“There Is No Way To Happiness. Happiness Is The Way.” - Thich Nhat Hanh
Thay graduated from Báo Quốc Buddhist Academy and received extensive training in Mahayana Buddhism and (Vietnamese) Thiền “Zen” Buddhism. Soon after, he became a Bhikkhu, a fully ordained male, monastic, Buddhist monk. To Thay, everything is a meditation: eating, walking, seeing, speaking, breathing, and relating. With each step and each breath, we can either inch away from the depth of ourselves or be fully present to our peacefulness. In every moment, we have an opportunity to decide the fate of the next.Thich Nhat Hanh has been continually involved in the peace and nonviolence movements since his early days at Từ Hiếu. He believes veganism is vital to saving the planet and that nonviolence toward animals will inspire a more striking peace and improve the natures of our souls.
“Fear keeps us focused on the past or worried about the future. If we can acknowledge our fear, we can realize that right now we are okay. Right now, today, we are still alive, and our bodies are working marvelously. Our eyes can still see the beautiful sky. Our ears can still hear the voices of our loved ones.” - Thich Nhat Hanh
Plum Village Monastery
Thay founded a lovely, Buddhist community known as “Sweet Potato” near Paris in the 1970s, shortly after he left Vietnam. In 1982, it was time to expand into Plum Village, which began as a small, rustic farm and developed into what is now the largest Buddhist monastery in Europe.If you are serious about a daily sitting practice, a proper meditation cushion makes all the difference. *(paid link)*
The official name of the monastery is Plum Village Community of Engaged Buddhism. It’s here that Thich Nhat Hanh established his monastic order, which consists of around 600 monks and nuns in 9 monasteries across the globe. The Thich Nhat Hanh Foundation is the charitable arm of Plum Village. Thousands of Buddhists and other visitors journey to Plum Village every year, where each is nourished by the hundreds of resident monks and nuns who practice and teach Buddhism for the benefit of humankind. The primary purpose of this lovely community is to live mindfully throughout every activity. This includes eating, walking, working, relating, laughing, or sharing a cup of tea with fellow visitors from other countries. The monastery’s environment is peaceful and nourishing. In addition to serving the global, monastic Buddhist community, PlumVillage.org states that they hold many programs and retreats for laypeople, teenagers, veterans, the entertainment industry, members of Congress, law enforcement agencies, and people of color. All meals are vegetarian and delicious.“When You Touch One Thing With Deep Awareness, You Touch Everything.” - Thich Nhat Hanh
Thay’s Impressive Accomplishments
Thay was very busy in his youth, which continued throughout his life. In the early 1960s, he founded Lá Bối Press, Van Hanh Buddhist University, The Order of Interbeing (Tiep Hien Order), The Unified Buddhist Church, and the School of Youth for Social Service. The latter provided immeasurable value to Vietnam by sending young Buddhist workers to rural areas to build schools and clinics, and to help rebuild infrastructure in towns and villages. I remember the first time I sat in a silent meditation retreat that lasted several days. My body screamed—tension knotting every muscle, my nervous system firing like a live wire. Breath work became my anchor when my mind threatened to shatter. It wasn’t about chasing peace or enlightenment. It was about learning to stay with the raw, ugly chaos inside without running away. I’ve done thousands of intuitive readings, but one moment sticks with me. A client came in utterly blocked, grief stuck in their chest like concrete. We didn’t talk through it. Instead, I guided them to shake, tremble, and let their body do its own releasing. That raw, physical surrender cracked open a door where words had failed. Watching that shift reminded me how powerfully the body remembers what the mind tries to forget.Pema Chodron's When Things Fall Apart is the book I give to anyone going through a dark night. *(paid link)* I've probably bought this thing twenty times over the years, just to hand out when someone's world is crashing down. Hell, I keep a few copies stashed in different places because you never know when life's gonna sucker punch someone you care about. Pema has this way of sitting with you in the wreckage without trying to fix anything or offer bullshit platitudes about everything happening for a reason. She just says: yeah, this sucks, and here's how to be with it. No spiritual bypassing. No rushing toward the light. Just raw honesty about what it means to fall apart and still keep breathing. That's rare as hell in spiritual writing. Most teachers want to rush you past the pain, but Pema? She knows the dark is where the real work happens. She gets that trying to escape suffering just creates more suffering, so she teaches you how to lean into it instead. Wild concept, right?
