Each Friday, we share three topical longreads in our Weekend Reader newsletter. This week, Lion's Roar magazine's deputy editor Andrea Miller reflects on her time spent with Thich Nhat Hanh in celebration of his 92nd birthday. Sign up here to receive the Weekend Reader in your inbox. The last time I saw Thich Nhat Hanh was not too long before his stroke. It was in 2013, [...]
The Life of Thich Nhat Hanh
Zen master, peace activist, teacher of mindful living — he is one of the most important spiritual leaders of our time. His teachings are clear, profound, and original. He addresses the personal and global challenges we all face. He has brought dharma to millions and helped define Buddhism for the modern world. Lindsay Kyte tells the story of what is perhaps his greatest [...]
On his 92nd birthday, a Thich Nhat Hanh post-stroke update
The monks and nuns of Thich Nhat Hanh's Plum Village community in France today issued an update on the current state of the Vietnamese teacher of Zen and mindfulness's life and health after suffering a stroke in late 2014. The piece was written in acknowledgement of Thich Nhat Hanh's 92nd birthday on October 11, and refers to him throughout as "Thay," by which he's [...]
Listening Deeply for Peace
Without deep listening and gentle loving speech it is very difficult to move towards peace. Peace will only become a reality, says Thich Nhat Hanh, when world leaders come to negotiations with the ability to hear the suffering at the root of all conflicts. A traditional Vietnamese Zen garden is very different from a Japanese Zen garden. Our Zen gardens, called hon non bo, [...]
5 Practices for Nurturing Happiness
"The essence of our practice can be described as transforming suffering into happiness," says Thich Nhat Hanh. Here, he offers five practices to nourish our happiness daily. We all want to be happy and there are many books and teachers in the world that try to help people be happier. Yet we all continue to suffer. Therefore, we may think that we’re “doing it wrong.” Somehow [...]
What Do You Put in Your Mind?
Just as you consume food, you consume media. And like food, some media is wholesome and some is unhealthy. Sister True Dedication on why you need to pay attention to what nourishes your mind. You may take care of your body with a healthy and ethical diet, and perhaps a balanced program of exercise. But do you have a similarly intentional diet for your mind? We all want [...]
The Cage Fight in My Head
From a young age, Cameron Conaway was trained to channel rage into violence. Years later, he learned he could transform his anger into something else. Trigger warning: abuse. For many years, my childhood abuse simmered as rage within me at all times. Memories of feeling helpless and neglected haunted me. I couldn’t stop them from replaying in my mind and I didn’t have the [...]
Finding Peace after a Lifetime of War
Vietnam Veteran Claude Anshin Thomas shares how he learned to live with the past by living intensely in the present. From the Lion's Roar archive, originally published in the November 1993 Shambhala Sun. I would like you to think about rain. Close your eyes, and think about rain, and the thoughts and feelings it brings up in you. I want to share with you what happens to me [...]
Rest in the River
Resting is a very importance practice, says Thich Nhat Hanh. Our physical body needs rest to restore itself, and our consciousness is no different. My dear friends, suppose someone is holding a pebble and throws it in the air and the pebble begins to fall down into a river. After the pebble touches the surface of the water, it allows itself to sink slowly into the [...]
Thich Nhat Hanh on Walking Meditation
The practice of mindful walking, says Thich Nhat Hanh, is a profound and pleasurable way to deepen our connection with our body and the earth. We breathe, take a mindful step, and come back to our true home. Read on and learn how to. Many of us walk for the sole purpose of getting from one place to another. Now suppose we are walking to a sacred place. We would walk [...]
