Friends,
 I'd like to call on all of FOR's members, supporters and friends to lift up Thich Nhat Hanh (Thay) in prayer and meditation. Thay, our dear friend and founder of the Plum Village monastery and Order of Inner Being, has suffered a severe brain hemorrhage and is being attended to by specialist doctors, nurses and his Plum Village disciples.
In 1966, Thich Nhat Hanh came to the United States and spoke on an international tour sponsored by FOR on the Third Way, a nonviolent alternative of engaged Buddhism to the conflict in Vietnam. Since that time, he has been a great friend of FOR, particularly then-Executive Secretary Alfred Hassler and his family, with whom he stayed for six months while in the United States.
 Thay's own teachings on death are important to remember at this time:
"Our greatest fear is that when we die we will become nothing. Many of us believe that our entire existence is only a life span beginning the moment we are born or conceived and ending the moment we die. We believe that we are born from nothing and when we die we become nothing. And so we are filled with fear of annihilation.
"The Buddha has a very different understanding of our existence. It is the understanding that birth and death are notions. They are not real. The fact that we think they are true makes a powerful illusion that causes our suffering. The Buddha taught that there is no birth; there is no death; there is no coming; there is no going; there is no same; there is no different; there is no permanent self; there is no annihilation. We only think there is.
"When we understand that we cannot be destroyed, we are liberated from fear. It is a great relief. We can enjoy life and appreciate it in a new way."
 We at the Fellowship of Reconciliation give thanks for Thay's courageous and creative nonviolent actions and spiritual practices, for his shared stories and reflections, and for the inspiration he has thereby provided to the people of the world who seek justice with peace.
In their message about Thay's hospitalization, Plum Village writes:
"Our practice of stability and peace in this very moment is the best support we can offer to Thay. Let us all around the world take refuge in our practice, going together as a river to offer Thay our powerful collective energy."
I hope you will take a moment today and lift up Thich Nhat Hanh in your thoughts and prayers.
 Rev. Kristin Stoneking
Executive Director
Fellowship of Reconciliation
P.S. To stay up to date on Thay's condition, follow Plum Village's official Thich Nhat Hanh page on Facebook.
Images: Phapchieu (Flickr Creative Commons), Fellowship of Reconciliation archives, Fe Langdon (Flickr Creative Commons). |