Thay studied comparative religion at Princeton University, taught Buddhist psychology and other courses at his Van Hanh Buddhist University, taught comparative religion and Buddhism at Columbia University, led symposiums in Vietnamese Buddhism at Cornell University, and was a lecturer and researcher in Buddhism at the University of Sorbonne, in Paris. In short, Thay is a rock star. In 1966, he became a Dharmacharya, or “one who becomes the dharma,” from Zen Master Chân Thật. He became the head of The Từ Hiếu Pagoda and a long list of monasteries. Later, he would chair the Vietnamese Buddhist Peace Delegation. Thich Nhat Hanh has a long list of celebrity and religious followers, including Martin Luther King and Thomas Merton. After nominating Thay for a Nobel Peace Prize, King said, “I do not personally know of anyone more worthy of this prize.” When Thay visited the United States to inspire efforts toward peace in Vietnam, both North and South Vietnam denied him entry. This exile lasted 39 years. The CIA labeled Thay a political dissident. By all accounts, Thay was an unrelenting and powerful force during these years. He led the Buddhist delegation to the Paris Peace Talks in 1969.Eckhart Tolle's The Power of Now remains one of the most important spiritual books of our time. *(paid link)* Look, I get it - everyone and their guru recommends this book. But here's the thing: Tolle managed to strip away centuries of spiritual bullshit and get right to the core. No fancy Sanskrit. No complicated meditation techniques. Just the simple, brutal truth that most of our suffering comes from living everywhere except right here, right now. Think about that. The guy took enlightenment and made it accessible to people stuck in traffic jams and office meetings. That's pretty fucking impressive when you consider how many spiritual teachers make things more complicated than they need to be.
His monasteries and Dharma centers include:
- Blue Cliff Monastery in Pine Bush, NY
- The Community of Mindful Living in Berkeley, CA
- Deer Park Monastery (Tu Viện Lộc Uyển) in Escondido, CA
- Magnolia Grove (Đạo Tràng Mộc Lan) in Batesville, MS
- European Institute of Applied Buddhism in Waldbröl, Germany
- Từ Hiếu Temple in Vietnam
- Prajna Temple in Vietnam
- Additional monasteries can be found in Paris, Hong Kong, and Australia
Thich Nhat Hanh Quotes
Thay’s sweet and touching sentiments penetrate every heart who hears them. Enjoy these simple, yet raw thoughts from Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh:- “Because of your smile, you make life more beautiful.”
- “The real power of the Buddha was that he had so much love. He saw people trapped in their notions of small separate self, feeling guilty or proud of that self, and he offered powerful teachings that resounded like a lion’s roar, like a great rising tide, helping people to wake up and break free from the prison of ignorance.”
- “Many people think excitement is happiness…. But when you are excited, you are not peaceful. True happiness is based on peace.”
- “Sometimes your joy is the source of your smile, but sometimes your smile can be the source of your joy.”
- “It’s very important that we re-learn the art of resting and relaxing. Not only does it help prevent the onset of many illnesses that develop through chronic tension and worrying; it allows us to clear our minds, focus, and find creative solutions to problems.”
- “Breathing in, I calm body and mind. Breathing out, I smile. Dwelling in the present moment I know this is the only moment.”
Thich Nhat Hanh Books
Thay wrote over 100 books on mindfulness, peace, fear, death, communication, and Buddhism. Over 70% of his books are written in English. Here is a sampling from his authored works:- Vietnam: Lotus in a Sea of Fire
- Being Peace
- The Sun My Heart
- The Miracle of Mindfulness
- Peace Is Every Step: The Path of Mindfulness in Everyday Life
- Zen Keys: A Guide to Zen Practice
- The Heart Of Understanding: Commentaries on the Prajnaparamita Heart Sutra
- Living Buddha, Living Christ
- True Love: A Practice for Awakening the Heart
- The Heart of the Buddha’s Teaching
- The Miracle of Mindfulness: A Manual on Meditation
- The Path of Emancipation: Talks from a 21-Day Mindfulness Retreat
- Be Free Where You Are
- No Death, No Fear
“If you truly get in touch with a piece of carrot, you get in touch with the soil, the rain, the sunshine. You get in touch with Mother Earth and eating in such a way, you feel in touch with true life, your roots, and that is meditation. If we chew every morsel of our food in that way we become grateful and when you are grateful, you are happy.” - Thich Nhat Hanh
Living And Dying In Peace
In 2014, Thay suffered a severe stroke which left him paralyzed on his right side, and without the ability to speak. Fortunately, he can write, and often uses hand, head, and body gestures to answer questions.Rose quartz is the stone of unconditional love, keep one close when you are doing heart work. *(paid link)*
In 2017, Thay was given an honorary doctorate from The Education University of Hong Kong for his “life-long contributions to the promotion of mindfulness, peace, and happiness across the world.” In November 2018, Thay returned to the Vietnam temple where his initiation into monkhood took place, Từ Hiếu. Imagine those early days when the young Thay eagerly learned about meditation, mindfulness, and Buddhadharma from his Zen Master, Thanh Quý Chân Thật. Thay has chosen to spend his remaining days here. Throughout the years, media outlets have called Thich Nhat Hanh, “The Father of Mindfulness,” “The Other Dalai Lama” and “The Zen Master Who Fills Stadiums.” Martin Luther King Jr. said Thay was, “an apostle of peace and nonviolence."