Sowing positive seeds through the written word—the story of an unassuming monk called Thich Nhat Hanh

he goes by many names

I first heard about Thich Nhat Hanh when I joined a Buddhist meditation group last year. When the group met, we meditated for 40 minutes—that’s right 40 minutes of sitting in silence—and afterwards we rejoined in another room to discuss a Buddhist topic for the week. There was no teacher. We were learning together.

I wasn’t a complete newbie to Buddhism when I joined. My mom was raised Buddhist, and though she was never overly religious, she did drop some tidbits about Buddhism here and there. My hazy memory recalls her telling us that Jesus Christ actually fits into Buddhism since Buddhism allows for many different deities (or devas), and when we become enlightened we have a choice: we can either go to nirvana or become a deity ourselves.

I have asked her since about the Jesus Christ thing, and she laughed and said she doesn’t remember telling me that.

As an adult, I grew curious about religions and began reading about Buddhism on my own. By the time I joined the meditation group, I had read parts of the Pali Canon, a book or two by the Dalai Lama, and some works of his student, Alex Berzin, who frequently includes the work of other Buddhist teachers on his website.

So, in the group, I was surprised to hear the name, Thich Nhat Hahn, (a name I had never heard before) brought up so frequently. Thich Nhat Hanh said this. Thich Nhat Hanh said that. Thich Nhat Hahn. Thich Nhat Hanh. There was an argument over what Thich Nhat Hanh would say about the war in Ukraine—that we should not just pray for the Ukrainians but also the Russian soldiers. His name came up frequently.

Eventually, I picked up one of his books, and at once I understood why he was so popular.

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Thich Nhat Hanh was born to regular parents. His father worked in government and his mother stayed home and raised the kids. He wasn’t marked for greatness—like other prominent teachers in Buddhism are, who are identified at a young age as the rebirth of a previous teacher.

Thich Nhat Hanh felt a calling to become a monk at age 12, when he drank some water from a well, and joined a monastery as a novice monk at age 16. He began writing early on.

At the age of 40, he was exiled from his home country of Vietnam due to his stance against the war, advocacy for peace, and refusal to take sides. Both the Northern and the Southern governments saw him as an opposing force that undermined their own messages.

Later, he was also banned from Singapore for helping boat refugees. Refugees were coming in over the ocean, from Vietnam to Singapore. The Singaporean government did not want them, and fined fishermen that helped the refugees. Thich Nhat Hanh organized a group to help the refugees get food, get on dry land, and get to the French Embassy in Singapore. When the Singaporean government discovered this project, they shut it down and kicked everyone involved out of the country.

Seeing so close the cruelty in the world, however, did not seem to change his message of peace. He believed that for there to be peace in the world required the cultivation of inner peace on an individual level. To this end, he wrote about mindfulness to help deal with the ordinary stresses of life—sitting in traffic, answering the phone, washing the dishes. If he were alive today, he would almost certainly write about social media and how to use it wisely.

The greatest work that he left behind, I think, is his written work.

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Thich Nhat Hanh often talks about seeds. Seeds planted in our minds. Seeds of anger, of sadness, of happiness. Seeds that are watered based on what we see, hear, and the actions we take. I believe he was actively planting and watering wholesome seeds in people’s minds through his written word. He has planted and watered certain seeds in mine.

When you go online, what seeds are you watering? Seeds of anger and fear? Or seeds of peace and compassion? When I write for this blog, I think about what effect my words will have. Words may not change someone today, but may plant a seed or water a seed that will not fruit until much later.