This week’s column is on the Zen Buddhist teacher Thich Nhat Hanh who passed away last week.  His writings were a significant influence on my chaplaincy work and my personal practice of awakening to a gentler, less cluttered, way of thinking and living.

I sat and walked with him (alongside 2000 others!) at Spirit Rock.

A gentle man with a simple message of mindfulness for anyone whether a person of faith or not.

from Thich Nhat Hanh, the Breath and Mindful Engagement

“I had been reading his books on meditation for years, bringing his simple call to mindful awareness through breathing into lessons shared with people I worked with in the jails, shelters and streets. For example, he wrote: “whatever we are doing, we pause for a moment and just enjoy our breathing” (“Peace is Every Step”). Thay—meaning “teacher”—continually offered us basic instructions for being more alive and better humans, especially in the midst of suffering. He presented a teaching I rarely heard, or hear, in other religious traditions or teachers of faith. With an emphasis on personal mindfulness, the intent was to be more awake in order to be more fully engaged with the world and the world’s suffering. What if more faith teachers encouraged this healthy balance of personal fulfillment interwoven with community involvement?”

Read the complete column this weekend