I don't know how many of you are familiar with Thich Nhat Hand through his connection with Merton or his simple yet profound small books. I had not followed his recent history.
Thich Nhat Hanh’s final mindfulness lesson: how to die peacefully
he International Plum Village Community of Engaged Buddhism has announced that Thich Naht Hanh passed away on January 22 in Huế, Vietnam. We are republishing this interview with one of his senior disciples. It first appeared on Vox in March, 2019.
Thich Nhat Hanh has done more than perhaps any Buddhist alive today to articulate and disseminate the core Buddhist teachings of mindfulness, kindness, and compassion to a broad global audience. The Vietnamese monk, who has written more than 100 books, is second only to the Dalai Lama in fame and influence.
Nhat Hanh made his name doing human rights and reconciliation work during the Vietnam War, which led Martin Luther King Jr. to nominate him for a Nobel Prize.
He’s considered the father of “engaged Buddhism,” a movement linking mindfulness practice with social action. He’s also built a network of monasteries and retreat centers in six countries around the world, including the United States.
In 2014, Nhat Hanh, who is now 93 years old, had a stroke at Plum Village, the monastery and retreat center in southwest France he founded in 1982 that was also his home base. Though he was unable to speak after the stroke, he continued to lead the community, using his left arm and facial expressions to communicate.
In October 2018, Nhat Hanh stunned his disciples by informing them that he would like to return home to Vietnam to pass his final days at the Tu Hieu root temple in Hue, where he became a monk in 1942 at age 16. (The New York Times reports that nine US senators visited him there in April.)
As Time’s Liam Fitzpatrick wrote, Nhat Hanh was exiled from Vietnam for his antiwar activism from 1966 until he was finally invited back in 2005. But his return to his homeland is less about political reconciliation than something much deeper. And it contains lessons for all of us about how to die peacefully and how to let go of the people we love.
When I heard that Nhat Hanh had returned to Vietnam, I wanted to learn more about the decision. So in February I called up Brother Phap Dung, a senior disciple and monk who is helping to run Plum Village in Nhat Hanh’s absence. (I spoke to Phap Dung in 2016 right after Donald Trump won the presidential election, about how we can use mindfulness in times of conflict.)
Thanks for posting this. You beat me to it. I have several of his books and was so sad when he had his stroke a few years ago. Grateful that the Viet Namese government finally relented and allowed him to return to Viêt Nam. He was one of the spiritual giants of our age.
ReplyDeleteHi Anne, I thought you would be familiar with him.
DeleteI have noticed that you haven't been commenting much lately. Betty told me that chemotherapy can be very exhausting.
Jack, I am spared chemo. I have been having radiation and it’s finished now. It can cause some fatigue but I really didn’t experience it seriously because i only had five sessions instead of 25-30 as many cancer patients have to do. Fortunately the tumor was found very early and was very small. Surgery, negative lymph nodes and only five radiation treatments. I had it easy! But the stress of the last five months did tire me out, especially the multiple early morning drives to Johns Hopkins in Baltimore. My radiation has been in DC with an easier drive.
DeleteI have lived mostly without illness in my life - very fortunate. Until last September I would go years without having to see a doctor. I never even got a flu shot until this year. So the intense (for me anyway) schedule of medical visits for tests and consultations and procedures since September have finally caught up with me, combined with other trips for my husband because of worsening heart disease, all topped off by his Covid case, trip to ER, trip to infusion center etc while we were in California to spend a family Christmas with all sons and their families. Cancelled due to covid except for being at one son’s home for the time, socially distanced and masked when we weren’t hiding in our own rooms. I had the guest room, my son slept in the room used as an office for virtual work for both he and his wife, my daughter in law slept in the family room. The other sons and their families stayed home. We still have a second opinion consult for my husband who is reluctant to get a pacemaker because it’s so invasive. He postponed that surgery to early March with the second opinion consult in two weeks.
I think sometimes of others who have dealt with all of this for years, like Jean, and Betty maybe(?), and our friend who has declined slowly into physical helplessness for years now with multiple sclerosis, who remain strong and active ( except for the ms friend who still greets people with a smile and enjoys coaching his son in fantasy football - he can still speak and watch tv )- and I am both humbled and encouraged by others who deal with so many more challenges than we do. We are also grateful for having access to excellent medical options, both in DC and Baltimore. Johns Hopkins even has free or very low cost apartments for those who travel from far away like other states and countries ( it has a big international patient clientele) .
I intended to comment but was a bit too tired at times. We did order the government Covid tests. Our county is giving them away at the libraries but when I tried once there was a huge long line and they ran out just as I got to the door. I haven’t gone back to try again because it’s been too cold for me to hang out standing outdoors - in the 20s mostly. I’ve just stayed home except to go to docs and radiation. I order groceries online and pick them up. There have been serious shortages recently, especially of produce, dairy etc. It’s almost a rerun of spring 2020, but different shortages . There is toilet paper :)
Trying to stay away from people until the surge recedes. New cases have dropped 49% in our county in only a week, but still too high for me, especially with ac15% positivity rate.
