In 2011, I co-founded a software startup called Buffer, which I left in 2017 to live in multiple Thich Nhat Hanh / Plum Village monasteries for almost 2 years. I felt completely disoriented at the time, uncovering the many delusions of money, tech and fame as the final life answers, alongside broken relationships and friendships and nowhere to turn. The monks and nuns took me in in a way that I will be forever grateful for and Thich Nhat Hanh's teaching was the beginning on a long journey of self-discovery, healing, relaxation and coming to terms with reality as it is, right now.
Thich Nhat Hanh taught me something very ordinary: That it is important to pause often, to reflect, to sit still or walk in silence and to observe and acknowledge what is happening around you, inside and out. And to then act from that place of stillness and quiet with calm and kindness to the people around you. And to keep practicing this over and over again, without fail or getting tired from it.
I feel tremendous gratitude to him and his teaching, as well as the monks and nuns that dedicate themselves to his many practices and insights.
May he rest in peace and may his intentions and practices live on for a long time!
Wow. I used to go to the mindfulness retreats at his affiliated monastery in San Diego. You left your phone in your car, and had 3-5 days (or more sometimes) of meditation, fresh cooked meals, and nature. It was really peaceful, and so different from what I had expected (something like a cult, being plied for donations etc. there was none of that). I stopped going when I left California, but it's hard to feel much more free than that these days. You're on a schedule for sleep, meals and events, basically making no decisions, and without internet pulling your attention, you feel like your mind is coming back to yourself.
Hi, another Austrian here! As someone already mentioned, Plum Village is a wonderful retreat center in France. There are also groups called Wake Up (https://wkup.org/) in Vienna and Graz that practice the teachings of Thich Nhat Hanh as a community. They are extremely open to guests and newcomers, so maybe you also want to check that out :)
There is a really wonderful Buddhist center in Vienna affiliated with the same branch of Tibetan Buddhism I have gone on retreat with. They should have retreats as well. I recommend checking it out. https://gelugwien.at/
I highly recommend Vipassana [0]. It's similarly free from commercialism - there is no cost for teaching, lodging and food. At the end, you can pay if you found it beneficial and want to pay it forward. They also only accept contributions from people who have completed the program. Despite this policy, they've grown to 200+ centers across the world.
I was so inspired [1] by it that I adopted a lot of their principles in my business [2].
Firstly, respect to Thich Nhat Hanh, and his legacy!
I've done 7 10-day Vipassana foundation retreats (AKA "Goenka retreats"). I was so inspired that I went on to become a Buddhist monk. Now I'm a meditation teacher in my own right, with 13 years seniority, fully-ordained. My website:
https://bhikkhu.ca
The place I give weekend meditation retreats (in Calgary, Canada):
https://ehipassikocalgary.org/
The cost is by-donation, and no donation is also acceptable. My tradition is Theravada Buddhism, or "Early Buddhism".
If you want to do more research, you can easily find directories like this: https://buddhiststudies.stanford.edu/resourcesother-resource.... There is tremendous access to teachings in the Bay Area and a handful of fantastic monasteries within 100 miles.
For effective teachings, I recommend: https://pointingoutthegreatway.com/. As you're getting started, it doesn't really matter what you do, but if you want to progress along the path quickly, I have found the Tibetan "pointing" style teachings to be most safe and effective by about an order of magnitude.
There is a Buddhist meditation temple in LA that organizes 2 retreats per year. I go every year from Europe, it's that good. The monastics are super helpful and the abbot is very down to earth and accessible, they also do fasting besides meditation. You don't need experience, just drop by and stay if you like.
IRC is excellent, and located around the Bay Area (there are usually at least a few people carpooling down from Oakland) - https://www.insightretreatcenter.org
It's the retreat side of IMC (https://www.insightmeditationcenter.org). You might listen to some of their talks or read some of Gil's writing[1] to see if it's what you are looking for. It's in the Vipassana tradition, though a number of the teachers had affiliation with the SF Zen Center.
https://www.bayzen.org/ is in Oakland and is in the tradition of Maezumi, which is what most of my training has been from.
https://berkeleyzencenter.org/ is in Berkley and is in the tradition of Soto Zen; I have sat with sister groups in San Jose and they seem pretty solid if a little more laid back than the Maezumi schools. There is a retreat center up in the Santa Cruz mountains, https://www.jikoji.org/ I have gone to retreats there and it is indeed very nice, peaceful and beautiful and nothing extrinsic to decide or worry about. I went with the Floating Zendo: https://floatingzendo.org/about-sesshin/
In Bay area, we have many opportunities to practice/train with other people. I'd say that the long retreats make daily meditation a lot easier and doing regular daily meditation make the long retreats a lot easier. And sitting with other people strengthens the practice in a way it's hard to recreate on your own.
