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Thich Nhat Hanh (1926-2022): The mindful monk had said, ‘Walk as if you are kissing the Earth with your feet’
Known as the Father of Mindfulness, author, activist and Zen Buddhist monk Thich Nhat Hanh passed away on Friday at the age of 95.
After dedicating a lifetime to promote peace and compassion in the world, author, activist and Zen Buddhist monk Thich Nhat Hanh left the planet for his heavenly abode, on Friday.
The news that was shared on his Twitter account, on Saturday morning, read: “The International Plum Village Community of Engaged Buddhism announces that our beloved teacher Thich Nhat Hanh passed away peacefully at Từ Hiếu Temple in Huế, Vietnam, at 00:00hrs on 22nd January, 2022, at the age of 95.” The community also posted a link to the live streaming of the transition ceremony held by Deer Park Monastery, which is a mindfulness practice and monastic training centre founded by Hanh in California, USA.
Known as the Father of Mindfulness, he was born as Nguyen Xuan Bao in 1926. Ordained as a monk at the age of 16, he is now remembered fondly as one who introduced the concept of mindfulness to the West. Hanh also authored more than hundred books, including The Miracle of Mindfulness and Peace Is Every Step. He was fluent in speaking seven languages, and caught the attention of many, the world over, after he delivered lectures at the Princeton and Columbia universities, in the early 1960s.
“I met him in 1987, and he transformed my life,” says Shantum Seth, an ordained Dharmacharya (dharma teacher), in the Buddhist mindfulness lineage of the Zen Master. Seth shares, “For me, he was a living Buddha. He was an awakened man, trying to bring the age old teachings in a way that they are relevant to us now. He empowered us to continue on this path of awakening, and taught us throughout his life, how to overcome the concept of birth and death. Like he used to say in his words, ‘The cloud never dies... it might transform into rain or snow’; we too have to look at him from a different eye now.”
During the Vietnam War in the 1960s, Hanh had met civil rights leader Martin Luther King in the US, and also persuaded him to speak against the conflict. Subsequently, King nominated the monk for Nobel Peace Prize, describing him as, “an apostle of peace and non violence.” After opposing the war, Hanh was exiled from Vietnam, and he spread his teachings on peace and Buddhism outside his country, and soon became only second to the Dalai Lama.
On receiving the news of his death, Seth says, “It’s like our spiritual father has passed away. With him there’s associated an energy of recommitment and practise of Buddhism, but not as a religion... He was never a guru, and told us ‘You have to be your own teacher’. In such moment of poignancy in our lives, one can light a candle in the heart to pay respect to him.”
Authors tweet @HennaRakheja and @anjuri