Learn Buddhism: Thich Nhat Hanh

The world-famous Buddhist monk Venerable Thich Nhat Hanh passed away in January 2022 at the age of 95. He left behind a legacy of monasteries, local groups, books, and millions of followers. In this episode, I'd like to reflect on what I feel are some of his key teachings and some things that are often overlooked by Westerners about him.

Transcript

Welcome to Learn Buddhism.

I'm Alan Pedo.

In this episode,

I'd like to talk about a great Buddhist teacher,

Thich Nhat Hanh.

So Thich Nhat Hanh is a Vietnamese Buddhist monk that you are probably already familiar with through either his books,

Videos,

Or just seeing and hearing about him.

Recently,

In January of 2022,

He passed away at the age of 95 after a very long time with not just living,

But also teaching the Dharma,

The Buddhist teachings.

His teachings are of course centered in the Buddhist teachings and Vietnamese Buddhism,

But sometimes in the West we may have a particular view of what he taught,

And I'd like to talk more about that in this episode today.

To most Westerners,

Thich Nhat Hanh's teachings are mostly centered around mindfulness.

It's something he promoted quite a bit,

And so we look at that in his books,

In his teachings,

He's talking about mindfulness.

But usually what we think of as mindfulness is a very secular view,

Whereas what Thich Nhat Hanh is talking about is going to be in the Buddhist religious view.

And in Buddhism,

Mindfulness is one part of the Buddhist Noble Eightfold Path,

But it's a very important one.

Now,

As he used to say,

When you are able to fully and completely practice mindfulness,

You are essentially walking in the Buddhist footsteps.

You are a Buddha in that particular moment.

And that's a very interesting and almost reassuring outlook to this teaching,

That if we look at the Buddha and his aligned followers,

Bodhisattvas,

Other Buddhas,

We're seeing mindfulness right there.

They are fully aware of what's going on around them,

Of what things truly are.

So we have these different perceptions and assumptions about things.

And in Buddhism,

We usually talk about ignorance and also delusions.

And this ignorance is the,

I'm just ignorant of the Buddhist teachings about things like the appendorigination,

Non-self,

Karma,

Rebirth,

All these things.

We're just ignorant to that.

And as a result,

We have delusion.

We're almost like these deluded mind about the world not just we're in,

But how we perceive and interact with that world.

So what Thich Nhat Hanh is trying to teach us was mindfulness and why he pushed it so much in his teachings and readdressed it in many,

Many different ways,

Many different types of teachings he did,

Many different seminars and everything else,

Was because if we can focus on mindfulness,

This is one path that we can get towards enlightenment.

So we can remove that ignorance and delusion in our life.

And we can send this all back to the three fires or three poisons in Buddhism of ignorance,

Greed,

And hatred or anger.

And so that is what's really causing this cycle of rebirth,

Karma,

Dukkha,

Suffering,

All these things.

And so when we're able to be mindful,

Truly fundamentally mindful,

We're able to see past all of this,

But it's easier said than done,

And which is why he taught many,

Many different ways of practicing Buddhist mindfulness.

One teaching that I like from Thich Nhat Hanh is where he said,

When the energy of mindfulness is dwelling in you,

Buddha is dwelling in you.

The energy of mindfulness is the energy of Buddha.

Just think about that particular statement and teaching he just gave us.

As I said,

When you are actually truly mindful,

You are basically having that energy,

That mind of a Buddha.

And another thing that he used to say is that we are almost like part-time Buddhas.

And what he meant by that is there is a teaching that's especially reinforced in Mahayana Buddhism,

Of which Thich Nhat Hanh is part of as being part of Vietnamese Buddhism,

Is that we have something called Buddha nature.

So essentially,

We can all become Buddhas,

Fully awakened,

Enlightened Buddhas who can also teach others.

And that's very much the path in Mahayana Buddhism.

And so what he's saying is we're Buddhas right now,

But due to that ignorance,

That delusion,

That greed,

Anger,

Hatred,

We are suppressing that.

