Vale Thích Nhất Hạnh

Vale Thích Nhất Hạnh. (October 11, 1926 – January 22, 2022), renowned Buddhist monk, peace activist, author, teacher, poet and pioneer. Exiled from Vietnam in the 1960s for expressing opposition to the Vietnam war, Thích Nhất Hạnh went on to found the Plum Village Tradition and inspire the practice known as 'engaged Buddhism'.  

 Thích Nhất Hạnh is often called the Father of Mindfulness. He is the founder of the largest monastic order in the West and was instrumental in introducing Buddhist practices to Western society.  

 Thích Nhất Hạnh passed away on January 22, 2022, aged 95.  

This Body is not Me 
by Thich Nhat Hanh 

This body is not me. 

I am not limited by this body. 

I am life without boundaries. 

I have never been born, 

and I have never died. 

Look at the ocean and the sky filled with stars, 

manifestations from my wondrous true mind. 

 Since before time, I have been free. 

Birth and death are only doors through which we pass, 

sacred thresholds on our journey.  

Birth and death are a game of hide-and-seek. 

So laugh with me, 

hold my hand, 

let us say good-bye, 

say good-bye, to meet again soon. 

We meet today. 

We will meet again tomorrow. 

We will meet at the source every moment. 

 We meet each other in all forms of life.