Plum Village, France
10:30pm 21st January, 2022
Dear Beloved Community,
With a deep mindful breath, we announce the passing of our beloved teacher, Thay Nhat Hanh, at 00:00hrs on January 22, 2022 at Từ Hiếu Temple in Huế, Vietnam, at the age of 95.
Thay has been the most extraordinary teacher, whose peace, tender compassion, and bright wisdom has touched the lives of millions. Whether we have encountered him on retreats, at public talks, or through his books and online teachings–or simply through the story of his incredible life–we can see that Thay has been a true bodhisattva, an immense force for peace and healing in the world. Thay has been a revolutionary, a renewer of Buddhism, never diluting and always digging deep into the roots of Buddhism to bring out its authentic radiance.
Thay has opened up a beautiful path of Engaged and Applied Buddhism for all of us: the path of the Five Mindfulness Trainings and the Fourteen Mindfulness Trainings of the Order of Interbeing. As Thay would say, “Because we have seen the path, we have nothing more to fear.” We know our direction in life, we know what to do, and what not to do to relieve suffering in ourselves, in others, and in the world; and we know the art of stopping, looking deeply, and generating true joy and happiness.
Now is a moment to come back to our mindful breathing and walking, to generate the energy of peace, compassion, and gratitude to offer our beloved Teacher. It is a moment to take refuge in our spiritual friends, our local sanghas and community, and each other.
We invite you to join our global community online, as we commemorate Thay’s life and legacy with five days of practice and ceremonies broadcast LIVE from Hue, Vietnam and Plum Village, France, starting on Saturday January 22nd. Please see our website for more details coming shortly: www.plumvillage.org/memorial
Let us each resolve to do our best over the coming days to generate the energy of mindfulness, peace, and compassion, to send to our beloved Teacher.
Over the coming hours on the Plum Village website, we will publish some inspirational chants, texts, and mindfulness practice resources, to support you to come together with your local sangha to generate a collective energy of mindfulness and compassion, and create your own ceremony or session in tribute to our Teacher. As Thay has always taught, nothing is more important than brotherhood and sisterhood, and we all know the power of collective energy.
We invite you to share your messages of gratitude or personal transformation and healing on our website: plumvillage.org/gratitude-for-thich-nhat-hanh
With love, trust, and togetherness,
The Monks and Nuns of Plum Village, France
Gracias, Maestro, por su amor incondicional y enseñanzas.
Desde niña lo sigo y me ha ayudado a entender muchas cosas.
Gracias y hasta pronto!
Rest in peace Thay. 🤍
A cloud never dies. You will live forever in me Thay. Forever grateful for your teachings. As your student, I take a solemn vow today to try and do my best to continue your teachings through me, share your message on mindfulness, self-awareness and compassion with as many lives as I can touch in my lifetime; just how you touched mine and changed it forever.
Love, prayers and immense gratitude from Arunachal Pradesh, India.
From Thay’s “At home in the world”:
This body of mine will disintegrate, but my actions will continue me. In my daily life, I always practice to see my continuation all around me. We don’t need to wait until the total dissolution of this body to continue—we continue in every moment. If you think that I am only this body, then you have not truly seen me. When you look at my friends, you see my continuation. When you see someone walking with mindfulness and compassion, you know he is my continuation. I don’t see why we have to say “I will die,” because I can already see myself in you, in other people, and in future generations.
Even when the cloud is not there, it continues as snow or rain. It is impossible for a cloud to die. It can become rain or ice, but it cannot become nothing. The cloud does not need to have a soul in order to continue. There’s no beginning and no end. I will never die. There will be a dissolution of this body, but that does not mean my death. I will continue, always.
This brings me such peace…..Thank you
Thank you Tay for your Words and your smile have helped me so much at difficult times.
Thank you for your wisdom and your kindness, Thay. He will always be in my heart and in each mindful breath I take.
Thank you for your wisdom and your kindness, Thay. You will always be in my heart and in each mindful breath I take.
Dear Thay, I am greatful that your loving wisdom entered in my life and I know that you peacefully go on walking on your path to eternal impermancence and interbeing with a smile on your lips.
REST IN PEACE THAY
So grateful for your teachings. To think of you brings me peace. RIP THAY.
Rest In Peace Dearest Thay. You have been my guide and Mentor. Thank you for the light of wisdom you have shone in our minds. May we follow your teachings and guidance.
You have been an inspiration, Rest in Peace Thay! 💕❤️❤️❤️
I,m so gratefull to had the opportunity to be in contact with your Books ,your advices and your Community ,Thank you very much
Thank you, Thay, for showing me light, teaching me the path, inspiring me to heal suffering of all living things, especially the earth, and to be present for every sunset. Your words found me at my very darkest moment and guided me out of the shadows. Your presence and your wisdom remain with and through all of us.
Since my introduction to you in 2014, I carry your words, books, teachings, practices, with me till this day.
And now, with gratitude, love, warmth, comfort and peace in my heart, I carry you too.
You will always be at home in my heart.
Thank you for everything Thay. 🌻
Go well my brother. 🙏❤️
I first encountered your teachings in the 1960s when the Vietnam war was raging. Your stand against violence was very welcome. You inspired me to follow your path of love and compassion. Rest in peace, That.
So sad that the light of Thay is no longer physically present and at the same time joyful as he is manifested in each mindful moment and calming breath. What a gift he was, is and will continue to be thru his teachings of how to walk in compassion and peace. My tears are of sadness and joy, thank you dearest teacher Thay…you live on in each of us!
Eternal, precious, friend, guide, Thay. You are now closer, more present than ever…
Breathing in I smile to my teacher, in me
Breathing out a tear falls
This tear is as a drop of rain from a cloud, nurturing a seed of compassion in me.
Since my introduction to you in 2014, I carry your words, books, teachings, practices, with me till this day. And now, with gratitude, love, warmth, comfort and peace in my heart, I carry you too. You will always be at home in my heart. Thank you for everything Thay. 🌻 Go well my brother. 🙏❤️
Thay has taught me how to see myself in all creation. I am not separate but interbeing with all. I am a Christian but after listening to Thay, buying his books and reading and listening to all his teachings everywhere I can find them: in the app or in YouTube, it transformed my entire being. I became a practitioner of Mindfulness. I am no longer fearful because I understood that “this body is not me, I am not caught in this body. I am life without limit. I have never born and I will never die. Since the beginning of time i have always been free. Birth and death are only doors thru which I pass. Sacred thresholds in my journey.” Oh this beautiful words made me cry when I first heard them. I have arrived at last! No coming, no going! Now I put my two hands in my chest and I recite these words to me everyday and I find rest. I bought myself a bell of mindfulness, I installed the Plum Village app in my phone. I may not be a monk but I am a practitioner. And right now, i have a dream of one day going to a retreat in Plum Village. Yeah I will miss Thay but he is in me as I am in him. He is in my mindful step. Lotus for all of you! 🌷
Gratitude and respect for beloved Thay, may we honor him through our actions of kindness and love towards all that surrounds us. 💕🙏🌱
A cloud never dies. I’m 100% sure. Thank you.
Thay, thank you so much for continuing to guide; your presence, kindness and Great Love are still with us…
As Thay taught us:
May we be well
May we be happy
May we be free from suffering
May we feel joy
May we feel loving kindness
May we be at peace and ease