We are clouding it,

Almost like putting a blanket over it that we can't see it.

And so he's using mindfulness as a tool to help us remove that blanket so that we can become not just part-time Buddhas,

But full-time Buddhas.

Now while he taught mindfulness,

I think it's really important to reflect what Thich Nhat Hanh actually was.

And as I mentioned,

He was a Vietnamese Buddhist monk.

Now,

Vietnamese Buddhism,

And we're looking at Thich Nhat Hanh as,

And you'll see it posted quite often,

A Zen Buddhist monk.

And so Zen is the Japanese word for the meditation school in Japan,

Not Vietnam.

So it's Tien in Vietnam,

And I may be pronouncing that incorrectly,

I apologize.

But basically that is going to be the meditation school inside Vietnam,

And you also have that in China,

And you also have that in Korea as well.

So Zen is sometimes in the West,

The word we're most used to when it comes to the meditation school,

Because we were introduced to Japanese Buddhism,

Specifically Zen Buddhism in the West.

And so that's the word that we're used to,

It's easy for us to say,

And so it just got labeled to what he was.

But in Vietnamese Buddhism,

It's very similar to Chinese Buddhism because of the interactions between the two historically.

And what I mean by that is,

It's just not,

And I'm going to use of course the Japanese word,

We just use Zen Buddhism inside Vietnam,

But it's also Pure Land Buddhism.

And as we see,

Yes you can have the separate distinct schools inside Vietnam and China,

You see it intermingled quite a bit.

And so you'll have both practicing Pure Land and also meditation school as part of the same teachings and practice,

Not just of monastics but also of laypersons.

And why that's important is because Thich Nhat Hanh had a very famous retreat,

Monastery that he had inside France called Plum Village,

That is mostly related to as this Zen monastery,

And that is about mindfulness.

And what's really important is,

It's just not that,

And it's actually teaching Pure Land Buddhism,

But in a very subtle different way that Westerners are not even aware of,

But they're actually practicing it.

So when we look at things like Pure Land Buddhism,

We usually reflect on,

Oh it's the chanting,

It is about Amitama Buddha,

The Pure Land,

The West,

And all these different things,

Right?

But it's very much also about meditative concentration,

And we don't really realize that.

So yes,

There is chanting,

But there is very intense chanting,

Recitation,

Sessions related to that,

That is on par in many ways with the most intense meditation you'll probably ever do.

And why I bring this up is that we look at these books that Thich Nhat Hanh has written,

And he's written I think close to a hundred or maybe a little bit over that,

And we're used to the ones in the West that kind of speak to what we want to hear.

And he was very skillful in how he would write,

So for Westerners,

He would definitely write in a way that we could digest it and understand Buddhist teachings in a way that's subtle for us to adopt it but also still teach us about the true Buddhist teachings.

But you would also find other books where he would go into depth in many different ways about not just the meditation school but also the Pure Land school as well.

And I'll put a link to these in the description for this podcast,

So if you're interested in it,

You can definitely read it.

But we have to understand that Buddhism,

And especially Vietnamese Buddhism,

And he was a Vietnamese Buddhist monk,

Is a very rich Buddhist tradition where you are not just contained in this one particular style of teaching,

It was also broader to the Pure Land style of Buddhism as well.

Another thing that Thich Nhat Hanh was most famous for was being a peace activist,

And the reason he wasn't actually living in Vietnam for close to 40 years,

I believe,

Was because he was exiled.

And so during the Vietnam War,

He actually left to go speak about the war to try to find peace and stop the war,

And this is where he met people such as the Reverend Martin Luther King,

Where he was able to talk about the Vietnam War and have this very prominent civil rights leader that also supported him and actually nominated him for the Nobel Peace Prize,

Of all things.

Ultimately,

Because he didn't pick a side,

He was really banished from Vietnam for all this time,

And he,

Just a few years ago,

Was able to go back after his stroke.

And you would find that he was always talking about peace in many,

Many different ways,

Because he had very vivid memories of being in Vietnam during that war.

