Thich Nhat Hanh

Thich Nhat Hanh, born Nguyen Xuan Bao, lived from 11 October 1926 to 22 January 2022 and was a Vietnamese Thien Buddhist monk, peace activist, prolific author, poet and teacher who founded the Plum Village Tradition, historically recognized as the main inspiration for engaged Buddhism; known as the father of mindfulness, he was a major influence on Western practices of Buddhism. In the mid-1960s he co-founded the School of Youth for Social Services and created the Order of Interbeing, was exiled from South Vietnam in 1966 after expressing opposition to the war and refusing to take sides, and in 1967 was nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize by Martin Luther King Jr. He established dozens of monasteries and practice centers and spent many years living at Plum Village Monastery, which he founded in 1982 in southwest France near Thenac, traveling internationally to give retreats and talks; he promoted deep listening as a nonviolent solution to conflict, sought to raise awareness of the interconnectedness of environments that sustain and promote peace, and coined the term engaged Buddhism in his book Vietnam: Lotus in a Sea of Fire. After a 39-year exile he was permitted to visit Vietnam in 2005, and in 2018 he returned to his root temple, Tu Hieu Temple near Hue, where he lived until his death in 2022 at the age of 95.