Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Home
Religion News
Thich Nhat Hanh, who worked for decades to teach mindfulness, approached death in that same spirit

Thich Nhat Hanh, who worked for decades to teach mindfulness, approached death in that same spirit

Last updated on: January 23, 2022 at 11:09 am by The Conversation

Thich Nhat Hanh, who worked for decades to teach mindfulness, approached death in that same spirit 2022-01-23T11:09:50-04:00 The Conversation

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Zen Buddhist monk Thich Nhat Hanh praying during a three-day requiem for the souls of Vietnam War victims in 2007.
Hoang Dinh Nam/AFP via Getty Images

By Brooke Schedneck of Rhodes College

Thich Nhat Hanh, the monk who popularized mindfulness in the West, died in the Tu Hieu Temple in Hue, Vietnam, on Jan. 21, 2022. He was 95.

In 2014, Thich Nhat Hanh suffered a stroke. Since then he was unable to speak or continue his teaching. In October 2018 he expressed his wish, using gestures, to return to the temple in Vietnam where he had been ordained as a young monk. Devotees from many parts of the world had continued to visit him at the temple.

Thich Nhat Hanh in a wheelchair at the Tu Hieu pagoda in Hue, Vietnam, in 2018.
Manan Vatsyayana/AFP via Getty Images

As a scholar of the contemporary practices of Buddhist meditation, I have studied his simple yet profound teachings, which combine mindfulness along with social change, and which I believe will continue to have an impact around the world.

Peace activist

In the 1960s, Thich Nhat Hanh played an active role promoting peace during the years of war in Vietnam. He was in his mid-20s when he became active in efforts to revitalize Vietnamese Buddhism for peace efforts.

Over the next few years, Thich Nhat Hanh set up a number of organizations based on Buddhist principles of nonviolence and compassion. His School of Youth and Social Service, a grassroots relief organization, consisted of 10,000 volunteers and social workers offering aid to war-torn villages, rebuilding schools and establishing medical centers.

He also established the Order of Interbeing, a community of monastics and lay Buddhists who made a commitment to compassionate action and supported war victims. In addition, he founded a Buddhist university, a publishing house and a peace activist magazine as ways to spread the message of compassion.

In 1966, Thich Nhat Hanh traveled to the United States and Europe to appeal for peace in Vietnam.

In lectures delivered across many cities, he compellingly described the war’s devastation, spoke of the Vietnamese people’s wish for peace and appealed to the U.S. to cease its air offensive against Vietnam.

During his years in the U.S. he met Martin Luther King Jr., who nominated him for the Nobel Peace Prize in 1967.

However, because of his peace work and refusal to choose sides in his country’s civil war, both the communist and noncommunist governments banned him, forcing Thich Nhat Hanh to live in exile for over 40 years.

During these years, the emphasis of his message shifted from the immediacy of the Vietnam War to being present in the moment – an idea that has come to be called “mindfulness.”

Being aware of the present moment

Thich Nhat Hanh first started teaching mindfulness in the mid-1970s. The main vehicle for his early teachings was his books. In “The Miracle of Mindfulness,” for example, Thich Nhat Hanh gave simple instructions on how to apply mindfulness to daily life.

In his book “You Are Here,” he urged people to pay attention to what they were experiencing in their body and mind at any given moment, and not dwell in the past or think of the future. His emphasis was on the awareness of the breath. He taught his readers to say internally, “I’m breathing in; this is an in-breath. I’m breathing out; this is an out-breath.”

Thich Nhat Hanh emphasized that mindfulness could be practiced anywhere.
Antonio Guillem/Shutterstock.com

People interested in practicing meditation didn’t need to spend days at a meditation retreat or find a teacher. His teachings emphasized that mindfulness could be practiced anytime, even when doing routine chores.

Even doing the dishes, people could simply focus on the activity and be fully present. Peace, happiness, joy and true love, he said, could be found only in the present moment.

Mindfulness in America

Hanh’s mindfulness practices don’t advocate disengagement with the world. Rather, in his view, the practice of mindfulness could lead one toward “compassionate action,” like practicing openness to others’ viewpoints and sharing material resources with those in need.

Jeff Wilson, a scholar of American Buddhism, argues in his book “Mindful America” that it was Hanh’s combination of daily mindfulness practices with action in the world that contributed to the earliest strands of the mindfulness movement. This movement eventually became what Time magazine in 2014 called the “mindful revolution.” The article argues that the power of mindfulness lies in its universality, as the practice has entered into corporate headquarters, political offices, parenting guides and diet plans.

For Thich Nhat Hanh, however, mindfulness was not a means to a more productive day but a way of understanding “interbeing,” the connection and codependence of everyone and everything. In a documentary, “Walk With Me,” he illustrated interbeing in the following way:

A young girl asks him how to deal with the grief of her recently deceased dog. He instructs her to look into the sky and watch a cloud disappear. The cloud has not died but has become the rain and the tea in the teacup. Just as the cloud is alive in a new form, so is the dog. Being aware and mindful of the tea offers a reflection on the nature of reality. He believed this understanding could lead to more peace in the world.

Thich Nhat Hanh’s lasting impact

Thich Nhat Hanh will have a lasting impact through the legacy of his teachings in over 100 books, 11 global practice centers, over 1,000 global lay communities and dozens of online community groups. The disciples closest to him – the 600 monks and nuns ordained in his Plum Village tradition, along with lay teachers – have been planning to continue their teacher’s legacy for some time.

They have been writing books, offering teachings and leading retreats for several decades now. In March 2020, the Thich Nhat Hanh Foundation, along with Lion’s Roar, hosted an online summit called “In the Footsteps of Thich Nhat Hanh” to make people aware of his teachings through the disciples he trained.

Although Thich Naht Hanh’s death will change the community, his practices for being aware in the present moment and creating peace will live on.

This article is republished from The Conversation a nonprofit, independent news organization dedicated to unlocking the knowledge of experts for the public good.

Buddhism

Mindfulness

About Brooke Schedneck

Brooke Schedneck is an Assistant Professor of Religious Studies at Rhodes College. You can read more about the author here.

Previous Post

October 17, 2021

What is the Synod of Bishops? A Catholic priest and theologian explains

Next Post

January 24, 2022 Pope Benedict accused of mishandling sex abuse cases: 4 essential reads

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Buddhism Christianity Hinduism Islam Judaism Religion and society Uncategorized

Select a Month July 2024 March 2024 February 2024 January 2024 December 2023 November 2023 October 2023 September 2023 August 2023 July 2023 January 2023 August 2022 July 2022 April 2022 February 2022 January 2022 October 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

What does Proverbs compare wisdom to?

Select your answer to see how you score.

A woman A mountain A river A city