He saw a lot of death and destruction on both sides,

And with civilians and military and everything else.

And so as a Buddhist monk,

He wanted to really focus on that.

He wanted to find a way towards peace.

And so one teaching of his was this.

He said,

Peace is not simply the absence of violence.

It is the cultivation of understanding,

Insight,

And compassion combined with action.

So what he really wanted to reflect was that we can say,

Well,

I'm just not going to be violent or I'm not going to have hatred or anger,

Right?

And that's easier said than done.

You have to cultivate that understanding of yourself,

Other people,

Situations,

The insight,

And the resulting compassion that goes to that.

And that's something we don't do.

We usually have our own beliefs and perceptions that really color things and direct us in different ways.

And we may feel we are right.

And this is usually what happens.

And I think we can all say this is true for us.

We believe we are right in our particular views,

Because we don't want to understand.

We don't want to have true insight.

And as a result of that,

We don't really have compassion for that other quote,

Unquote,

Side because they don't agree with us.

And we are very sure that we are on the right side.

And so because of that,

Well,

We are in this constant cycle,

If you will.

And what he's saying is when we're able to cultivate understanding,

Insight,

And compassion,

We combine that with action towards peace.

And peace in many different ways.

And you could even say peace towards having understanding,

Insight,

And compassion.

As we start practicing that more and more and more,

That's our action.

That's the action we want to do.

We may not fully,

Of course,

Right now we're clouded in our views and everything,

But as we practice compassion,

As we just stop for a second and not try to challenge it and just listen and try to find common ground and understanding,

We find ourselves being transformed and able to thus reflect true compassion because now maybe we're able to understand a bit more and have a little bit more insight.

And this is very diplomatic and moving towards the way of peace.

Because violence,

War,

Anger,

Hatred doesn't really need to exist,

But it exists due to many things that is taught inside Buddhism as why it's occurring.

That we're,

As he said,

We're not mindful.

We're not trying to understand,

Etc.

So this was a great,

I think,

Teaching of his.

And it's something that we all as human beings have to practice in many different ways.

And we're not going to be perfect at it.

We are absolutely not a perfect species.

And Buddhism is allowing us the opportunity to reflect on that and practice and very much in a way that Thich Nhat Hanh is explaining here.

Now,

Another thing that we talked about mindfulness a lot and we talked about his efforts towards peace.

And this all you can really stem towards karma or actions.

And karma is so important in Buddhism because to really give you this high level view,

Karma,

Our intentional volitional actions is what binds us in the cycle of rebirth,

A fundamental Buddhist teaching.

The cycle of rebirth where new existences come and arise in this endless cycle is not looked at as something good in Buddhism.

Buddhists do not want to constantly come into these new existences.

And so karma is the issue basically because we are often creating unwholesome karmic actions.

And these unwholesome karmic actions are not leading us towards the path of enlightenment that the Buddha taught,

Which is known as wholesome karmic actions.

So we want to do more of the wholesome karmic actions so we can eventually become enlightened.

It's enlightened being like the Buddha and his line of followers.

They still create karma,

But it's known as karma without outflows.

So outflows are sort of like this binding or chaining us to the cycle of rebirth known as samsara,

Which is unsatisfactory dukkha,

Suffering.

And so when you're able to eventually become enlightened,

You can end that.

You can reside in your natural state of nirvana.

Now I bring all this up because Kik Nhat Hanh said,

Every thought you produce,

Anything you say,

Any action you do,

It bears your signature.

I love that because we're used to our signature,

Right?

Our signature is our signature.

That is very,

Very personal to us,

Right?

When we sign a document,

Maybe a legal document,

Right?

That's us right there.

We are signing,

We are putting ourselves essentially on that document or on that letter or on that greeting card or whatever,

Right?

It's personal,

Even though that's not our blood,

That's not really me there.

That's my personal thing.

So what he's saying is he's talking about karma,

Our thoughts,

Our speech and our actions of our body,

Right?

