 Thich Nhat Hanh ThÃch Nhất Hạnh (born 1926) is an expatriate Vietnamese Buddhist monk, peace activist, and prolific author in English. (The title Thich applies to all Vietnamese Buddhist monks. The full combination is pronounced Tick-Naught-Han. Further nuances are discussed below.)
Biography
He was born in Vietnam, and left home as a teenager to become a Zen monk. He founded the Van Hanh Buddhist University in Vietnam.
For his pacifist activism during the Vietnam War, Nhat was nominated by Martin Luther King, Jr. for the 1967 Nobel Peace Prize. (Despite King's high praise, the committee decided, that year as in the previous one, not to make any award. King's revealing the nomination for publication was a violation of tradition and the explicit "strong request" (at least as of 2003) of the prize committee.)
In 1982 he founded Plum Village Buddhist Center, a meditation community at Dordogne in the south of France. As of 2002 Nhat heads a monastic community and the lay group Order of Inter-Being, preaching and teaching the 14 Mindfulness Trainings and "Engaged Buddhism".
Names applied to him
The Vietnamese title Thich means, roughly, "of the Shakya (Shakyamuni Buddha) clan", and is usually translated as a title "Venerable". All Vietnamese monks have this title, implying that their first family is the Buddhist community.
Apparently neither "Nhat" nor "Hanh" -- which approximate the roles of surname and given name, respectively, in referring to him in English -- was part of his name at birth. "Nhat" approximates "first-class", or "of best quality", in English; "Hanh" approximates "right conduct" or "good nature".
Nhat is referred to as "Thay" ("teacher") by his followers.
Selected works
- Anger
- Being Peace
- Fragrant Palm Leaves
- Going Home: Jesus and Buddha as Brothers
- The Heart of the Buddha's Teaching
- Interbeing
- Living Buddha, Living Christ
- The Miracle of Mindfulness: A Manual on Meditation
- Peace Is Every Step
- Touching the Earth
- Zen Keys
External links
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