Thích Nhất Hạnh (b.1926) is a Vietnamese Zen Buddhist monk and a peace activist. He is one of the greatest contemporary Buddhist teachers and is the founding father of the Engaged Buddhism movement.
Born Nguyen Xaun Bao in central Vietnam, Nhất Hạnh became a monk at the age of sixteen. During the Vietnam War, he coined the term Engaged Buddhism to describe the antiwar movement in his country. He left his monastery and became actively engaged in helping victims of the war and publicly advocating peace. He organized rescue missions to save the “boat people” fleeing Vietnam in the 1970s. However, his anti-war activism made him unpopular with the powers that be, and he was forced into exile. In 1967, he was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Nhất Hạnh is considered by many to be the father of mindfulness in the West. He lives in exile now in Plum Village, a retreat center in southern France where he teaches, writes, and gardens. He has taught meditation to thousands of followers in the West.
He is the author of many books of poetry and prose on Engaged Buddhist themes. His notable works include Walking in the Footsteps of the Buddha (1987,) Peace Is Every Step (1992,) Living Buddha, Living Christ (1997,) Being Peace (2005,) How to Love (2014,) and The Heart of the Buddha’s Teaching (2015.)
In his writings, Nhất Hạnh stresses the oneness or “interbeing” of all existence, mindfulness in daily life, and service and nonviolent activism on behalf of those suffering tyranny and injustice.
More: Wikipedia • READ: Works by Thich Nhat Hanh
Water flows from high in the mountains
Water runs deep in the Earth
Miraculously, water comes to us,
And sustains all life.
—Thich Nhat Hanh
Topics: Water
When we say, “I take refuge in the Buddha,” we should also understand that “The Buddha takes refuge in me,” because without the second part the first part is not complete. The Buddha needs us for awakening, understanding, and love to be real things and not just concepts. They must be real things that have real effects on life. Whenever I say, “I take refuge in the Buddha,” I hear “the Buddha takes refuge in me”.
—Thich Nhat Hanh
The miracle is not to walk on water. The miracle is to walk on the green earth in the present moment, to appreciate the peace and beauty that are available now.
—Thich Nhat Hanh
Topics: Earth, Water, Live, Feel
Each thought, each action in the sunlight of awareness becomes sacred. In this light, no boundary exists between the sacred and the profane… sitting at the table with other people, we have the chance to offer an authentic smile of friendship and understanding. It is very easy, but not many people do it. To me, this is the most important practice. We look at each person and smile … .
—Thich Nhat Hanh
Live your daily life in a way that you never lose yourself. When you are carried away with your worries, fears, cravings, anger, and desire, you run away from yourself and you lose yourself. The practice is always to go back to oneself.
—Thich Nhat Hanh
In order to rally people, governments need enemies. They want us to be afraid, to hate, so we will rally behind them. And if they do not have a real enemy, they will invent one in order to mobilize us.
—Thich Nhat Hanh
Topics: Government
Meditation is not to escape from society, but to come back to ourselves and see what is going on. Once there is seeing, there must be acting.
With mindfulness, we know what to do and what not to do to help.
—Thich Nhat Hanh
Topics: Meditation
If we are too busy, if we are carried away every day by our projects, our uncertainty, our craving, how can we have the time to stop and look deeply into the situation-our own situation, the situation of our beloved one, the situation of our family and of our community, and the situation of our nation and of the other nations?
—Thich Nhat Hanh
Topics: Reflection
Feelings, whether of compassion or irritation, should be welcomed, recognized, and treated on an absolutely equal basis; because both are ourselves. The tangerine I am eating is me. The mustard greens I am planting are me. I plant with all my heart and mind. I clean this teapot with the kind of attention I would have were I giving the baby Buddha or Jesus a bath. Nothing should be treated more carefully than anything else. In mindfulness, compassion, irritation, mustard green plant, and teapot are all sacred.
—Thich Nhat Hanh
Topics: Action
Life can be found only in the present moment. The past is gone, the future is not yet here, and if we do not go back to ourselves in the present moment, we cannot be in touch with life.
—Thich Nhat Hanh
But if we have the energy of compassion and loving kindness in us, the people around us will be influenced by our way of being and living.
—Thich Nhat Hanh
Topics: Compassion
If in our daily life we can smile, if we can be peaceful and happy, not only we, but everyone will profit from it. This is the most basic kind of peace work.
—Thich Nhat Hanh
Topics: Peace, Joy, Smile
The practice of peace and reconciliation is one of the most vital and artistic of human actions.
—Thich Nhat Hanh
Topics: Peace
Hatred and fear blind us. We no longer see each other. We see only the faces of monsters, and that gives us the courage to destroy each other.
—Thich Nhat Hanh
Topics: Courage
It is possible to live happily in the here and now. So many conditions of happiness are available—more than enough for you to be happy right now. You don’t have to run into the future in order to get more.
—Thich Nhat Hanh
Of all the ways you can think of, none has a sixteenth part of the value of lovingkindness. Lovingkindness is a freedom of the heart which takes in all the ways. It is luminous, shining, blazing forth.
—Thich Nhat Hanh
Topics: Kindness
May our heart’s garden of awakening bloom with hundreds of flowers.
—Thich Nhat Hanh
Topics: Gardening
Whatever you can do, do it today and then old age will be a delicious fruit.
