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Call Him by our True Names. Thay continues
David
A human residing in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. Ancestral territory of the Erie, Haudenosaunee, Huron-Wendat, Mississauga and Neutral First Nations Veteran
The International Plum Village Community of Engaged Buddhism announces that our beloved teacher Thich Nhat Hanh has passed away peacefully at Từ Hiếu Temple in Huế, Vietnam, at 00:00hrs on 22nd January, 2022, at the age of 95. We invite our global spiritual family to take a few moments to be still, to come back to our mindful breathing, as we together hold Thay in our hearts in peace and loving gratitude for all he has offered the world.
More official news will be coming shortly.
Please sign up for email updates here: https://bit.ly/3fJx7pd
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For any interested there is a youtube live stream in about 4 hours from now.
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/01/21/world/asia/thich-nhat-hanh-dead.html
I'm extremely saddened by the news even though he died peacefully after a long, amazing life. He was an inspiring person who did a lot to bridge sectarian divides and connect with people on a deep level without prosthelytizing, and will be missed by many. And he definitely helped me to cultivate my own spiritual maturity and inspired me to focus more on my relationships with people and what connects us rather than on debates and arguments about who's more right. He was all about the praxis of peace, and was a big inspiration to me along with other spiritually guides like MLK Jr. I'm glad his teachings and examples are so widely available, though, and hope that they continue to make a positive impact on the world. He was truly a buddha and saint if ever one existed.
Sad to see him go, despite all the ways in which he continues.
https://www.lionsroar.com/thich-nhat-hanh-zen-teacher-who-popularized-mindfulness-in-the-west-dead-at-95/
Thay was an amazing human being and a great teacher. "Living Buddha, Living Christ" was one of the first Buddhist books I ever read. May he be reborn into Nirvana 🙏🙏🙏
Just a few days ago I decided to start listening to his teachings again, as well as the teachings of other Plum Village monastics. He has had a huge impact on my life and has brought me back to Buddhism more than once. I used to have thoughts about whether anyone else can carry his teachings forward but seeing how many people all around the world, monastics or not, share their memories of him and his teachings now, I see he continues. I certainly feel melancholic but not really sad, because he lived such a purposeful life and brought so much peace into this world and he lives on in that peace. 🙏
Last night I received the news through an email from Shambhala Publications. They shared the following excerpt from his book, You are Here, which will be an upcoming must-read.
May deepest respects. To reach 95 years of age and having been able to do so many positive things and even prepare himself to face the ultimate end at his root temple for the last 3 years.
"Maybe we too are living like dead people. We move about life in our own corpse because we are not touching life in depth. We live a kind of artificial life, with lots of plans, lots of worries and anger. Never are we able to establish ourselves in the here and now and live our lives deeply. We have to wake up! We have to make it possible for the moment of awareness to manifest. This is the practice that will save us—this is the revolution."
Well said and quoted @Kotishka
Now dead I feel he can be canonised by the Pope. About time the Roman Church became more Catholic as was @Thay in his Dharma …
https://cundi.weebly.com/crazies.html
Buddhist dies?
Time for cake!
Thich Nhat Hanh on Birth & Death
Thich Nhat Hanh Memorial Ceremony Day 2 ... Live from Hue, Vietnam | 2022 01 23
I saw the old video of a young Thay teaching walking meditation to a crowd which @shoshin1 posted in @lobster’s walking thread, it really resonated with me. Thay seems to be everywhere these days.
Especially in our mindful breathing and walking.
So long as we remember and revere, He still lives.
It's funny.
Thays' transition struck me more than I thought it would. We knew it was coming for some time now and he was where he wanted to be when it happened.
It seems like it brought up a bit of unresolved grief from the past. I had to take a few "moments" to myself at work. I can't call in over it because I work in a retirement home and we are short staffed and just got out of outbreak status yesterday that started on January 1st.
It would be nice to be able to take this week off as the Sangha has had live sessions every day since Saturday but they are either very early morning or in the evening when I am working. I get home just after midnight.
