Thich Nhat Hanh

Thich Nhat Hanh (also referred to by his students as “Thay,” meaning teacher in Vietnamese) is a Zen teacher and peace activist. He was born in Hue, Vietnam in 1926 and passed in 2022. Thay received training in the Vietnamese Pure Land tradition which is a part of Mahayana Zen Buddhism. He is part of the Linji lineage. Thay played a central role in presenting mindfulness and Buddhist ethics in practical and accessible context for a global audience, while remaining rooted in classical Buddhist teachings. 

Plum Village Tradition

The Plum Village Tradition is a contemporary stream of Zen Buddhism established by Thich Nhat Hanh in France in 1982, but its core was formalized with the Fourteen Mindfulness Trainings in 1966 when Thich Nhat Hanh was in Vietnam. It integrates traditional meditation practices with an emphasis on community (sangha), ethical living, and socially engaged practice in response to the realities of modern life.

Sangha

A sangha is the Sanskrit word describing a gathering or community of individuals committed to peace, interbeing, service to the world, and compassion. The sangha includes all living and nonliving beings. Plum Village is an example of a sangha whose core members are Buddhist nuns and monks. The Salmon Sangha is a community of lay (non-monastic) members that include the Plants, Animals, Land, Creek, and other beings living together at Grace Village sanctuary.

Zen Buddhism

Zen is a school of Mahayana Buddhism that emphasizes direct insight into the nature of reality through meditation and mindful awareness. In the Plum Village tradition, Zen practice is integrated into all everyday activities such as walking, eating, working, and communicating. 

Dharma

Dharma is a Sanskrit term referring to the holding and support of cosmic law. From the perspective of Thich Nhat Hnah, Dharma are the teachings of the Buddha which are an expression of holding to the cosmic law. When the word is spelled without capitalization, dharma, it refers to objects- manifestations.

Engaged Buddhism

Engaged Buddhism is putting the teachings and ethics of Buddhism into action. It refers to the application of Buddhist insights to everyday living and concerns. It affirms that personal and collective well-being are deeply interconnected. This understanding is the heart of interbeing.

Lineage

A lineage is a line of oral dharma transmission. Thay’s lineage is Linji. Thich Nhat Hanh was a 42nd-generation lineage holder of the Linji (Lâm Tế) Chan school and an 8th-generation master of the Lieu Quán Dharma line. Ordained at age 16 at Từ Hiếu Temple in Vietnam, he blended traditional Vietnamese Zen with Mahayana Pure Land,

Meditation

In its most basic definition, meditation is simply not thinking where and when one is fully aware, but empty of thoughts. Sitting and walking meditation is time spent in the substrate of consciousness which lies below everyday life. It is a state of being where the individualized sense of self melts away and, in this way, is a portal to feeling connection with the entire cosmos. Franciscan Father Richard Rohr describes meditation or contemplation in this way: “Contemplation, in non-mystified language, is merely the ability to meet Reality in its most simple and direct form.”

While Zen Buddhism and other wisdom traditions have developed formal ways to enter the mediative space, no instruction is needed. Contemplation arises in moments of beauty and depth – looking out onto the ocean expanse, walking through a forest or desert, or silently watching a loved one. The only reason meditation sounds exotic or special is because it has been washed out of modern human culture.

Critically, meditation practices which focus on bringing attention to the breath, reunite body and mind into the present moment. This is where Plants and Animals live because it is how they live. A mind full of thoughts, disconnected from the present and body, fails to be aware of where it is and where it is is where all of Nature lives. Cultivating being fully present, aware, without the machinations of the mind, is the path and portal to meeting Earth and the Animals and Plants. It is a domain that has one foot in time and space of which we humans are so familiar but grounded in the timeless and spaceless, what Buddhists refer to as the historical and ultimate realities, respectively. The two are not equivalent, for the ultimate reality into which meditation touches is vast and uncharted; it is our true self, the one under and behind our everyday bodymind. Meditation begins a journey to return to us to our true self and the land of Nature Consciousness.

