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Roger Walsh’s concept “transconventional” religion emphasizes understanding religion and spirituality primarily as a practice or applied philosophy that can deliver enlightenment and bliss to those who undertake its practice without an emphasis on believing something like a creed. Such a viable “wisdom path” could be attractive and beneficial to people in our secular Western societies, whether they still identify as religious believers, or are part of groups that self-identify as “Spiritual but not Religious,” “Dones” (“I’m done with religion) or “Nones” (I belong to no religion”).
This paper explores the example and teachings of Thich Nhat Hanh’s work in this light. Nhat Hanh who stated that his way to renew and refresh Buddhism is by making it simple and very practical in daily life which can be understood as a contemporary wisdom path or spirituality that can speak deeply to seekers in our secular age.
In 2014 Thich Nhat Hanh spoke about the shock he felt upon learning of Martin Luther King, Jr’s assassination. In that statement, Nhat Hanh said that he made a “deep vow” to continue what Martin called “the Beloved Community.” Thich Nhat Hanh first heard the term “Beloved Community,” and the related concept at a conference in Geneva, Switzerland, from King, in 1967. After relating the above I will outline how King’s Beloved Community compares to a Buddhist world view, exemplified in the Indra’s Net metaphor, held by Nhat Hanh. I will also cover the main contributions Nhat Hanh made to the understanding of the Beloved Community.
The Vietnamese monk, spiritual leader, and social activist Thich Nhat Hanh has been one of the most influential contemporary Buddhist protagonists and a famous interpreter of the Christian tradition. However, from both Buddhist and Christian camps, he has been criticized as a shallow popularizer of Buddhism and a simplistic harmonizer in dialogue. In this paper, I will argue that Thich Nhat Hanh was an innovative Buddhist thinker in his own right who integrated Christianity in his global vision of mindful living. Deeply rooted in important strands of East Asian Buddhist traditions, he presented both innovative and challenging reinterpretations of central Christian doctrines such as Christology and Pneumatology. In this way, Thich Nhat Hanh’s work can be appreciated as a lasting contribution to Buddhist-Christian dialogue.
Environmental justice work both considers and addresses the historical and ongoing, disproportionate, negative impacts of climate disruption and environmental degradation on human and natural communities least responsible. The last book Thich Nhat Hanh (TNH) published before his death, Zen and the Art of Saving the Planet, represents his most comprehensive engagement with these issues. This paper will explore the possibilities and limitations of TNH’s perspective and practice for environmental justice studies and activism.
For Thich Nhat Hanh, a poet and Zen calligrapher, every act no matter how simple or mundane was an act of spiritual art—an embodiment of ritual and a living expression of interbeing. Creative arts were woven into his daily life and teaching. He encouraged practitioners, people from diverse traditions drawn to the simplicity of his teaching, to engage in creative work, to deepen awareness by writing poems and composing songs, to draw and dance. Art-making in his teaching is a path to Awakening, and an act of Awakening itself. It is also an essential and powerful practice to plant seeds of peace wherever there is conflict, war, environmental degradation, and oppression.