Lotus in a Sea of Fire: Thich Nhat Hanh
Venerable Thich Nhat Hanh
1926 – 2022
This gentle yet fierce monk from Vietnam was my gateway into Buddhist practice in the early 1990s. When I heard the news of his death this past week, my heart skipped a beat. Though it’s been a long time since I’ve studied in his tradition and been in his sangha, in that moment I felt how deeply Thây’s teachings live in every cell of my body, and I felt sadness as I realized we will be living in a world without this great man’s physical presence.
It’s impossible to overstate Thich Nhat Hanh’s impact. Thousands of us who got a chance to hear his teachings and to practice with him felt our lives change in subtle but powerful ways. On the collective level, he infused our world with the possibility that peace could actually be lived, not just talked about, and that the practice of mindfulness was a medicine that could be applied to some of the deepest wounds of this world: militarism, poverty, addiction, and more.
There were certainly other great dharma teachers before and during Thây’s time, but he had a unique way of directly addressing the daily needs and challenges of so many of us: veterans of war, school teachers, healthcare workers, activists, artists, just to name a few. We have Thây to thank for the vitality of socially engaged Buddhism in our world today.
My own path intersected with his when I moved to San Francisco in 1993 for graduate school. One of the first things I did when I landed in the Bay Area was attend a retreat in Santa Cruz with Thây and the nuns and monks of Plum Village. The invitation to slow down, to be in the present moment, and to notice the beauty and interconnection of that moment was unlike anything I’d ever experienced before. Honestly it terrified me a little bit, and at the same time it felt right “at home.” I was hooked, in a good way, and continued on the path.
I went on to do more retreats with Thây in California as well as traveling to Plum Village in France in 1996, and I studied his teachings with Roshi Joan Halifax who was then his student. For a while I worked at the Community of Mindful Living and edited The Mindfulness Bell which published many of his talks as well as articles by other sangha members. By the time I was part of his sangha, Thây was drawing thousands of people to his retreats so I didn’t have the chance for any one-to-one time with him. But on one sweet occasion, as the editor of The Mindfulness Bell I was invited to a meeting with Thây and a small group of journalists at Plum Village. I will always treasure that intimate time of sharing tea and simply breathing together with him.
Thây had a way of taking teachings that could seem esoteric and making them accessible in the most poetic way. He was a true innovator, an artist even. As time goes on and I have a deeper understanding of the Dharma, I have an even greater appreciation of just how creative Thây was in the way he transmitted the teachings of the Buddha. Take this excerpt from Peace is Every Step that so beautifully conveys the complex Buddhist concept of dependent co-arising:
If you are a poet, you will see clearly that there is a cloud floating in this sheet of paper. Without a cloud, there will be no rain; without rain, the trees cannot grow: and without trees, we cannot make paper. The cloud is essential for the paper to exist. If the cloud is not here, the sheet of paper cannot be here either. So we can say that the cloud and the paper inter-are.
“Interbeing” is a word that is not in the dictionary yet, but if we combine the prefix “inter” with the verb “to be”, we have a new verb, inter-be. Without a cloud, we cannot have paper, so we can say that the cloud and the sheet of paper inter-are.
But his gift went far beyond the words that he spoke and wrote. To be in Thây’s physical presence was the true gift. If you ever had a chance to do walking meditation with him, you know what I mean. Every step became a gift of love to the earth, and to ourselves. When Thây said “peace is every step,” he meant it quite literally.
In honor of this great teacher, here are a few of my favorite quotes and resources. Let us celebrate that such a bodhisattva, a mahasattva, has walked on this earth during our time and given so generously of his wisdom and experience. What a blessing he has been!
If you have your own personal memories of Thich Nhat Hanh, please leave them in the comments below. It would be wonderful to hear your stories.
ENGAGED BUDDHISM
“When I was in Vietnam, so many of our villages were being bombed. Along with my monastic brothers and sisters, I had to decide what to do. Should we continue to practice in our monasteries, or should we leave the meditation halls in order to help the people who were suffering under the bombs? After careful reflection, we decided to do both—to go out and help people and to do so in mindfulness. We called it Engaged Buddhism. Mindfulness must be engaged. Once there is seeing, there must be acting… We must be aware of the real problems of the world. Then, with mindfulness, we will know what to do and what not to do to be of help.”
– Thich Nhat Hanh
Dharma Talk: History of Engaged Buddhism
ON DEATH AND DYING
“This body of mine will disintegrate, but my actions will continue me… If you think I am only this body, then you have not truly seen me. When you look at my friends, you see my continuation. When you see someone walking with mindfulness and compassion, you know he is my continuation. I don’t see why we have to say “I will die,” because I can already see myself in you, in other people, and in future generations.
Even when the cloud is not there, it continues as snow or rain. It is impossible for the cloud to die. It can become rain or ice, but it cannot become nothing. The cloud does not need to have a soul in order to continue. There’s no beginning and no end. I will never die. There will be a dissolution of this body, but that does not mean my death. I will continue, always.”
– Thich Nhat Hanh
Video: Dealing with the loss of a beloved one
BOOKS AND FILMS
Most of Thich Nhat Hanh’s books have been published by Parallax Press, co-founded by him and Arnie Kotler in 1986.
Peace is Every Step, a film by Gaetano Maida (1998).
