These notes were taken by Therese Fitzgerald at a gathering in Virginia, following an ordination ceremony for eight new members of the Order of Interbeing Core Community. The Order of Interbeing…
Thich Nhat Hanh
To be beautiful means to be yourself. You don’t need to be accepted by others. You need to accept yourself.
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The Hermit and the Well
View this bookThe Hermit and the Well is a story from the time author, poet, and peace activist Zen Master Thích Nhất Hạnh was a young boy in Vietnam.
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A Lifetime of Peace
Essential Writings by and about Thich Nhat Hanh
View this bookA Lifetime of Peace follows the successful model established by A Lifetime of Wisdom: Essential Writings by and about the Dalai Lama. It draws on dozens of sources to collect...
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Friends on the Path
View this bookFriends on the Path presents some of Thich Nhat Hanh's most precious offerings on the necessity of practicing with a Sangha (spiritual community) in order to receive support and encouragement...
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The Novice Unabridged
A Story of True Love
View this bookBest-selling author and Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh transforms an ancient folktale into a timeless parable of a young woman who dares to risk her life for her faith. Born...
Articles in The Mindfulness Bell
Meditation for 1995
By Thich Nhat Hanh
May I be peaceful, happy, and light in body and in mind.May I be safe and free from accidents.May I be free from anger, unwholesome states of mind, fear, and…
Poem: The Old Mendicant
By Thich Nhat Hanh
Being rock, being gas, being mist, being Mind,being the mesons travelling among the galaxies at the speed of light,you have come here, my beloved.And your blue eyes shine, so beautiful,…
Peace Treaty
By Thich Nhat Hanh
In Order That We May Live Long and Happily Together, In Order That We May Continually Develop and Deepen Our Love and Understanding, We the Undersigned, Vow to Observe and Practice…
Hugging Meditation
By Thich Nhat Hanh
When you practice hugging meditation, before you hug someone, you breathe in, bow to him or her with respect, and say to yourself, "A lotus for you." If you have never seen a…
The Two Promises for Children
By Thich Nhat Hanh
I vow to develop understanding in order to live peacefully with people, animals, plants, and minerals. I vow to develop my compassion in order to protect the lives of people,…
International Mindfulness Network
By Thich Nhat Hanh
A Message from Thich Nhat Hanh November 2 , 1999 Plum Village, France Sharing a Practice Twelve years ago, at a retreat in Montreal, a lady told me after the first…
The Six Points Suggested by Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh on the Openness of the Vietnamese Communist Party
By Thich Nhat Hanh
The Vietnamese Communist feels at ease with the cultural traditions of Vietnam and is determined to live in such a way as to make it more beautiful day by day.The…
Poem: Please Call Me By My True Names
By Thich Nhat Hanh
Don’t say that I will depart tomorrow—even today I am still arriving. Look deeply: every second I am arrivingto be a bud on a Spring branch,to be a tiny bird,…
Poem: Contemplation
By Thich Nhat Hanh
Since the moon is full tonight,let us call upon the stars in prayer.the power of concentration, seen through the bright,one-pointed mind, is shaking the universe. All living beings are present…
Poem: Structure of Suchness
By Thich Nhat Hanh
Do not scold the little birds. We need their songs. Do not hate your own body. It is the altar for humanity's spirit. Your eyes contain the trichiliocosm, and your…
Poem: You Set Out This Morning
By Thich Nhat Hanh
You set out this morning to give the silver space a future. The phoenix spreads her wings and takes to the immense sky. The water clings to the feet of…
Gatha: Washing your hands
By Thich Nhat Hanh
Water flows over these hands.May I use them skillfully to preserve our precious planet. gatha, a short practice poem, from Thich Nhat Hanh's Stepping into Freedom (Berkeley: Parallax Press, 1997)
Poem: For Warmth
By Thich Nhat Hanh
I hold my face in my two hands.No, I am not crying.I hold my face in my two handsto keep the loneliness warm—two hands protecting,two hands nourishing,two hands preventingmy soul…
Gatha for Blessing the Offering to the Hungry
By Thich Nhat Hanh
The ways of the Awakened One are wondrous His limitless compassion transforms seven grains of rice into food enough for everyone
Poem: A Teacher Looking for His Disciple
By Thich Nhat Hanh
I have been looking for you, my child, Since the time when rivers and mountains still lay in obscurity. I was looking for you When you were still in a…
Mindfulness Practice Centers
By Thich Nhat Hanh
In Plum Village we have meditated for more than a year on how to offer mindfulness as a nonsectarian practice that can be applied in schools, hospitals, prisons, and society at large. According…
The Fourteen Mindfulness Trainings
By Thich Nhat Hanh
Thay has recently replaced the ten "precepts" (sila) with the term "mindfulness trainings" (siksa) to more accurately reflect their intention and purpose. This is a term also used by the Buddha. Thay also…
Human Relations, Human Rights
By Thich Nhat Hanh
I am more than Vietnamese. I am also a citizen of the world. We must be aware of the "interbeing" of all countries' happiness. Happiness is not an individual matter. The happiness of…
Poem: Open the Road Wider
By Thich Nhat Hanh
Hair which is the color of precious woodis now offered as incense.Beauty becomes eternity.How wonderful the awareness of impermanence! Since everything is as a dream,the true mind is determined to…
Gatha for Adjusting Posture
By Thich Nhat Hanh
Feelings come and golike clouds in a windy sky.Conscious breathingis my anchor.
The Way Ahead for Buddhism in Vietnam
By Thich Nhat Hanh
The following proposal has been offered by Thich Nhat Hanh for bringing about reconciliation between the government of Vietnam and the Vietnamese Buddhists. 1. Protecting our Nation's Nature-Heritage (Preserving our Mother's Body): As…
An Interview with Thay
By Thich Nhat Hanh
By Stanley Young During the Retreat for Environmentalists, a reporter from the Los Angeles Reader came to Camp Shalom and conducted this interview with Thay. What is your message to environmental activists?…
Poem: The Good News
By Thich Nhat Hanh
The good newsthey do not print.The good newswe do print.We have a special edition every momentthat we need you to read.The good news is that you are aliveand the linden…
The Five Wonderful Precepts
By Thich Nhat Hanh
Following the Spring Retreats, Thich Nhat Hanh re-translated the Five Precepts to express their implications more thoroughly and to rephrase the "Do not's" in a way that articulates these positive practices: …
Poem composed by Thich Nhat Hanh
By Thich Nhat Hanh
Alfred Hassler, one of the primary supporters of Thich Nhat Hanh in the American peace movement in the late 1960s and early 1970s, passed away in June. Thay and Sister Phuong…
New Mindfulness Verse
By Thich Nhat Hanh
During the Spring Lectures and Retreats, Thich Nhat Hahn has been suggesting we use this gatha: In-OutBreathing in, I know that I am breathing in.Breathing out, I know that I…