Explore resources on Thich Nhat Hanh’s life and influence, including high-res photos, factsheets and briefings for journalists, and an archive of interviews and public statements.
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Thich Nhat Hanh’s Life
Thich Nhat Hanh aged 16 in Huế, Vietnam
Photo taken around 1942, soon after he received novice ordination to enter the monkhood.
© Plum Village Community of Engaged Buddhism (PVCEB). Available in: 1MB+
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Thich Nhat Hanh guida la comunità nella pratica della meditazione camminata. Plum Village, giugno 2014.
Thich Nhat Hanh pianta un albero della bodhi in India, 2008.
Thich Nhat Hanh ist eine führende Stimme in der buddhistischen Ökologiebewegung. Hier pflanzt er einen Bodhibaum im indischen Himalaya-Gebirge, Mussoorie, 2008.
In Plum Village, c.2004
Thich Nhat Hanh travelled to the US to call for peace in 1966.
Thich Nhat Hanh as a young Dharma Teacher (back row, right) with his students, 1950s.
He taught at the new Ấn Quang Buddhist Institute in Saigon.
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Aged 25, shortly after receiving the Bhikshu precepts in 1951.
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Teaching children to read and write using a song about the Bodhisattva of Great Compassion, early 1960s.
Together with his friends and colleagues, Thich Nhat Hanh developed a social work program for rural development and founded the School of Youth for Social Service.
© Plum Village Community of Engaged Buddhism (PVCEB). Available in: 1MB+
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In 1966, as a young leader in the growing Buddhist peace movement.
He had recently founded Van Hanh University, La Boi Press, the School of Youth for Social Service, and the new Order of Interbeing (based on the traditional bodhisattva precepts). At this time, he was Editor-in-Chief of the leading Buddhist magazine, publishing over 50,000 copies every week.
© Plum Village Community of Engaged Buddhism (PVCEB). Available in: 3MB
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With Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., at a joint press conference about the war in Vietnam in Chicago, 31 May 1966.
Unknown.
Speaking out for peace c.1966
© Plum Village Community of Engaged Buddhism (PVCEB). Available in: 4MB
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Vietnamese refugees aboard the Roland, a ship chartered by Thich Nhat Hanh and his colleagues to rescue people from the seas off Singapore in 1976.
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Thich Nhat Hanh in Paris in the 1970s.
Exiled for daring to go abroad to call for peace in 1966, he led the Buddhist Peace Delegation at the Paris Peace Talks.
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Gardening at Les Patates Douces („Sweet Potatoes“) near Paris in the 1970s.
Thich Nhat Hanh and his colleagues and students retreated to the small farmstead in 1975. After the Paris Peace Talks ended with the Paris Peace Accords, Thich Nhat Hanh was denied the chance to return to Vietnam.
Thich Nhat Hanh (right) at a Peace March in New York City, 17 June 1982.
Unknown.
In south-west France, early 1980s.
Thich Nhat Hanh and his students found land in south-west France, where they established Plum Village mindfulness practice center in 1982.
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Relaxing with his community in Plum Village, south-west France (late 1980s or early 1990s).
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Meditation Hall in Plum Village, France, 1990.
Thich Nhat Hanh created meditation halls in the old farm buildings, and began to teach the first generation of meditation practitioners in the West.
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Presiding over a „lamp transmission“ ceremony to ordain Dharma Teachers, in Plum Village, 1990.
Thich Nhat Hanh began to ordain his first monastic disciples only in 1988, after 35 years of teaching.
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At Từ Hiếu Temple in Huế, Vietnam, 2005.
In 2005 Thich Nhat Hanh was finally allowed to return to Vietnam after 39 years of exile. Here he is entering the gate at his „root temple“ for the first time since he left in May 1966.
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Leading a traditional almsround procession in Huế, Vietnam in 2005.
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Vulture Peak, India, 2008.
Transmitting the precepts in the open air on Vulture Peak, one of the Buddha’s sacred sites.