This is our karma and our karma is our signature.

And I'm glad he actually said this because when we think of karma,

We usually give a kind of a thousand yards stare.

Like we don't want to really talk about karma in the West.

And it seems like a very foreign concept to us,

But it's the nature of things.

And we don't like it because,

Well,

That means my actions do have consequences,

Whether that's right away or in the future or future existences.

And a lot of us,

It's too heavy for us to really contemplate.

But when we understand it to be our signature,

That makes a big difference.

So when we are signing our name in what we say,

In what we think,

In what we do,

That can help us change our behavior.

And we can combine that with mindfulness,

Right?

So when we are mindful of things,

That's going to prevent us from hopefully thinking the wrong things,

Saying the wrong things and doing the wrong things,

Unwholesome things.

Because our signature,

We want to be a strong,

Well-respected,

Good signature,

Right?

When we sign our name on something,

We want people to go,

I trust them.

I believe in them.

This is a good person or whatever.

We want wholesome things to be associated with our signature.

And in the same way in Buddhism,

We are signing our signature,

Our actions that are leading us towards this awakening.

So we become enlightened beings.

Realize our true natural state of nirvana,

Which is the blowing out of the three fires or three poisons of greed,

Anger,

And ignorance.

That's what we want because that frees us,

Unshackles us from that cycle of rebirth,

Samsara,

And suffering,

The unsatisfactory,

The suduka of that particular cause in re-becoming that existence.

So we must use mindfulness to help us as a practice in a way that can shape our karma.

And to really go on a little bit further on that,

He also said this,

My actions are my only true belongings.

Love this.

So it kind of goes on further to what he's saying.

All right,

Well,

Maybe you heard that,

You're like,

Whatever,

Right?

The only thing you really have is your actions,

That signature,

That signature,

That karma,

That is your belongings.

Your home,

Your car,

Your clothing,

Your money,

All that.

That's impermanent.

What is your true belongings,

Like what is really,

Really yours is your actions,

Your karma.

That's something you created.

That's something that you inherited.

That's something that you have.

All this other stuff,

It's tangible,

But that actions are really important because that's what you're creating.

So we look at the Buddhist teachings,

And there's many different ways through an eightfold past.

There's also the six perfections,

For example,

In Mahayana Buddhism,

That are helping us change our mind,

Transform our mind to rid it of greed,

Anger,

And ignorance,

So that we are able to have wholesome actions and eventually get to become an enlightened being,

Become a Buddha,

A full Buddha.

And this is what helps us because when we are able to change our actions,

And remember,

My actions are my only true belongings,

Right?

We're able to change our actions.

We are having belongings we are proud to own.

Would you want to have a really ugly so-and-so or whatever this is?

No.

You would want something that you are proud to own.

So your belongings should be something that's wholesome.

And you look at this with Buddhist practitioners.

They know that actions need to be wholesome.

They realize they may have a long past towards enlightenment,

But they are doing things that are in accord with the Buddhist teachings.

Maybe they're volunteering at the temple.

They are engaging in a daily practice.

They are doing sutra transcriptions.

They are doing many different things,

Charity,

Compassion,

Loving kindness,

All these different things,

As they are generating,

Cultivating good merit,

Because that is wholesome.

Belongings,

Quote unquote,

Karma,

Actions.

And that is something that you could be proud to have as your own.

But everything else that you see and you're touching all that could be,

Yes,

Of course,

A result of now as you're transforming yourself,

You're on this good path.

And of course,

You know,

That transforms your mind and how you act and maybe,

Quote unquote,

Good things happen.

But your actions are really the only thing that's truly important.

And then finally,

I like to relate this one to don't be a zombie.

So taking out how it said some people live as though they are already dead.

There are people moving around us who are consumed by their past,

Terrified of the future and stuck in their anger and jealousy.

They are not alive.

They are just walking corpses.

And he's doing a few different things here.

And so the corpses right there,

This is my interpretation of it.

