A funeral has been held for the Vietnamese Buddhist monk Thich Nhat Hanh, per week after the famend Zen grasp and peace activist died on the age of 95 in Hue, central Vietnam.
Hundreds of monks and disciples trailed a procession of pallbearers carrying Thich Nhat Hanh’s coffin from Tu Hieu pagoda, the place he spent his final days, to the cremation web site. Others kneeled and clasped their fingers in prayer on the roadside and bowed to the bottom because the casket went previous.
Thich Nhat Hanh was globally recognised for spreading the follow of mindfulness and socially engaged Buddhism, significantly within the west. He lived in exile for many of his life at Plum Village, a retreat centre he based in southern France.
Born Nguyen Dinh Lang in Hue in 1926 and ordained on the age of 16, Thich Nhat Hanh distilled Buddhist teachings on compassion and struggling into simply grasped steerage over a lifetime devoted to working for peace.
His marketing campaign towards the Vietnam warfare within the Sixties led to him being barred from returning to Vietnam. He was solely allowed again into the nation in 2005, when the communist-ruled authorities welcomed him within the first of a number of visits.
He survived a stroke in 2014 that left him unable to talk and returned dwelling in October 2018 to spend his last years on the Tu Hieu pagoda.
Thich Nhat Hanh lay in state within the pagoda’s full moon reception corridor throughout a seven-day wake. His disciples got here to pay respect in silence and follow meditation as a tribute to his teachings.
“I’m completely satisfied and really feel at peace that I might come to Hue to say farewell and meditate with Su Ong for the final time,” mentioned Do Minh Hieu, a follower of Thich Nhat Hanh’s who travelled from southern Ho Chi Minh Metropolis together with his household for the funeral. “Su Ong” is an affectionate Vietnamese time period that means Grandpa Monk.
In line with his needs, Thich Nhat Hanh shall be cremated and his ashes scattered at Plum Village centres and monasteries all over the world.
