2nd November, 2018

Thay’s letter to Root Temple Descendants, October 2018

Join the conversation

  • Thank you for sharing these words, deeply touching, powerful and inspiring for the practice to be continued. Grateful and happy.

    Reply

  • I am deeply moved by this beautiful writing – by learning the gatha that was offered to Thay 70 years ago, and by the deep respect for the impermanence of Thay’s physical body. His every decision is rooted in that which will benefit the sangha and us, his descendants. Thay, there are few who are committed enough to “walk” their talk. You have fulfilled the tasks set before you by your ancestors, and in my eyes, gone beyond to the other shore with all of us with you. I know the only way to show my gratitude is to try to walk this path with my actions, dear Thay. Thank you for the dharma treasure you have shared throughout your life. I am not the same person I was when I first met you – and I am also not different. May the seeds of dharma you have planted within each one of us continue to bloom for a very long time. Bowing and Smiling, True Fragrant Ocean (2011 Deer Park Monastery)

    Reply

  • Thank for sharing this letter and English translation. I often wondered if Thay could express himself through writing after his stroke. I thought he couldn’t write. If this truly his writing translated from vietnamese,that’s amazing.

    Reply

    • Thanks Patty for this question. As you can see in the announcement accompanying this letter, Thay communicated his wish through gestures, and through nodding and shaking his head in response to proposed content for the letter.

      Reply

      • Thank you for clarifying this. I am amazed and grateful that you and all his caretakers are so in tune to Thay’s wants and needs. I have seen a couple of recent videos on YouTube showing his arrival in Vietnam and the temple, and deeply touched by how you all work together to help him. I can feel the positive and peaceful energy.

    • Filter by Topic
    Show Everything, Non-violence, Buddhism, Monastic Life, Community Building, Spirituality, Healing & Reconciliation, Peace, Climate Change, Ecology, Handling Strong Emotions, Mindfulness

    Letter to Tommy in Prison

    Thay replies to a prisoner who wrote to him sharing about his mindfulness practice. He asked for Thay's advice on how to handle his strong emotions when violently provoked and challenged by other prisoners.

    Sangha Building: our noblest career

    In this teaching just before his stroke, Thay emphasises that no studies, ceremonies, or personal enlightenments are more noble than the practice of sangha-building and nurturing collective awakening.

    Letter to a Prisoner

    On March 12, Thay received a letter from Zachary Crow, who is supporting a young man called Daniel on Death Row in Jackson, Georgia in the USA. Together, Zachary and Daniel have been practising...

    Bat Nha: a Koan

    Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh’s compassionate response to the persecution of his students in Vietnam “The koan “Bat Nha” is everyone’s koan; it is the koan of every individual and every community. The koan...

    Bat Nha: Rekindling the Sacred Fire

    Thay’s letter to the Bat Nha Monastics, continued. Blue Cliff MonasteryOctober 21, 2009 Yesterday, in the Great Harmony Meditation Hall of Blue Cliff Monastery, there was an ordination ceremony for two young people, one...

    Bat Nha: Diamond Body

    Blue Cliff, October 7th, 2009 To my Bat Nha Children, I write “my Bat Nha children” and not “my children in Bat Nha” as I had done before, because even though you are not...

    A Young Monastic’s Dream

    My dear students, near and far, In the Daily Chanting book, there is a chant that I really liked when I was a novice. The prose of this piece is very beautiful, and its...

    Seeing Thay in the Sangha

    To Friends and Co-practitioners at the “One Buddha is Not Enough” Retreat Dear Friends, This is Thay again writing to you from the Massachusetts General Hospital. The treatment is going well and we have...

    Thay Misses The Sangha

    Dear Friends and Co-practitioners at the Retreat One Buddha is Not Enough, Estes Park, CO. My dear friends, I am writing to you from the Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston. I know the Sangha...

    The Mountain Cliff Robe

    European Institute of Applied Buddhism Waldbroel, Germany 2009 Last night while sleeping here Thầy had a dream. He saw that he was climbing a mountain with the Buddha and with little Hải Triều Âm...

    Sitting Still, Imperturbable

    Sitting Still Hut, Upper Hamlet, Plum Village July 20, 2009 To my students in Bat Nha, Tu Hieu and everywhere, Thay is sitting at “Sitting Still Hut,” in the Upper Hamlet of Plum Village...

    The Toadskin Hut and Paths of Legend

    Thay wrote this end-of-year letter addressed to all of his students about the Toadskin Hut, the hermit of Still Sitting Hut, walking meditation paths that have become legendary, and the new young Dharma Teachers in...

    Giving back to our motherland

    Writing from exile in Paris in 1974, Thay wrote these words of encouragement and inspiration to his social workers back in Vietnam, dreaming of creating a village and practice center together.

    A Proposal for Peace: 1 June, 1966

    Published in Thich Nhat Hanh, Love in Action: Writings on Nonviolent Social Change (1993) This statement was read at a press conference in Washington, D.C., on June 1, 1966, and reprinted in the Congressional Record...

    In Search of the Enemy of Man

    Thay's first letter to the Rev. Martin Luther King, sent on June 1, 1965. This was the start of their correspondence and friendship, and they met for the first time in Chicago one year...

    >