But in very early Buddhism,

You would actually have monastics who would meditate in graveyards,

You know,

About impermanence and see deceased bodies to show that,

You know,

We are impermanent beings showing things like dependent origination.

And it was really meant to be a shocking thing.

So we would not have like this just as pure love of self egos like,

Hey,

We're impermanent.

We are going to die.

Look what's going to happen.

Whatever makeup or hairstyle or clothing you're wearing,

That's all eventually going to go away.

And just like Thich Nhat Hanh just said,

Your only true possessions is your actions,

Right?

Your karma.

So that's what's so important.

That's what spurs Buddhists,

Not just Buddhist monks,

But also Buddhist laypersons to cultivate that good karma.

So this circles all the way back to mindfulness is presence.

Are you present in the moment?

And we may think we are,

But usually our thoughts and our minds just drag us all around to different places.

We are so quick to react,

Not mindful of what we're doing or what we're saying or what we're even thinking.

So he's telling us,

Wake up,

Essentially,

Wake up,

Be mindful.

Don't be a zombie.

Because as I mentioned earlier,

When you are mindful,

You're a Buddha.

And for a lot of us,

We're going to be part time Buddha.

So when we are truly mindful,

When we are meditating or do meditative concentration,

Buddhist activities,

We are part time Buddhas at that particular point,

Which is fantastic.

We want to get closer and closer to being full time Buddhas.

And so it's almost like you're an employment.

You're trying to get more and more hours on this job so you can have more and more money.

In this case,

We are trying to have more and more wholesome karmic activities that lead us to transforming our mind,

Our morality,

Our conduct,

Everything else,

Towards being able to fully understand the truth,

The Dharma,

Become awakened enlightened beings and realize Nirvana.

So Thich Nhat Hanh,

One of my favorite teachers,

I love his books and the way he writes.

And of course,

I'll put some inside the description to this podcast here so you can link to them or find the titles and look for it that way.

But if you've never heard of him before,

Or maybe just a little bit,

There's plenty of videos available,

His books,

As I mentioned,

But you're going to find a community that continues on.

So even though Thich Nhat Hanh is now passed away,

So he was just like us,

A temporary grouping of things called the five aggregates.

And so he ended at that particular point,

But his actions went on.

And what I like to say is that,

Yes,

It's sad that we've lost a wonderful teacher of Buddhism.

We don't have him anymore to create new content,

So to speak,

And we don't can hear him again,

Just like if a family member would were to have left,

But he continues on.

So someone truly doesn't die if we don't forget them and we don't follow their teachings.

So looking at what he taught,

And what he told us to focus on and to practice.

When we are understanding Thich Nhat Hanh's teachings,

We're practicing mindfulness,

We're not being zombies,

We're trying to help with peace in our world.

This is our continuation for Thich Nhat Hanh.

He is going to go on to a new existence,

Not reincarnation,

But his karmic activities is going on to a new incarnation.

We may be lucky enough to see the next version,

Quote,

Unquote,

Of Thich Nhat Hanh coming up,

But we may not recognize him as that or her as that.

And so what we can do is move further on this path with what he has taught us,

And he will be with us side by side in that spirit,

If you will,

When we are practicing what he taught.

Do you have any questions about Thich Nhat Hanh or about Buddhism?

I'd like to hear from you.

You can send me a message from my website,

Alanpedo.

Com.

Send a voice message to this podcast,

Or if you're on Spotify,

You can actually reply to the podcast there.

And I look forward to talk with you in our next episode as we'll go more into some other Buddhist teachings.

Thank you.

Reviews

Succinct, prfound snd practical summation of where we find ourselves and what to do
Thank you 🙏

Good description of the life and works of Thich Nhat Hanh.

I love this, thank you. Thich Nhat Hanh’s teachings changed my whole life view. My teacher of all teachers🙏 His talks on the Plum Village app have literally rocked my world. Would love to know more about the books you are referring too. Thank you 🙏

I learned and thank you!

Very helpful. The points you made were all quite thought provoking. I will be bookmarking this one. 🙏