Thich Nhat Hanh, one of the most influential Zen masters and peace movement leaders in the world today, was born on October 11, 1926 in Hue Province, Vietnam, with his common name Nguyen Xuan Bao.
He was ordained in 1949 and was named Thich Nhat Hanh.
In the 1960s, Thich Nhat Hanh organized the Youth Social Service Institute in Saigon, Vietnam, and began to participate in social movements. He spoke out against the North and South Vietnam War, organized youth, established medical centers, and helped resettle those made homeless by the war. His behavior aroused the displeasure of the Vietnamese authorities and exiled him abroad.
At this time, Thich Nhat Hanh received a scholarship from Princeton University in the United States, and then went to the United States to further his studies at Princeton University. After graduation, he was hired to teach at Cornell University and Columbia University.
He continued to promote the anti-war movement and hoped that American troops would withdraw from Vietnam. He promoted "participatory Buddhism", promoted the concept of non-violent peace, and was committed to seeking world peace. He urged the African-American leader of the American civil rights movement Martin Luther King to oppose the Vietnam War , and the two became allies.
In 1967, Martin Luther King nominated Thich Nhat Hanh as a candidate for the Nobel Peace Prize.
โI personally know of no one more valuable than this gentle monk from Vietnam,โ Martin Luther King wrote to the Norwegian Nobel Institute: โHis peaceful ideas, if received If applied, it will surely establish another monument for universal ecclesiasticalism, worldwide brotherhood, and global humanitarianism."
In 1973, the Vietnamese government refused to allow Thich Nhat Hanh to return to the country, and he was forced to go into exile in France.
In Plum Village, France, Thich Nhat Hanh established a mindfulness retreat center and temple to provide retreat camps and teach Buddhism and the art of mindful living. The Plum Village Center cleverly uses mindfulness songs and music to help practitioners feel the power of peace and tranquility and create a Zen mood.
In the nearly 30 years since then, Thich Nhat Hanh has established several "mindfulness retreat centers" in Europe and North America. Throughout his life, he has spread the thoughts of mindfulness, compassion and non-violence to the world.
At the same time, he is also a poet and writer with numerous books, and his works have been translated into more than 40 countries.
In 2014, Thich Nhat Hanh was 87 years old. One day, he suffered a sudden severe cerebral hemorrhage and was rushed to the hospital. After his condition stabilized, he has been living in Plum Village, France to recuperate.
In January 2019, Thich Nhat Hanh was 92 years old. He refused medical treatment and insisted on returning to the country of his birth, Vietnam, and lived in Gui Yuan Temple in Hue, waiting for the end of this life.
On the morning of January 22, 2022, Thich Nhat Hanh passed away at the Thi Xiao Temple in Hue, Vietnam, at the age of 95.
Thich Nhat Hanhโs classic poem:
Please call me by my real name
(This poem was written in 1978 to commemorate those who helped those who were far away from their homeland by boat during the war.-----Thich Nhat Hanh)
Donโt say that I will die tomorrow
Because until today I have been born
Please look carefully. I am born every second:
I am a bud on a spring flower branch
I am a feather The little bird with weak wings
learns to sing in the new nest
I am the caterpillar in the flower
I am the jade in the stone
For crying and laughter
For fear and hope
I have been born
The life and death of all living beings Death
is the rhythm of my heart
I am a mayfly on the water
I am a bird that pecks at mayflies in spring
I am a happy frog in a green pond
I am a grass snake that feeds on frogs
quietly launched the attack
I am A child from Uganda A skinny child
Legs as thin as bamboo poles
I am an arms dealer selling murderous weapons to Uganda
I am the twelve-year-old girl
A refugee on a small boat
After being raped by pirates
I jumped into the sea
I am the pirate
My heart has not yet learned to understand and love
I am a member of the Politburo
Holding power in my hands
I am the one
The one who must repay the blood debt to his compatriots
In the labor camp
slowly moving toward death
My happiness is like a gentle spring
It makes flowers bloom forever
My pain is a raging river of tears
It fills the four oceans
Please call me by my real name
This way I can immediately hear
all my tears and laughter
so that I can see
my joy and pain are the same
please call me by my real name
so that I can wake up
so that the compassion in my heart The door will always be open
I Have arrived
I have arrived, I am home,
in the here and in the now.
I have arrived, I am home,
in the here and in the now.
I have arrived, already Home
At this time, here
I have arrived, already at home
At this time, here
I am solid, I am free,
I am solid, I am free,
in the ultimate I dwell,
in the ultimate I dwell.
I don't move, I am at ease
I don't move, I am at ease
As it is, I dwell
As it is, I dwell
They don't publish good news,
Good news is published by us.
We have a special issue every morning,
please read it.
Read to know what's really going on.
The good news is:
You are alive,
The Bodhi tree is still there,
Standing firmly in the cold winter,
Have you seen it?
The good news is:
Your eyes are still bright and good,
You have time to appreciate the blue sky;
The fresh and beautiful child is in front of you,
You can stretch your arms to hug.
They only publish the wrong things.
They only publish negative things.
