n<\/em> (\u201cFables\u201d), published under the pen name \u201cHo\u00e0ng Hoa\u201d by \u0110u\u1ed1c Tu\u1ec7 publishing house in 1950. \u00c1nh Xu\u00e2n V\u00e0ng<\/em> (\u201cThe Golden Light of Spring\u201d), was published soon after, in 1950.<\/span>Capturing his experiences of war and loss, his poetry was well received and were considered some of the best examples of Vietnam\u2019s new and influential \u201cfree verse\u201d poetry movement.Thich Nhat Hanh, Inside the Now: Meditations on Time<\/em> (2015), pp.23-24<\/span>From this time, he established a reputation first and foremost as a poet rather than as a monk or teacher; a real distinction since for centuries poets had been esteemed figures in Vietnamese culture and society.<\/p>\n\n\n\nCreating a renewed, engaged Buddhism<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Experimental community<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
New hope<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
Princeton & Columbia <\/h3>\n\n\n\n
...I was awakened to the starry sky that dwells in each of us. I felt a surge of joy, accompanied by the faith that I could endure even greater suffering than I had thought possible<\/em>. Bonhoeffer was the drop that made my cup overflow, the last link in a long chain, the breeze that nudged the ripened fruit to fall. After experiencing such a night, I will never complain about life again. [...] All feelings, passions, and sufferings revealed themselves as wonders, yet I remained grounded in my body. Some people might call such an experience \u2018religious,\u2019 but what I felt was totally and utterly human.<\/em> I knew in that moment that there was no enlightenment outside of my own mind and the cells of my body. Life is miraculous, even in its suffering. Without suffering, life would not be possible.<\/em>Th\u1ea7y\u2019s account of his insights on the night of November 2, 1962 (italics added). Nhat Hanh, Fragrant Palm Leaves <\/em>(1999), p.85<\/span><\/pre>\n\n\n\n