By Adam Grant
In 1945 Thich received the 10 precepts of a Buddhist novice. A couple years later, he was sent to stay at the Bao Quoc Institute of Buddhist Studies, located nearby in Hue. Influenced by progressive Buddhist magazines, Thich was beginning to feel that a change towards a more “socially conscious” Buddhism was needed, meaning more work towards transforming the broader environment and conditions in society. Thich devoted his life to this great endeavor of "Engaged Buddhism."
Thich spent some years writing high-profile articles to reinvigorate Vietnamese Buddhism and remind Vietnam of the strength of its Buddhist heritage. The articles were very influential and popular in Vietnam. The next year he was appointed Editor-in-Chief of Vietnamese Buddhism, the magazine of the National Buddhist Association, and penned many articles to bolster community and camaraderie between Buddhists in the communist North Vietnam and those in the US-allied South.
In 1961, Thich came to Princeton on a scholarship to study Comparative Religion. After practicing, studying, and teaching in Buddhist temples almost his whole life, it was surprisingly here that he said, “I truly tasted, for the first time, the peace of dwelling happily in the present moment” (dṛṣṭadharmasukhavihāra). He also said, “I can say now that it was in the West that I realized my path.” After a year at Princeton, he went to Columbia University to continue his research, creating an unprecedentedly extensive Buddhist collection in the Butler Library.
Thich went back to Vietnam to continue social work and then in 1966 departed again for America to do peace-activism work. The day of his departure, he was exiled by the Vietnamese government and denounced on Vietnamese radio and in newspapers. A couple years before this, he had also been denounced by the American Press, who labeled him a pro-communist propagandist. Many in America disagreed with this, of course.
Martin Luther King, Jr., a fellow apostle of peace and nonviolence, was one who deeply sympathized with Thich’s mission, and he would go on to nominate Thich for the Nobel Peace Prize. They corresponded through mail, and both belonged to an organization working to bring peaceful resolution to groups in conflict, called the Fellowship of Reconciliation. They were able to meet in Chicago in 1966. Thich said that King was a living embodiment of the Christian spiritual tradition and a source of great inspiration for him. In Vietnam many regarded King as a Boddhisattva, a spiritual person who works for the good of mankind rather than disappearing from society and/or the world. Thich was very glad he was able to convey his countrymen's esteem and love to King in person, especially since the tragedy of King's assassination occurred only a couple months later. It is fortunate that these two men were given the opportunity of brotherhood and friendship.
Thich was lecturing and researching at the University of Sorbonne, Paris around the time that he established a center of practice on farmland in southwest France. They planted 1,250 plum trees and the center became known as Plum Village. Here, Thich wrote numerous books, translated important Buddhist texts, and lovingly instructed many young monastics and disciples. Today, Plum Village is the West’s largest Buddhist monastery.
Thich Nhat Hanh’s exile from Vietnam lasted for 39 years until finally he was permitted to visit in 2005. Then in 2018 he returned to his root temple, Tu Hieu Temple, where he stayed until his passing on January 22, 2022. His life is decorated with the finest qualities of character, and contemplating such a life is sure to carry the mind above the attraction to material wealth and comforts.
Sources used:
https://plumvillage.org/about/thich-nhat-hanh/thich-nhat-hanh-full-biography/
https://plumvillage.org/about/thich-nhat-hanh/biography/
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