Honoring Master Thich Nhat Hanh (Thầy)

October 11, 1926 – January 22, 2022

Who Was Thich Nhat Hanh?

Thich Nhat Hanh, affectionately known as “Thầy” (teacher), was a Vietnamese Zen Buddhist monk, peace activist, poet, and one of the most influential spiritual leaders of our time. He began his monastic life at age 16 and became a pioneer in bringing mindfulness practice to the West.

During the Vietnam War, Thầy refused to take sides, instead advocating for peace and helping war victims through a movement he called “Engaged Buddhism”—the practice of bringing mindfulness into social action. His peace work led to his exile from Vietnam for 39 years. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. nominated him for the Nobel Peace Prize in 1967, saying, “I do not personally know of anyone more worthy of the Nobel Peace Prize than this gentle Buddhist monk from Vietnam.”

Thầy founded Plum Village in France in 1982, the largest Buddhist monastery in Europe and the heart of an international community of mindfulness practice centers. He authored over 100 books, taught thousands of students worldwide, and made the ancient practice of mindfulness accessible to people of all backgrounds and faiths.

Why Thầy Matters to Mindfulness

Thich Nhat Hanh transformed mindfulness from an esoteric Eastern practice into a practical tool for everyday life. His genius was making profound Buddhist teachings simple, concrete, and immediately applicable. He didn’t ask people to withdraw from the world but to be fully present within it.

Key contributions include:

Accessible language: He translated complex Buddhist concepts into plain English that anyone could understand and practice.

Everyday mindfulness: He showed how washing dishes, walking, eating, and breathing could become profound spiritual practices.

Interbeing: He coined this term to describe the interconnected nature of all things—we “inter-are” with everything and everyone.

Secular mindfulness: He made the practice available to people of all faiths and no faith, planting seeds that grew into modern mindfulness-based therapies.

Thầy’s Teachings on Life’s Challenges

Sobriety and Addiction Recovery

Thầy taught that addiction stems from our inability to handle suffering. We run from painful feelings through substances, behaviors, or distractions. Mindfulness offers a different path: the courage to stop running and embrace our pain with compassion.

His Fifth Mindfulness Training specifically addresses consumption, encouraging awareness of what we take into our bodies and minds. He taught that true sobriety means being present with reality as it is, not numbing ourselves to it. Through mindful breathing and awareness, we can recognize cravings when they arise, observe them without judgment, and discover they are impermanent—they arise, stay for a while, and pass away.

Strengthening Relationships

Thầy revolutionized how we think about love and relationships through practices like deep listening and loving speech. He taught that most relationship suffering comes from our inability to truly hear one another and our habit of speaking words that hurt.

His guidance was practical: when someone you love is suffering, offer your full presence. Don’t try to fix them or give advice—just listen deeply with the intention to understand and help them suffer less. Before speaking in conflict, pause and ask: “Is what I’m about to say true, necessary, and kind? Will it bring us closer together?”

He reminded us that to love well, we must first take care of ourselves. You cannot pour from an empty cup. Daily mindfulness practice becomes an act of love toward yourself and those around you.

Deepening Connection with Nature and Spirit

For Thầy, nature wasn’t separate from spiritual life—it was the very ground of it. He taught walking meditation as a way to arrive fully in the present moment, to touch the earth with reverence, and to recognize that we are not separate from nature but one with it.

Slowing Down

In a world obsessed with speed and productivity, Thầy offered radical permission to slow down. He taught that hurrying is a habit, not a necessity. When we rush, we miss our lives. True productivity comes from presence, not haste.

His monasteries operate on “lazy days” where no work is scheduled. Meals are eaten in silence. Walking happens slowly, deliberately. This isn’t inefficiency—it’s sanity. It’s remembering that we are human beings, not human doings.

Dealing with Anger

Thầy taught that anger is like a crying baby. You don’t ignore a crying baby or punish it—you pick it up and hold it tenderly. The same is true for anger. When anger arises, we practice: “Breathing in, I know anger is in me. Breathing out, I am taking care of my anger.”

He explained that anger often masks deeper pain—hurt, fear, misunderstanding. Mindfulness allows us to look deeply into our anger and discover what’s underneath. Then we can address the real wound rather than lashing out at others or ourselves.

He also taught that we shouldn’t act or speak when anger is strong. Return to mindful breathing, take care of the anger first, and only then communicate with the other person.

Grief and Loss

Thầy’s teaching on death and grief was rooted in his insight into interbeing and impermanence. He taught that nothing is truly born and nothing truly dies—everything transforms. A cloud never dies; it becomes rain, river, tea in your cup.

When we grieve, we practice being present with our sorrow. We don’t run from it or try to “get over it” quickly. We breathe with it, we walk with it, we acknowledge: “This is grief. It is here. I am holding it gently.”

He also taught that those we love are never truly gone—they continue in us and around us. When we breathe mindfully, when we walk peacefully, when we smile genuinely, our loved ones are breathing, walking, and smiling with us and through us.

Essential Books by Thich Nhat Hanh

Apps and Online Resources