© Börje Tobiasson. Available in: 6MB
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Leading a walking meditation, c.2009
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Thich Nhat Hanh inviting the bell to sound, Plum Village, 2009.
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Thich Nhat Hanh arriving in Indonesia, 2010.
© Ekayana / Plum Village Community of Engaged Buddhism (PVCEB). Available in: 20MB
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Malaysia, September 2010.
©️ Plum Village Community of Engaged Buddhism (PVCEB). Available in: 10MB
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Thich Nhat Hanh’s European Institute for Applied Buddhism in Waldbröl, Germany, opened in 2008.
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Thich Nhat Hanh reviewing one of his newly-published books in 2011.
He has written over 100 books of poetry, fiction, sutra translations, Engaged Buddhism practices and meditation handbooks.
©️ Plum Village Community of Engaged Buddhism (PVCEB). Available in: 2MB
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Formal lunch with his growing community of monks, 2011
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Trafalgar Square, London. March 31, 2012.
Thich Nhat Hanh led sitting meditation for over 3,000 people in the heart of the British capital.
Nathanaël Corre. Available in: 1MB+
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Hong Kong Coliseum, 2013
Thich Nhat Hanh addressed an audience of over 10,000.
© Kelvin Cheuk for PVCEB (Plum Village Community of Engaged Buddhists). Available in: 12MB
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Chant of compassion, Hong Kong 2013.
Thich Nhat Hanh’s community invoke the name of the Avalokiteshvara, the Bodhisattva of Great Compassion.
© Martin Lam for Plum Village Community of Engaged Buddhism (PVCEB). Available in: 2MB
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Thich Nhat Hanh listening to his students in Hong Kong, 2013.
Broadway, New York City, 2013.
At an exhibition of his calligraphies at ABC Home.
ABC Home / Plum Village Community of Engaged Buddhism (PVCEB). Available in: 730KB
With Jim Kim, President of the World Bank, Washington D.C., September 2013.
© Plum Village Community of Engaged Buddhism (PVCEB). Available in: 10MB
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Thich Nhat Hanh teaching children in Plum Village, Summer 2014.
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Receiving an honorary doctorate from Hong Kong University, May 2014.
In 2012 Thich Nhat Hanh created a training program for teachers, to bring secular „applied ethics“ into the classroom.
©️ Plum Village Community of Engaged Buddhism (PVCEB). Available in: 400MB
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Teaching during a mindfulness retreat for several hundred people in 2014.
Thich Nhat Hanh’s message focusses on how to nourish joy and happiness, and how to handle pain and sorrow.
© Plum Village Community of Engaged Buddhism (PVCEB). Available in: 200KB
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Celebrating his 92nd birthday in Thailand, October 2018.
Following a major stroke in November 2014, Thich Nhat Hanh moved to Thailand to join his young disciples from Vietnam at his new Thai Plum Village meditation center.
© Plum Village Community of Engaged Buddhism (PVCEB). Available in: 1MB+
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Returning to Từ Hiếu Temple in Huế, Vietnam, 28 October 2018.
He decided to return to his root temple to spend his remaining days.
The Life Story of Thich Nhat Hanh
Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh is a global spiritual leader, poet, and peace activist, renowned for his powerful teachings and bestselling writings on mindfulness and peace. A gentle, humble…
- Biography (1000 words)
- Extended biography
- Extended biography (pdf)
- Extended biography with endnotes & appendix (pdf)
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Media Coverage
Recent Highlights
The New York Times: „Preacher of Mindfulness comes home to Vietnam“
TIME Magazine: „The Monk Who Taught the World Mindfulness“
Huffington Post: „This Buddhist Monk Is An Unsung Hero In The World’s Climate Fight“
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Films
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Photos
High-resolution photos, available for download and re-use with permission. See individual photos for details.
Thich Nhat Hanh teaching village children in rural Vietnam, 1964.
