Thich Nhat Hanh
    - in the footsteps of the Buddha

“In 2006 as the Vietnamese Buddhist master Thich Nhat Hanh ( pronounced ‘Tik Not Haan’) celebrated his 80th birthday, I immersed myself in the writings and voice of this great monk, poet, writer and peace activist. Here I reflect on his life and works. Thich is a Vietnamese title for Buddhist monks and means ‘belonging to Shakya (Shakyamuni Buddha)’. Nhat means ‘one’ and Hanh means ‘move or action’. Thich Nhat Hanh is the name he was given upon his ordination as a monk. His own name is Nguyen Xuan Bao. In this article, we will call him Thay (pronounced ‘Tai’) as his friends and disciples do. Thay (‘master’ or ‘teacher’) is a respectful title for Vietnamese Buddhist monks.
Thay was born in the province of Quang Tri in Central Vietnam (Thura Thien) on 11 October 1926, during a period Vietnam was under French colonial rule. His biographer Sister Annabel Laity cites two incidents which attracted the boy to Buddhism. First he was impressed by a picture of the Buddha seated in meditation. Second, one day he walked up a mountain to look for a hermit who lived in a cave, bur the cave was empty: instead Thay’s attention was drawn to the sound and joy of of spring water which he drank as he was thirsty. Thay then told his classmates that he had decided to become a monk. At the age of 16, he entered the monastery of Tu Hieu located on a hill amid pine forests a few miles south of the historical town of Hue (Hue was the capital of Vietnam in the 19th century and the historical monuments of this city were recognised as a World Cultural Heritage by UNESCO in 1993) Tu Hieu (‘Loving Kindness as Filial Piety’) monastery was built in the late 19th century by the Royal family and belongs to the Lam Te Dhyana School (called Lin Chin Chan in Chinese and Rinzal Zen in Japanese). It is still an active Buddhist temple and monastery in Vietnam...”

The article briefly covers the history of Buddhism in Vietnam and Thay’s biography, including his involvement in establishing Buddhist centres across the US and in France. Written by Rasoul Sorkabi, the story is continued in the February 2007 issue of Yoga & Health.