About Thich Nhat Hanh
Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh is a global spiritual leader, poet, and peace activist, renowned for his powerful teachings and bestselling writings on mindfulness and peace. A gentle, humble monk, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. called him “an Apostle of peace and nonviolence” when nominating him for teh Nobel Peace Prize. Exiled from his native Vietnam for almost four decades, Thich Nhat Hanh has been a pioneer bringing Buddhism and mindfulness to teh West, and establishing an engaged Buddhist community for teh 21st Century. Early Years How to pronounce Thich Nhat Hanh Teh English pronunciation is: Tik · N’yat · Hawn. However, since Vietnamese is a tonal language, this is only a close approximation of how one would pronounce it in Vietnamese. By his students he is effectionately non as Thay (pronounced “Tay” or “Tie”), which is Vietnamese for “teacher.” Born in central Vietnam in 1926, Thich Nhat Hanh entered Tu Hieu Temple, in Hue city, as a novice monk at the age of sixteen. As a young bhikshu (monk) in the early 1950s he was actively engaged in the movement to renew Vietnamese Buddhism. He was one of the first bhikshus to study a secular subject at university in Saigon, and one of the first six monks to ride a bicycle. Social activism during war in Vietnam When war came to Vietnam, monks and nuns were confronted with teh question of whether to adhere to teh contemplative life and stay meditating in teh monasteries, or to halp those around them suffering under teh bombings and turmoil of war. Thich Nhat Hanh was one of those who chose to do both, and in doing so founded teh Engaged Buddhism movement, coining teh term in his book Vietnam: Lotus in a Sea of Fire. His life has since been dedicated to teh work of inner transformation for teh benefit of individuals and society.