I tried to get on this morning as it is my day off today but my body would not let me up after a 5 hour sleep. At least I can go on this evening and finally see and practice with others from my tradition live during this time of transition.
Witnessing the emotion in Brother Phap Huu and seeing the eyes of Sister Chan Khong... I don't see how I have the right to feel this deeply. Maybe it's because I an unable (so far) to be with the Sangha or maybe it's because of the past grief rising to the occasion.
I know Thay has not really gone anywhere and seeing that brings happiness but I still am uncomfortable without sangha contact and am almost fearing Friday evening when I get to miss the funeral.
It is good to see the ceremonies are all on youtube. I found this quite moving…
I’m not sure when the casket is closed but this may be one of the few opportunities to still see Thay’s body.
The funeral and cremation is Friday. 7 pm, EST (That's my time zone)
The funeral procession and cremation ceremony
The closing ceremony
I've been watching the ceremonies this week, really beautiful and moving. So many people showing their dedication and love.
I also really appreciated these broadcasts. Not only because of the healing and closure they provide for the community but also for the amount of care put in them, the camera work and commentary from Plum Village monastics (with various translations). They've been really great at including the global community.
Yawn! [oops]
Oh no! You didn't watch his film did you?
I’ve found it heartwarming that somewhere in the world a monk like Thay gets a send-off like this. He deserves the honour they give him, he was a special teacher. And I agree, the involvement of the Plum Village monastics has really helped to make the funeral accessible to the rest of the world, its been very good.
Thich Nhat Hanh's ceremony is why I am here today. He did not start me on the path but there are times when we come to a cross roads where we must choose. Sometimes it is just the breeze that decides for us but where did the breeze arise from and why did it reach us just as we approached this part of the path? We carry forward what has been given to us from the past.
As long as it is a useful raft, ride it. There comes a time when even that which is useful, needs to be let go of.
Cast no attachment to the passing of this monk. Rather celebrate his supposed re-birth into some wonderful continuation. If you herald his triumph, he has not died.
Continue...
I was able to join in live with my Sangha after all. I ended up pinching a nerve in my neck on the Wednesday so had to take Thursday and Friday off. Since it was my weekend off as well I was able to spend extra time with the group.
I can't help but wonder if I did it subconsciously. I know I needed to be with them and we tuned in through our live zoom feed so we attended as our branch.
We've been having daily zooms along with our regular sits since the ceremony and though I have only been able to attend a couple, they help. I pretty much stay silent because there are people that need to speak and even though it is through a computer screen, I know from experience that it helps when the Sangha listens deeply.
Whenever I've lost anyone, it was reading and watching videos of Thays teachings that helped me through. Now that he has made this transition, it is easy to see him in everything and it helps me see everybody else a bit more clearly. Because I can tell that he is everywhere, I can more easily see my loved ones that have passed in everything.
He often said the next Buddha could be the Sangha. That one Buddha is not enough. We are his continuation just as he was a continuation of his blood and spiritual ancestry.
We owe it to ourselves to see ourselves more clearly.
Well said @David
Zoom. Zoom.
Lovely as lovely gets. The resident community at Plum Village, founded by Thich Nhat Hanh in Plum Village, France, in a stirring recording of the Namo’valokiteshvaraya chant of compassion (recorded in autumn 2020), in honor of the passing of their world-beloved teacher. It’s a 22-minute musical meditation, with weaving voices, violin and percussion:
They are having a few days of online retreat at Plum Village in honour of receiving Thays ashes, which will then be scattered on the 49th day. You can register here:
https://plumvillage.org/retreats/info/coming-going-in-freedom/
https://product.soundstrue.com/thich-nhat-hanh-memorial/?utm_source=Facebook&utm_medium=Organic&utm_campaign=ThichMemorial&fbclid=IwAR0QO3cMsiFtVj3YoNKF_gDfsvK_rm2PpJKyenZLctSNC6QwuDooknhxDRI