Thich Nhat Hanh pioneered Buddhist engagement in social work and rural development, founding in 1965 the School of Youth for Social Service in Vietnam, a kind of Peace Corps. Here he is in October 1964 teaching rural children to read and write using a song about the bodhisattva of compassion.
In 1966, Thich Nhat Hanh traveled to the US to call for peace.
Desperate to find the roots of the war in Vietnam, Thich Nhat Hanh traveled to the US and another 18 countries to call for peace in 1966-67. But the price of his courage was exile – an exile that was to last 39 years.
Thich Nhat Hanh, 1966
Thich Nhat Hanh was a leading figure in the Buddhist peace movement in Vietnam. In the year before this photo was taken, he had founded Van Hanh University, a publishing house (La Boi Press), the School of Youth for Social Service, and a new Buddhist Order (the Order of Interbeing).
Thich Nhat Hanh, black and white portrait
Thich Nhat Hanh has been called „The most Beloved Teacher in the West“
Thich Nhat Hanh leading a peace walk for several thousand people in Paris, 2006
Thich Nhat Hanh listening deeply to his students in Hong Kong, 2013.
Thich Nhat Hanh is a renowned Buddhist scholar
Thich Nhat Hanh has made modern English, French and Vietnamese translations of some of Buddhism’s most important texts, including the Heart Sutra, the Anapanasati and Satipatthana Sutras, and the Buddhist monastic code.
Thich Nhat Hanh, New Hamlet Buddha Hall (Plum Village)
Thich Nhat Hanh is a Dharma Teacher in the Vietnamese Zen Tradition of the Liễu Quán Dharma line in the 42nd generation of the Linji (Rinzai) School.
Preparing the Hall for Meditation – Plum Village, France
With over 200 resident monks and nuns, Plum Village has the largest Buddhist monastic community in the West.
Thich Nhat Hanh presiding over a Bhikshu Ordination Ceremony in Plum Village, France
Thich Nhat Hanh with Theravada monks in Thailand in 2007
Thich Nhat Hanh’s modernised Buddhist teachings have been well received in Thailand, in particular at the Mahachulalongkorn University, the world’s largest Buddhist university.
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. marching in 1967 under a Vietnamese banner with a quote from Thich Nhat Hanh
The banner reads: „Men are not our enemies. If we kill men, with whom shall we live?“ Thich Nhat Hanh had first written to Dr. King with this question in 1965. They met for the first time a year later, in 1966 in Chicago, and again in May 1967 in Geneva. Dr. King decisively came out against the war in a speech in NYC on April 4 1967, and quoted Thich Nhat Hanh in that speech.
©️ Jo Freeman. Available in: 1MB+
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Thich Nhat Hanh with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
At a joint press conference on 31 May 1966 Chicago Sheraton Hotel.
© Plum Village Community of Engaged Buddhism (PVCEB). Available in: 163KB
The provenance of this photo is unknown. This is the largest size we have of the image.
March for nuclear disarmament, New York City, 17 June 1982.
Thich Nhat Hanh was in New York in 1982 to lead a meditation and mindfulness retreat, and together everyone on the retreat joined the march. L to R: Lewis Richmond, Richard Baker Roshi, and Thich Nhat Hanh. Several years later, Thich Nhat Hanh reflected, „There was a lot of anger in the peace movement. We should not walk „for“ peace. We should „be“ peace as we walk.“
unknown.
Thich Nhat Hanh leads sitting meditation in Trafalgar Square, London
Over 4,000 people joined a guided sitting meditation led by Thich Nhat Hanh in the heart of the capital on 31st March, 2012.
© Nathanaël Corre . Available in: 1MB+
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Quotes
One of Buddhism’s truly international spokespeople
TIME magazine
The most beloved Buddhist teacher in the West
Alice Walker
The Other Dalai Lama
The Times of London
An Apostle of peace and nonviolence
Dr Martin Luther King, Jr.
The Zen Master Who Fills Stadiums
The Independent (London)
The most important figure in Western Buddhism
Jeff Wilson, “Mindful America“ (2014)
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