Thich Nhat Hanh was born in Vietnam and left home as a teenager to become a Zen monk. He founded the Van Hanh Buddhist University in Vietnam.
For his pacifist activism during the Vietnam War, Thich Nhat Hanh was nominated by Martin Luther King, Jr. for the 1967 Nobel Peace Prize. (Despite King's high praise, the committee decided not to make an award that year. King's revelation of his nomination was a violation of tradition and the explicit "strong request" of the prize committee.)
In 1982 he founded Plum Village Buddhist Center, a meditation community in the Dordogne in the south of France. As of 2005 he heads a monastic community and the lay group, the Order of Interbeing, teaching the Five and Fourteen Mindfulness Trainings and "Engaged Buddhism". Thich Nhat Hanh and the Order of Interbeing have also established monasteries and Dharma centers in the United States at Deer Park Monastery in Escondido, California, Maple Forest Monastery and Green Mountain Dharma Center both in Vermont. Addionally, there are numerous local sanghas of the Community of Mindful Living around the world where laypersons meet for meditation, Dharma discussions and Days of Mindfulness.
Thich Nhat Hanh is a Buddhist monk, poet, peace activist, and the author of Being Peace, The Miracle of Mindfulness, and many other books. He lives in a monastic community in southwestern France called Plum Village, where he teaches, writes, gardens, and works to help refugees worldwide. He conducts retreats throughout the world on the art of mindful living, and has conducted special retreats for American Vietnam War veterans, psychotherapists, artists, environmental activists and children.