Take a look at our special issues in each issue,
We always provide good and positive good news,
I hope you will always benefit from it,
and help protect the happiness of everyone.
Dandelions are blooming on the roadside,
flowers are smiling wonderfully,
singing the song of the end.
You have ears and heart to listen,
Please fold your hands and bow your head to listen to the songs of flowers.
Let go of sorrow and prejudice,
move forward like a free man.
The latest good news is that
you have Buddha nature in your heart.
happiness,
stability,
freedom,
you and I can do it.
Take a look at our special issues in each issue
What are you recording
What are you publishing
What are you preaching
Come back to the present moment
As the Zen master often mentioned
Return to the breath of the moment
Happiness
Comfort
Freedom
Always by our side
A handful of poems, a drop of warm sunshine
The twilight is written in the sky, and the poems are sprinkled on the morning light.
Is it poetry in light, or light in poetry?
The golden crow is hidden in the fruit of Wutong,
The flowing parallel prose is steaming on the cold night soup;
The hidden wind is swirling.
Ballads once again linger in the ancient mountains and wilderness.
The scattered thatched huts are forgotten by the river, looking through the autumn water.
A spring poem, the misty rain is as light as gauze,
suddenly turns into white flames, shining on Suiren's wooden drill.
Xi's day, lurking in the heart of dry firewood,
The warm smoke in the jade furnace will engrave elegance on the title page of Spring and Autumn.
The old sun that shines all over the world, even if it is hidden in chaos,
is still filled with purple smoke and fire.
Xuanhui has faded away from the smoke, and
the poems are as quiet as the mist in the ancient city.
The spring rain is misty, scattered with little poems and essays,
falling in the dust, rustling on the leaves, and all things growing.
Bees and butterflies gather warmth from the yang essence,
spread it on their wings and scatter it on the flowers.
is heading towards the deep mountains, dense forests and dense streams.
Poetry, drinking all the honey from the cliff, celebrating the beauty of the clouds.
is the music in the light, or the colorful clothes in the music.
The rain is falling on the dry land,
poetry is flying in the furrows,
The poetry flowing in the breath is like a hoe with the moon.
The poet said: "We work without flowers and wine."
The afterglow goes away with the river, and the silhouette of
twilight lingers in Tianjie.
Poetry, flying to the distant horizon on the golden luan,
Emperor Jun disappeared in the Yunxiang of Baiyu Tower.
Cuiyang, early leek, late beetroot, and cold shepherd's purse,
Fuyang, American oyster, white goose, and orange crab.
The rising sun looks like sunflowers,
The rising sun rises into the palace, and the twinkling lotuses appear.
The sun is beautiful in the sky, and the peach blossoms are young.
The sun is thinning in the west mountains, and chrysanthemums are picked in the south mountains.
Poems, lyrics, songs, and everything in the sky are all corresponding to each other. Could they be the same?
Poems follow the footsteps of Zen practitioners,
step by step, lighting up the long night and eternity.
Carefully, cautiously,
crossed the mountains and the sea.
Poetry goes to the far distance,
In each food box,
Poetry breeds love.
Thich Nhat Hanh's 94th Birthday
For you, I am here
The core of Buddhist practice is to dwell in our present moment in such a way that we can deeply touch what is right here and available at every moment. life.
We want to be here for us; we want to be here for the people we love; we want to be here for the wonders of life.
The message of Buddhist practice is so simple and clear:
I am here for you.
Thich Nhat Hanh once wrote in his memoirs:
"When I was seven or eight years old, one day I saw an image of the Buddha in a Buddhist magazine. He was sitting on the grass, smiling peacefully. I was deeply impressed by this, No one around me had that look, and I wanted to be like him. I kept this desire until I was 16 years old, when I got my parentsโ permission to become a monk.โ
He believes that one of the most important tasks in Buddhism is. It is how to solve the suffering of contemporary people. People in every era have different pains, so the methods to relieve pain must also be different. Appropriate methods should be found to help people escape from pain and gain happiness.
People today sacrifice the present for the future. They must know that life only exists in the present. Therefore, "being at ease in the present moment" or "living happily in the present Dharma" is the most important essence of Buddhism.
America's most famous talk show queen Oprah once interviewed Thich Nhat Hanh. She recalled:
"The moment I met Thich Nhat Hanh in Manhattan , I felt his tranquility, the Zen master's There seems to be a deep peaceful atmosphere lingering around me. "
People are afraid of death. Thich Nhat Hanh wrote a book, "You Can Not Be Afraid of Death":
"Just like the clouds in the sky, when the clouds no longer appear in the sky, they disappear. It does not mean death, clouds continue to exist in other forms, such as rain, snow, or ice, so you can recognize clouds in new forms... Clouds cannot change from being to nothing, and neither can your loved ones. He is not dead, he continues to exist in many new forms, and you can look deeply and recognize him in yourself or around you."
Maybe, right now, Thich Nhat Hanh is around you and me.
(The above poems and pictures by Thich Nhat Hanh are quoted from the Internet. I am grateful to Thich Nhat Hanh and the translator. If the translator and the author of the pictures do not allow reprinting, please contact us and delete them immediately. Thank you!)
