Monk linked to mindfulness craze dies at 95 — RT Games & Culture

Thich Nhat Hanh died peacefully within the Tu Hieu Temple in Vietnam, his Zen instructing group, Plum Village introduced on Saturday. The influential Buddhist monk, who was born in 1926, suffered a stroke in recent times, which left him unable to talk or preach. He then expressed a want to return to the temple the place he had been ordained a long time in the past, and was allowed to spend his ultimate years in his native nation.

The monk, usually referred-to because the second most distinguished Buddhist particular person after the Dalai Lama, spoke seven languages and spent a big a part of his lengthy life within the West. Within the early Nineteen Sixties he lectured within the US at Princeton and Columbia universities, after which lived in France. The Zen grasp established many retreats and meditation facilities globally, together with within the US, Australia, Germany and Thailand. His Plum Village heart in France is the most important Buddhist retreat in Europe.

Having efficiently mixed Buddhist concepts with parts of Western psychology, the Vietnamese preacher wrote over 100 books and impressed dozens of communities, together with many on-line teams. A few of his hottest publications embrace ‘The Miracle of Mindfulness’ and ‘You Are Right here,’ during which he taught followers to be current within the second and to concentrate to respiration.

He’s additionally credited in Western media with serving to flip Buddhist meditation practices right into a multibillion-dollar wellness trade.

Whereas his practices earned him tens of millions of followers, together with celebrities, Thich Nhat Hanh is also referred to as a promoter of peace and a social-change advocate through the Vietnam struggle. His ‘Engaged Buddhism’ motion inspired particular person motion to assist communities in want.

Having preached compassion and nonviolence, he appealed for peace in his nation upon touring to the US and Europe, and was ultimately banned in Vietnam, having to dwell in exile for some 40 years.

Within the Nineteen Sixties, Martin Luther King nominated the monk for the Nobel Peace Prize. King’s daughter, Bernice King, paid tribute to Thich Nhat Hanh on social media on Saturday.

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