Walk With Me, a film by Marc J. Francis and Max Pugh (2017)
9 Comments
Dear Maia, thank you so much for this lovely and loving tribute to Thay…
I had the great good fortune to attend a 5-day retreat with him in Santa Barbara, in 1998 I believe. There were so many people there… we filled the basketball gym for the meditations and dharma talks. And then, when we did walking meditation, it was quite the experience, to be walking in silence in the midst of SO many people, all moving slowly and mindfully… likewise, practicing eating meditation, smiling at one another in silence during our meals…. eating so slowly and mindfully…
During those years of living in the Bay Area, I also attended a few Day of Mindfulness with him at Spirit Rock… and then in Oakland, at Lake Merritt. Those were very meaningful experiences as well… and, the opportunity to dive more deeply into the practice, by doing a five-day retreat, felt like a real gift. At one point in time I was considering going to Plum Village for a month-long retreat, but that did not come to be…
For many years Thay’s sanghas were my primary practice community, and his teachings continue to be an ongoing source of grounding and refuge. Thank you so much, dear Thay, for the gift of your clear and gentle presence, the poetry of your writings, the many practices you have offered us… thank you for the many gifts flowing from your creative spirit, all the ways you have been open to innovation while honoring and passing on the traditions…
Deep deep bows, with a full heart and tremendous gratitude…
February 5, 2022
Thank you Maia for this beautiful post. Although I have never met TNH I have read all his books over the years after stumbling on Peace is Every Step back in the early 1990s. I love hearing all these stories of you and others who actually were blessed to feel his presence. Wow!
January 24, 2022
The newspaper known as The Guardian has published an obituary about Thích Nhất Hạnh today.
I was surprised to read that Mr. Thích Nhất Hạnh has stepped foot on the island of Singapore, before I was even born (yes, I was born in Singapore). In Singapore, Thích Nhất Hạnh helped Vietnamese refugees – also known as “boat people” – whom the Singaporean authorities were rejecting. (A number of those refugees subsequently died at sea, after suffering rejection from the Singaporean authorities).
I am a Christian, and in Christianity, it is important to show hospitality to strangers. I am glad – and refreshed – to hear that Mr. Thích Nhất Hạnh has tried his best to extend hospitality to Vietnamese refugees, through his work in Singapore. (The Singaporean authorities would later command Mr. Thích Nhất Hạnh to stop such actions).
January 24, 2022
Thank you Maia for this beautiful sharing about Thich Nhat Hanh. I have not studied with him myself, but one day as I was traveling in France nearby Plum Village, I knock at his door, unannounced. Someone ushered me to the lecture hall where Thai was giving a dharma talk to his monks in Vietnamese, and I could listen to the translation through earphones. I then joined the group in their meditation walk toward a little meditation deck at the end of a big field overlooking the valley below. I was last in line, so when I arrived the room was packed to the rim. Thai gestured to me to sit right next to him. So I sat literally on his robe and spent the entire meditation time breathing, inches away from him. I felt his energy so strongly, I could hardly do anything else but merge into his energy. It was so potent and so beautiful. I never forgot that moment.
January 23, 2022
Thank you for this, Maia. Although we have never met, we have some friends in common, and we are traveling similar paths. So I consider you part of my sangha. Thây became my teacher in 1989 when I was invited to sit with him at the Ojai Foundation at a retreat for activist artists. We went to Plum Village for our honeymoon, and did other retreats with him that shifted my world on its axis in the most wonderfully aligned ways. I became a better teacher of art for social change, working with veterans, and people from all sorts of traumatic backgrounds. I became a better artist, writer, mother, partner, and friend. I am still learning from him, and will continue to for the rest of my time in this body. It is such a comfort to know that he is in the clouds, the trees, the glass of water I just drank, and in my tears.
January 23, 2022
Hi Beverly, I wonder if we may have crossed paths at the Ojai Foundation around 1989, which is the time I frequented the Foundation as well. I too am an artist, organizing workshops around art for personal transformation, and I’m looking to expand it to social change. If I may ask, where are you located these days? I am in Baltimore MD. I would love to communicate with you about your work. Please email me if you feel so inclined. Thank you, noelleimparato@gmail.com
January 23, 2022
Thank you so much Maia for your heartfelt sharing, it is always deeply appreciated. Your tribute to Thich Nhat Hanh particularly resonated… his teaching, love, compassion and joy abide deep within me too. 10 years ago on March 29th 2012 I was fortunate (along with thousands of others) to be in his presence, and also with the beautiful Sangha, at the Royal Festival Hall, London. I will never forget how powerful and comforting the Avalokiteshvra chanting felt. Time stopped and pure compassionate presence filled the space and my whole being. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ERjSS4_UBM The next day we gathered in Trafalgar Square, you know how noisy and traffic filled that space is, well, as soon as Thay smiled and rang the bell, the quiet, stillness and peace that blossomed was just profound. A true gift indeed. Sending you much compassion and joy. Mary
January 23, 2022
Thank you for bringing incarcerated folks into this conversation, Jane – yes, another very important part of Thay’s ministry. And your dharma name continues to suit you well, dear Joyful Service of the Heart!
January 23, 2022
Thank you Maia,
I have changed the teisho of my upcoming class at PNM to reflect on Thay’s words.
He once gave a program at the Maryland State Prison, the resulting talk became a small book that we send out as a book to prison inquirers interested in the dharma. This small book is freely offered by Parallax Press for those who volunteer in the prisons and jails.
Joyful Service of the Heart (1993)
January 23, 2022