![]() The founding of the Engaged Buddhism movement was his response to the Vietnam War. He submitted a peace proposal to the Unified Buddhist Church (UBC), calling for a cessation of hostilities, the establishment of a Buddhist institute for the country’s leaders, and the creation of a center to promote nonviolent social change. In 1963, a U.S.-backed military coup had overthrown the Diem regime, and Nhat Hanh returned to Vietnam to continue initiating nonviolent peace efforts. He had become fluent in English, Japanese, Chinese, Sanskrit, Pali, and English. ![]() Nhat Hanh accepted a fellowship to study comparative religion at Princeton University in 1960 and was subsequently appointed a lecturer in Buddhism at Columbia University. He also founded the School of Youth for Social Service, a neutral corps of Buddhist peace workers who established schools, built healthcare clinics, and rebuilt villages in rural areas. He went on to begin his activist work, founding La Boi Press and the Van Hanh Buddhist University in Saigon. ![]() He left for the University of Saigon, where he could study world literature, philosophy, psychology, and science in addition to Buddhism. It was then that he received the name Thich Nhat Hanh.Īs Lindsay Kyte reported for Lion’s Roar in “ The Life of Thich Nhat Hanh,” Nhat Hanh was sent for training at a Buddhist academy but was dissatisfied with the curriculum, wanting to study more modern subjects. In 1951, Nhat Hanh was ordained as a monk after receiving training in Vietnamese Mahayana and Thien Buddhist traditions. There, he worked with his primary teacher, Zen master Thanh Quy Chan That. Interested in Buddhism from an early age, he entered the monastery at Tu Hieu Temple in Vietnam at sixteen. Nhat Hanh was born Nguyen Xuan Bao in Hué, Vietnam in October of 1926. In October 2018, Thich Nhat Hanh traveled to Vietnam to spend the remainder of his days at his root temple. He spent nearly two years at Thai Plum Village. In 2016, two months after his 90th birthday, Nhat Hanh expressed a wish to travel to Thailand to be closer to his homeland of Vietnam. In January 2016, he returned again to Plum Village, France to be with the sangha, as shared in an update on his 92nd birthday. Nhat Hanh suffered a brain hemorrhage in November 2014 and spent four-and-a-half months at a stroke rehabilitation clinic at Bordeaux University Hospital, after which he returned to Plum Village in France, where he was able to enjoy being “out in nature, enjoying the blossoms, listening to the birds and resting at the foot of a tree.” In July of 2015, Nhat Hanh traveled to the United States for intensive rehabilitation at San Francisco’s UCSF Medical Center. ![]() His simple yet deeply profound teachings led countless people towards a life of mindfulness, joy, and peace. Nhat Hanh, affectionately referred to as “Thay,” by his students, has often been referred to as “the father of mindfulness.” In his 95 years, he made a global impact as a teacher, author, activist, and the founder of the Engaged Buddhism movement. The International Plum Village Community of Engaged Buddhism released a statement announcing Nhat Hanh’s passing, followed by a schedule of live-streamed memorial ceremonies honoring their teacher to be broadcast through the week from Hue, Vietnam and Plum Village, France. There, he spent the last years of his life surrounded by his close disciples and students. ![]() Following his stroke in 2014, he had expressed a desire to return to his homeland, and, in October 2018, moved back to his home temple. One of the great Buddhist teachers of our time, Thich Nhat Hanh died today at Tu Hieu Pagoda in Vietnam, the Buddhist temple where he was ordained at age sixteen. ![]()
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