The Heart of the Buddha's Teaching: Transforming Suffering into Peace, Joy, and Liberation

Thích Nhất Hạnh was a Buddhist monk, teacher, and author. Born in Vietnam in 1926, Thích became a monk at the age of 16. Thích was interested in making Buddhism accessible and helpful to others. Rather than remain separate from society in his monastery, he founded “Engaged Buddhism” and lived out his practice through humanitarian efforts during the country’s long civil war.

After studying and teaching in the United States at Princeton University and Columbia University in the early 1960s, the author returned to Vietnam to continue this work. Eager to help the most vulnerable in the country, he established the School of Youth and Social Service, engaging 10,000 volunteers to provide relief and aid to Vietnamese people. During this time the author also founded a new order in Buddhism, called the “Order of Interbeing,” as well as a new Buddhist University in Saigon.

In the late 1960s Thích became a public activist in the West as well, lobbying against the war in Europe and the United States. When the authorities in North and South Vietnam banned him from returning due to his activism, Thích found himself in exile from his home country. Nevertheless, he continued his work, travelling and speaking to politicians and attending the 1969 Paris Peace Talks. In the following years Thích moved to France, teaching at the Sorbonne in Paris and eventually founding a new Buddhist monastery called Plum Village in 1982.

In the decades that followed Thích continued his career as an activist, author, and artist, spreading his message of peace and mindfulness to people around the world. He also established new monasteries around the world in places such as Australia, the US, Hong Kong, Thailand, Vietnam and Germany. After suffering from a stroke and a period of declining health, he died in 2022. Today, Plum Village is renowned as the most active monastery in the West and continues to teach Buddhist practices to thousands of visitors each year.