Mindfulness

Mindfulness is a practice that brings our mind, our thinking, into connection with our body. A common practice of mindfulness focuses on our breath, our in breath, and out breath, which then pulls us  into the present moment. By becoming aware of our in-breath and out-breath, our mind comes home to our body and what we are doing at the moment – whether it is walking, having tea with someone, sitting beside a Tree, or washing dishes – we become present where all life takes place. The Miracle of Mindfulness by Thich Nhat Hanh is a book that describes this beautiful practice and teaching. 

Nondualism

Nondualism is Advaita in Sanskrit, “not two,” meaning unlike dualism’s parsing the world into opposites such as Nature/human, mind/body, being/non-being, subject/object, birth/death—are understood not as separate but as one or interdependent. Nondualism is based on experience of reality as unity.   

Interbeing

Interbeing is the understanding that all phenomena arise in dependence on one another. Nothing exists independently or in isolation.

Sutra / Sutta

In Buddhist teachings, both Pali and Sanskrit are used. A sutra (Pali: sutta) is a text attributed to the Buddha and his disciples. Within Plum Village, sutras are approached not only as sacred texts, but as living teachings intended for reflection, contemplation, and direct application in daily life. One core sutra is The Heart Sutra where the well-known insight that “Form is emptiness, emptiness is form.” Thich Nhat Hanh retranslated this sutra in 2014. 

Impermanence

Impermanence is the recognition that all things are in constant change and transformation. In the Plum Village tradition, impermanence is not viewed as something to fear, but the foundation for growth, healing, and renewal.

No-Self

No-self is the understanding that there is no separate, permanent, independent entity at the core of who we are. This teaching shows us that our identity is made entirely of non-self elements – culture, experiences, and the natural world. Understanding no-self shows our deep interconnection with all life.

Five Mindfulness Trainings

The Five Mindfulness Trainings are ethical guidelines that help guide us live the core teachings of the Buddha to maintain inner peace and mindfulness. “Trainings” is used in contrast to “rules” to emphasize that they are embodied and lived understanding.

Fourteen Mindfulness Trainings

The Fourteen Mindfulness Trainings are commitments undertaken by members of the Order of Interbeing. They expand upon foundational Buddhist ethics by emphasizing non-attachment to views, community harmony, deep listening, social responsibility, and compassionate engagement with collective suffering. They are core to Plum Village teachings. They are core to Plum Village  and the Salmon Sangha teachings.

Form and Formlessness

Form refers to the observable, tangible dimension of reality – what can be seen, heard, and identified. Formlessness refers to the deeper, ultimate dimension that transcends concepts of birth and death, coming and going. In Plum Village teachings, these two dimensions are understood as inseparable aspects of the same reality.

Continuation

Continuation is the understanding that we do not pass from existence into non-existence. call “Birth” and “death” are transformations of conditions. Everyone continues through their actions, influence, and the unfolding of causes and effects across time.

Four Noble Truths

The Four Noble Truths are teachings that helps us to understand suffering and how to overcome it. They are as follows: 1). There is Suffering in life 2). There are causes and conditions to this suffering that happens. 3). It is possible to end our suffering. 4). There are ways to create an ending to suffering.

The Three Jewels

The Three Jewels refer to the Buddha, the Dharma, and the Sangha. They are regarded as cornerstones for awakening. 

Skandhas

Skandhas are the aspects that make up our experience of being alive. They consist of Form, Feelings, Perceptions, Mental Formations, and Consciousness. They come together to form our experience of life.

Three Doors of Liberation

Also referred to as The Three Dharma Seals, they are doors – paths and insights – to liberation and peace. Emptiness is related to interbeing and no self with a more extensive understanding that all phenomena are without (empty) of independent existence and contain the entire cosmos. Signlessness is seeing every being and everything beyond its image or label, in order to see its true nature. Aimlessness is not being tied to an agenda, goal or achievements.  These practices can help us to alleviate much of the suffering we endure in our everyday life, and therefore reduce the suffering we inflict to others and ourselves in the world.