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Tech notes: monastic talk due to unclear permission to republish. i think this is the complete interview, not edited.

Interview with Terry Gross for Fresh Air

Thich Nhat Hanh · September 10, 1997 · KPBS Studio, San Diego, United States · Audio Only · Monastic talk

Thich Nhat Hanh is interviewed at the WHYY studio in Philadelphia on September 10th, 1997, for the National Public Radio program Fresh Air.

  1. Does Vietnam have its own school of Buddhism?
  2. Is Vietnamese Buddhism very different from Zen Buddhism?
  3. Did you enter the monastery when you were sixteen?
  4. In what year did you enter the monastery?
  5. Was there any fighting in Vietnam when you entered the monastery in 1942?
  6. When did war enter the lives of the monks?
  7. How did the war change your daily life as a monk?
  8. Was this fighting part of World War II or different fighting?
  9. Was the teaching to remain secluded in time of war or to engage with others and become part of the larger society?
  10. How did World War II change your daily life as a monk?
  11. How did teachers and other monks in the monastery react to the idea of Engaged Buddhism?
  12. What were some things done during wartime in Vietnam to help other people?
  13. Are the image of stillness in mindful breathing and the need to flee during wartime compatible?
  14. Is there a calm within even when running for your life if practicing mindful running?
  15. Did you ever travel with boat people and were you that calm person on the boat?
  16. Is it harder to maintain a sense of calm and mindfulness when surrounded by people suffering from horrible experiences compared to solitude in a monastery?
  17. What are your thoughts on Buddhist monks burning themselves in protest as a way of calling attention to the war?
  18. Did you know the monks who immolated themselves?
  19. Did those monks ask for advice or disclose their intention to self-immolate in advance?
  20. Would you have considered doing something like self-immolation yourself to stop the war?
  21. Were you with Martin Luther King as he thought through his stand on the war?
  22. Was an official reason given for being exiled from South Vietnam after the trip to America?
  23. How was the Buddhist community in France shaped and what was it intended to be like?
  24. Is there a special way of teaching meditation and mindfulness to people traumatized by violence, such as refugees and veterans?
  25. Can you give an example of something done at a retreat for veterans that is different from a standard retreat?
  26. Why is mindful breathing so important when teaching mindfulness?
  27. What do you suggest people do as they try to practice mindful breathing, compared to chanting or chasing away thoughts?
  28. How many hours a day are spent meditating?
  29. Did the Buddhist delegation argue or think differently than the other Vietnamese and Americans at the Paris Peace Talks?
  30. Is it hard to keep a state of mindfulness when visiting America given the tumult and distractions?
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