Our Lineage

Zen Master Thích Nhất Hạnh (Oct 11, 1926 — Jan 22, 2022) is a global spiritual leader, poet and peace activist, revered throughout the world for his powerful teachings and bestselling writings on mindfulness and peace.

His key teaching is that, through mindfulness, we can learn to live happily in the present moment — the only way to truly develop peace, both in one’s self and in the world.

Thích Nhất Hạnh published over 100 titles on meditation, mindfulness and Engaged Buddhism, as well as poems, children’s stories, and commentaries on ancient Buddhist texts. He sold over three million books in America alone, some of the best-known include Being Peace, Peace Is Every Step, The Miracle of Mindfulness, The Art of Power, True Love and Anger.

Thích Nhất Hạnh brought his heart-felt and pragmatic Buddhism to the West, founding six monasteries and dozens of practice centers in America and Europe, as well as over 1,000 local mindfulness practice communities, known as sanghas.

He built a thriving community of over 600 monks and nuns worldwide, who, together with tens of thousands of lay students, apply his teachings on mindfulness, peace-making and community-building in schools, workplaces, businesses – even prisons – throughout the world.

Thích Nhất Hạnh[…] is a gentle, humble monk – the man Martin Luther King called “An Apostle of peace and nonviolence.” The media has called him “The Father of Mindfulness,” “The Other Dalai Lama” and “The Zen Master Who Fills Stadiums.”

This biographical text transcribed from the website of our “Root Sangha” Plum Village.