—Thich Nhat Hanh
When you plant lettuce, if it does not grow well, you don’t blame the lettuce. You look into the reasons it is not doing well. It may need fertilizer, or more water, or less sun. You never blame the lettuce. Yet if we have problems with our friends or our family, we blame the other person. But if we know how to take care of them, they will grow well, like lettuce. Blaming has no positive effect at all, nor does trying to persuade using reason and arguments. That is my experience. No blame, no reasoning, no argument, just understanding. If you understand, and you show that you understand, you can love, and the situation will change.
—Thich Nhat Hanh
Topics: Arguments, Blame, Understanding
If we are peaceful, if we are happy, we can smile and blossom like a flower, and everyone in our family, our entire society, will benefit from our peace.
—Thich Nhat Hanh
In true dialogue, both sides are willing to change.
—Thich Nhat Hanh
Topics: Change
If we are not empty, we become a block of matter.
We cannot breathe, we cannot think.
To be empty means to be alive, to breathe in and to breathe out.
We cannot be alive if we are not empty.
Emptiness is impermanence, it is change.
We should not complain about impermanence,
because without impermanence, nothing is possible.
—Thich Nhat Hanh
Topics: Rationality
Though we all have the fear and the seeds of anger within us, we must learn not to water those seeds and instead nourish our positive qualities — those of compassion, understanding, and loving kindness.
—Thich Nhat Hanh
If you look deeply into the palm of your hand, you will see your parents and all generations of your ancestors. All of them are alive in this moment. Each is present in your body. You are the continuation of each of these people.
—Thich Nhat Hanh
When we come into contact with the other person, our thoughts and actions should express our mind of compassion, even if that person says and does things that are not easy to accept. We practice in this way until we see clearly that our love is not contingent upon the other person being lovable.
—Thich Nhat Hanh
Topics: Compassion, Kindness
Our notions of happiness entrap us. We forget that they are just ideas. Our idea of happiness can prevent us from actually being happy. We fail to see the opportunity for joy that is right in front of us when we are caught in a belief that happiness should take a particular form.
—Thich Nhat Hanh
Some people live as though they are already dead. They are people moving around who are consumed by their past, terrified of their future, and stuck in their anger and jealousy. They are not alive; they are just walking corpses.
—Thich Nhat Hanh
Your true home is in the here and the now. It is not limited by time, space, nationality, or race. Your true home is not an abstract idea. It is something you can touch and live in every moment. With mindfulness and concentration, the energies of the Buddha, you can find your true home in the full relaxation of your mind and body in the present moment. No one can take it away from you. Other people can occupy your country, they can even put you in prison, but they cannot take away your true home and your freedom.
—Thich Nhat Hanh
To educate people for peace, we can use words or we can speak with our lives.
—Thich Nhat Hanh
Topics: Peace
Smile, breathe and go slowly.
—Thich Nhat Hanh
We have more possibilities available in each moment than we realize.
—Thich Nhat Hanh
There is no way to happiness, happiness is the way.
—Thich Nhat Hanh
Topics: Happiness
If you are motivated by loving kindness and compassion, there are many ways to bring happiness to others right now, starting with kind speech.
—Thich Nhat Hanh
Topics: Compassion
People deal too much with the negative, with what is wrong. Why not try and see positive things, to just touch those things and make them bloom?
—Thich Nhat Hanh
Topics: Optimism
In April, we cannot see sunflowers in France, so we might say the .sunflowers do not exist. But the local farmers have already planted thousands of seeds, and when they look at the bare hills, they may be able to see the sunflowers already. The sunflowers are there. They lack only the conditions of sun, heat, rain and July. just because we cannot see them does not mean that they do not exist.
—Thich Nhat Hanh
The most precious gift we can offer others is our presence. When mindfulness embraces those we love, they will bloom like flowers.
—Thich Nhat Hanh
Topics: Listening, Attention
Sometimes your joy is the source of your smile, but sometimes your smile can be the source of your joy.
—Thich Nhat Hanh
Topics: Smile
People usually consider walking on water or in thin air a miracle. But I think the real miracle is not to walk either on water or in thin air, but to walk on earth. Every day we are engaged in a miracle which we don’t even recognize: a blue sky, white clouds, green leaves, the black, curious eyes of a child—our own two eyes. All is a miracle.
—Thich Nhat Hanh
If love is in our hearts, every thought, word, and deed can bring about a miracle.
—Thich Nhat Hanh
We really have to understand the person we want to love. If our love is only a will to possess, it is not love. If we only think of ourselves, if we know only our own needs and ignore the needs of the other person, we cannot love.
—Thich Nhat Hanh
Topics: Love
Wondering Whom to Read Next?
The 14th Dalai Lama Tibetan Buddhist Religious Leader
Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche Tibetan Buddhist Teacher
Sakyong Mipham Tibetan Buddhist Religious Leader
D. T. Suzuki Japanese Buddhist Philosopher
Taisen Deshimaru Japanese Buddhist Teacher
Mary Manin Morrissey American Christian Religious Leader
Joseph Goldstein American Buddhist Teacher
Pema Chodron American Buddhist Nun
Yogaswami of Jaffna Sri Lankan Hindu Religious Leader
L. Ron Hubbard American Scientologist Religious Leader