Thich Nhat Hanh

Nguyễn Xuân Bảo was born in central Vietnam in 1926 and entered Tu Hiếu Temple in Huế as a novice at age 16, taking full ordination as a bhikshu in 1951 and receiving the name Thích Nhất Hạnh. He trained in the Vietnamese Thiền (Zen) lineage under masters such as Thích Chân Thật and combined traditional monastic training with modern secular studies, attending the University of Saigon. In the 1950s and 1960s he played a leading role in Buddhist reform and social work in Vietnam, founding the School of Youth and Social Service (a relief/volunteer organization), Van Hanh Buddhist University, and publishing initiatives that connected Buddhism to contemporary social needs. During the Vietnam War Thích Nhất Hạnh advocated nonviolence and reconciliation; his peace work led to exile from Vietnam and he spent decades living and teaching mainly in Europe and the United States. In 1975 he established an intentional mindfulness community in France that later became Plum Village; from there he developed a global network of practice centers and monasteries (including Deer Park, Blue Cliff, and Magnolia Grove) and published numerous accessible books on mindfulness and engaged Buddhism that influenced therapists, clinicians, and secular mindfulness movements worldwide. In later life he continued teaching and guiding the Plum Village sangha; in 2018 he returned to Từ Hiếu Temple in Huế to live his final years as he had wished. He died on 22 January 2022; his writings, the Plum Village tradition, and the modern mindfulness movement remain central parts of his global legacy.