Descriptions of practices here are historical and educational, not personal instruction or health advice.
Life
Thich Nhat Hanh was born in Huế in central Vietnam and entered Từ Hiếu Temple as a novice at sixteen. During the Vietnam War he developed 'Engaged Buddhism', founding the School of Youth for Social Service and, in 1966, the Order of Interbeing. On a 1966 speaking tour of the United States he called for an end to the war; Martin Luther King Jr. nominated him for the Nobel Peace Prize in 1967. Barred from returning home, he lived in exile for almost four decades and in 1982 founded the Plum Village community in France, which grew into an international network of monasteries and practice centres. He wrote more than a hundred books in plain language on mindful breathing, walking and eating. After a severe stroke in 2014 he returned to Vietnam and died at Từ Hiếu Temple in 2022.
The system
- Mindfulness as a practice for every moment: breathing, walking, eating, washing dishes.
- Interbeing: nothing exists separately; everything 'inter-is' with everything else.
- Engaged Buddhism: practice that includes compassion and action in society.
- Sangha: practising together in community, steadily over the long term.
Key works
- The Miracle of Mindfulness (1975) Amazon
- Peace Is Every Step (1991) Amazon
- The Heart of the Buddha's Teaching (1998) Amazon
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Where to start
- Peace Is Every Step for daily practice; The Heart of the Buddha's Teaching for a clear overview of core Buddhist teachings.
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