Stay safe everyone !
Glad you are done with rad treatment, Anne! It can tire people out quite a bit, though it seems to vary by length of treatment, age, and general overall health. The stress of dealing with any kind of treatment at this time of covid is probably worse than the treatment itself.
DeleteI pushed my regular blood check ahead to Feb in hopes of taking pressure off the local lab. The number of techs off sick right now is very high, and the ones who are at work are pulled to the covid drive thru.
For anyone here able to, please consider giving blood. Red Cross supplies are perilously low. If you can't give, please consider helping at the drive.
Thank you, Jean. I know that you will keep yourself as safe as possible, and Raber too! Covid has peaked in both our county and state. Just trying to get through the next few weeks without getting it.
DeleteAnne, I am so glad to hear that you are finished with the radiation treatments. Hopefully the rest of the year will be easier.
DeleteIf he expressed his wish to return to Vietnam, his stroke did not cripple his mind. Glad he could return to his origin.
ReplyDeleteI had heard his name, and knew he was a spiritual teacher, but that's about all. Now I am curious. It goes to show that there is a common thread going through all spiritual seeking, maybe we would call it the Holy Spirit's immanence.
ReplyDeleteKatherine, there is definitely a common thread that exists among multiple religions - Christianity, Buddhism ( which isn’t actually a religion), Judaism, the roots of Christianity, Hinduism, and at least some forms of Islam.
ReplyDeleteJack, I have read some Merton, and have a few of his books. He clearly saw that Buddhism and Christianity have some compatible beliefs. Merton was an intellectual, and his writings appeal mostly to intellectuals. Thich Nhat Hanh writes simply ( as does the Dalaï Lama) and I think that one reason the writings and speeches of both men appeal so strongly to people is because they are so understandable. They teach many of the same things Jesus taught, but in their work intended for a global audience rather than just fellow Buddhists, they stay away from the complexities of Buddhism and offer people a simple path, emphasizing kindness, compassion, gentleness, and mindfulness rather than heavy doses of theology or philosophy. They don’t bury people in demands that they believe a long list of theological orthodoxies, they offer a simple formula for living a good and just life. Orthopraxy. They offer a “Way”. As we know the earliest christians didn’t really call themselves that for a couple of centuries- they had come together to follow the Way taught by Jesus. If you were to strip away the two thousand year body of manmade additions to what Jesus taught as described in the gospels, it turns out that the similarities in Buddhism and Jesus’s teachings are pretty remarkable. Christians may see this as the work of the Holy Spirit. Islam believes in one God, Allah, and Hindus venerate many gods, who actually represent the many different facets of the divine (one of their gods has a trinity of faces). Buddhists don’t have a “God”, but they do have understandings of the universe and life that aren’t incompatible with the notion of “ spirit”.
Unitarians I knew growing up were notorious dabblers in Eastern mysticism and meditative practices of all sorts. I suspect that, having been a dabbler as a young person, it takes years of devotion to achieve the kind of equanimity that Thich Nhat Hanh or Teresa of Avila or Bahaullah.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Katherine that there is probably an immanence of the Holy Spirit that is not tied to creed. God brings comfort to us in this life in many ways. Whether we all get eternal life after that is a big mystery.
Agree with you and Katherine.
DeletePress release from the US State Dept
ReplyDeleteOn the Passing of Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh
“On behalf of the American people, we express our sincere condolences on the passing of Zen Master Thích Nhất Hạnh, a Buddhist monk, peace activist, and founder of the Engaged Buddhism movement and the Plum Village Tradition, a monastic practice centered on mindfulness.
A world-renowned and beloved teacher and spiritual leader who reached people of all faiths, Thích Nhất Hạnh spent more than 60 years championing religious freedom, human rights, non-violence, and love to all. His life’s work earned him a Nobel Peace Prize nomination and many other commendations.
He was a prominent presence far beyond the spiritual community, and the world will sorely miss Thích Nhất Hạnh’s thoughtful voice. As we reflect on his life, we remember his lasting legacy and the profound mark he left on humanity. Our thoughts are with the people of Vietnam, where he was born and passed away, and also those around the world inspired by his gentle spirit.”
( sigh. Why not say On the death of...It sounds as though they missed seeing him when he passed by.)
https://www.state.gov/on-the-passing-of-zen-master-thich-nhat-hanh/?fbclid=IwAR1a5JtbLOFexjzt6hqtK3InZKwofbkHPVKNYJgPzJajGZVupLb-sE5Sc6g
Jack, thanks for this post. I am sorry to say I had never heard of him before. You've piqued my curiousity.
ReplyDeleteVery good article about Hanh at NCR online, including his ecumenical interactions for peace with Merton, Martin Luther King, and his meeting with Paul VI.
Deletehttps://www.ncronline.org/news/people/buddhist-monk-thich-nhat-hanh-teacher-mindfulness-and-nonviolence-dies-age-95