The recent passing of Zen Buddhist monk and peace activist Thich Nhat Hanh inspired an outpouring of grief and remembrance throughout the world. Dr. Jerry Braza, a student of Nhat Hanh and the author of two books drawn from his teachings (Practicing Mindfulness and The Seeds of Love), caught up with us to share his thoughts.
Dr. Braza, your relationship with Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh spans several decades. Tell us about how you came to meet, and how he became your most important teacher.
I discovered the concept of mindfulness as a university professor during the 70’s and 80’s. My research was in the fields of Health Education and Psychology, which lead me to Thich Nhat Hanh. His book the Miracle of Mindfulness was ground-breaking for many. It enumerated on how mindfulness is a practice and a way to live more fully.
My first personal experience with Thay (meaning teacher) was in 1991 — at a retreat at the OMEGA institute in New York. Before he gave his talk, I happened to be sitting by a window in the meeting room and could see this small Vietnamese monk walking very slowly and mindfully toward the hall. While watching him, I said to myself, this person will be my teacher. From that first encounter with Thay — I had an aspiration to receive, study and practice mindfulness and become his student.
Over the past 35 years, I had the fortune to consider Thay as my teacher. I attended retreats at Plum Village and other monasteries and retreat centers around the county. I subsequently, joined him on pilgrimages to China and Vietnam. In 2005, I joined a group of students and returned with him to his homeland Vietnam after being exiled for years.
Today as I reflect on my life, I can say no other person or philosophy influenced my life as much as mindfulness and Thich Nhat Hanh.
You would go on to become a teacher of mindfulness yourself, incorporating many of Nhat Hanh’s concepts in your work. He even wrote Forewords for your books! What was your relationship like as you lived out your own calling?
I became enamored with Thay’s teachings on seeds — what we nurture we become. I continued to realize that mindfulness is a “seed” — something that is developed in our mind and consciousness. The more we focus on what is happening in the present moment, the more seed consciousness develops.
In the early years, I was invited to join the Core Community of the Order of Interbeing (OIB) — an order founded in the 60's by Thich Nhat Hanh and Sister Chan Kong. In the OIB charter, fourteen mindfulness trainings were developed and are followed today by several thousand members to be a paradigm for living, along with being engaged in the suffering of the world. For me, it was an invitation to practice with other practitioners and monastics to support lay members. During that time, I had a chance to share some of my writings and book proposals with Thay and he agreed to write the Foreword for Moment by Moment (1997) now rewritten and renamed Practicing Mindfulness (2020) and The Seeds of Love (2011).
I became a teacher in the Thich Nhat Hanh lineage and received the lamp to teach at an ordination at Plum Village in France in 2001. When I received the dharma lamp, Thay gave me a gatha (a mantra-like verse) to “water the seeds of love.” This became a foundation for my writing and teaching. A few years later I had an unexpected encounter with Thay in the early morning several days before a major retreat! I was sitting by a lotus pond pondering a book proposal that I was writing as Thay happened to be on a walk and came up to me. We exchanged bows, and he asked “what are you working on?” I mentioned a book on the seeds of love and happened to have a one page proposal. He sat next to me, read the page and said, “I will be happy to write the Foreword to your book!”
In the early days, 1990’s and beyond I started to teach classes about mindfulness at the university of Utah and then at Western Oregon University. During that time and to the present I have been teaching mindfulness in various secular settings especially for health care workers, teachers and other mental health groups, while being a dharma teacher for a variety of Buddhist and Christian groups.
How did you respond to the news of his passing?
Sadness of course, yet actually that began when he had a stroke in 2014. Because of the serious nature of this event, it seemed unlikely he would recover and be able to teach again. Although, he continued to teach in silent ways as he continued to embody his teachings. For the last eight years, I spent a lot of time reflecting on his life and the preciousness of the opportunity to have studied and practiced with him over the years.
Thich Nhat Hanh is remembered by many as a remarkable peace activist, even influencing Martin Luther King, Jr. to publicly oppose the Vietnam War. Can you speak to this aspect of his work?
Yes, Martin Luther King, the Dalai Lama, Thomas Merton and Daniel Berrigan and other luminaries connected with Thay in the 60’s and beyond. He participated in personal dialogue with them and participated with them in peaceful demonstrations regarding the “American War” (Vietnam). Together I believe Thay taught them how to be present and listen deeply and not take sides so the truth can be discovered. Martin Luther King and Thich Nhat Hanh coined the term “beloved community.” This is the work that we need to continue to do!
What other, perhaps lesser known, attributes would you like folks to add to their remembrance of Nhat Hanh – as a teacher, a leader, and a friend?
Over and over again, I heard from others at retreats and in various conversations and especially during this time of grief:
- “He touched something deep in me” — another dimension, the ultimate!
- In his dharma talks, “it seemed like he was talking to me.”
- He helped me to transform suffering so I didn’t transmit it.
- He taught so we could understand — his message was to love more fully, and understanding is the password for love.
- He taught so that we could be apply it immediately to every moment. As an example consider gathas. Practicing with a gatha can help us return to ourselves and to what is going on in the present moment: “Breathing in, I am aware of breathing in. Breathing out, I am aware that I am breathing out.”
- Despite having thousands of students, he seemed to get to know those of us who were teachers in his tradition. He recognized that we were his “continuation” and wanted to water the positive seeds.
In times like these, many speak of a great leader’s legacy. But the Buddhist tradition emphasizes carrying on the work. How do you see the relevance and impact of Thich Nhat Hanh’s work today, and carrying on into the future?
Thay would always say, in response to the question: Who will take your place? His answer has always been “the sangha.” After watching various ceremonies following Thay’s death, it clear that international sangha made up nuns, monks and lay practitioners is ready to continue on behalf of our teacher
It was ironic that his last major retreat in 2014, prior to his stroke, was entitled: A Cloud Never Dies. In a Q & A at that retreat, Thay was asked what will happen after you die? He said:
“I won’t die! I will continue in your breathing and in your walking. I will continue to be. But you have to be very careful to see me. I will be in a flower or in a leaf. I will be in those forms and send you a greeting. If you are aware enough, you will recognize me, and you be smiling at me. I will be very happy about it.”
Are there any final thoughts you’d like to share about your teacher, his life, and the way he taught people to live in the present moment and nurture the seeds of love?
There was one concept that struck a chord and continues to challenge me. He said:
“It’s not enough to make declarations — I know this! More important to realize the teachings — live it!”
Thich Nhat Hanh was the “real thing!” He realized and manifested teachings that will live on for lifetimes. These include:
1. Seeds: The quality of our lives is based on the quality of seeds in our consciousness — what we nurture we become. If we nurture loving-kindness we become more loving.
2. Mindfulness is a core seed: The more we come back to the present moment, a habit energy of mindfulness is developed. Mindfulness means “to remember,” so mindfulness is about moments.
3. Interbeing: This is a concept and a word that Thay is noted for creating. We realize this when we understand that we are not separate, we are connected to all. Your suffering is my suffering!
4. Engaged practice: It is not enough to just meditate — look around at the suffering in the world. When we engage in the present and then what is going on in each moment, we experience not just our own suffering but also external issues: war, hunger, climate change, racial inequities. We create a non-dual consciousness.
Read Jerry Braza's books on Mindfulness:
Further Reading:
For more reading from Tuttle on the Zen Buddhist tradition, check out our forthcoming book Master Dogen's Zazen Meditation Handbook. It's a translation of the foundational work written in 1231 on zazen, or seated meditation, which is the fundamental pathway to Buddhist enlightenment.