I haven't sat with a group in the Thich Nhat Hanh tradition, but from what I've seen online, the Japanese-derived Zen groups are pretty similar in the essence of the teachings.
The Bay Area actually has quite a few. Among the more famous ones are Tassajara Zen Mountain Center (the first Zen monastery in the US) in Carmel Valley and Spirit Rock near Mt. Tam. Mountain View has a Zen meditation center that welcomes guests during certain times during the week.
I think there is Deer Park Monastery in California, Plum Village Monastery in France, Blue Cliff Monastery in New York, and Magnolia Grove Monastery in Mississippi. There could be others as well.
Here are some reasons people find retreat environments helpful:
- Change of setting loosens pre-existing habits (compare working in an office to working from home)
- Being surrounded by people doing the same thing as you can be a great source of energy and determination (compare working in a hacker space to working in your garage)
- Having a teacher handy to clarify doubts is a great source of accountability and advice (compare learning from another programmer to teaching yourself to code)
- Depending on the retreat, most chores are taken care of for you so you can focus on meditating (compare being a student with a dining hall to studying while employed)
Often the metaphor used is that a retreat is a container, i.e. it makes it easy to slip into habits conducive to long and concentrated meditation sessions. Peers and environment matter, even for meditation.
Peace is not just the absence of violence but the presence of community.
I similarly attended these retreats and the community was profound. At every retreat I went to attendees participated in communal work, kitchen cleaning, food prep, compost rotation, temple cleaning. Nothing was a chore, not even silence, because you weren’t isolated. A big part of community was also the integration of monks, nuns and lay people (attendees). The kindness, acceptance and joy the “contemplatives” (monks and nuns) shared with attendees was really very special.
So, theoretically one could meditate alone at home during a weekend but…that’s an entirely different experience.
Short of attending a retreat, the next best thing is finding a Sangha locally and practicing together. Not every journey begins on a lonely road, some start walking slowly alongside others.
I have done a number of solo retreats. Many solo 10-day retreats, and a month long retreat usually in my apartment or place that I was living at the time. I would speak to my teacher on the phone typically every other day, or everyday for 10-45mins depending on what was happening. I didn't immediately jump into the longer retreats. I built up to it. Initially doing 1 day solo retreats, then 3-days, then doing many 10-days then a month long.
So, why can't you just do it? A solo retreat is not for everyone. People often need help or support to meet them where they are. Different personalities have different needs. A retreat can also be quite destabilizing and having someone to help in person to navigate the emotional territory or insights is valuable. Now, let's say that you think you can do it. In my opinion, you absolutely need a teacher for a longer retreat but for a shorter retreat (1 day, or _maybe_ 3-day) it is not entirely necessary. You end being your own worst enemy on a retreat. A friend of mine was doing practice for 10-12 hours a day without a teacher for 6 weeks and only eating a little bit of bread everyday. This is a bad idea. The mind plays some amazing tricks on you. So, if a solo attempt is done please have a teacher and have a lot of vital context around what you are doing otherwise you will practice wrongly.
I did take a meditation class at SF Zen Center and the teacher did suggest that we could dedicate a day to practice as if on retreat even while at home, though this is challenging. But ultimately, the sangha or community is important in Buddhism. The "three jewels" that one looks to for guidance are the Buddha, the dharma or scripture, and the sangha. At some level, if you _keep_ trying to just do it without a community of others, you're perhaps doing it wrong.
I don't have a space that is inherently away from electronics, inherently peaceful, that is still around people but not in a way where people want to engage in non-mindful ways, I am not fully skilled or understanding in ways others who have done this before can guide.
I generally am a fan of the Nike, "just do it", but have found it can be significantly beneficial to be surrounded by those who do it better than you. Even if it's primarily a solo journey.
I am turning a room in my house into a technology-free space. No phones allowed, just books and a typewriter, pen, and paper for writing. This could be another use of that room.
Lol at the downvotes. This is a legitimate question. Edit: I guess looking at the actual description of the retreat given, people don't actually want to learn about acceptance etc., they literally want to go to a free version of a spa resort
I don't think this is as simple as a google search. This isn't a regular business, and it would be nice to get a HN-user-vetted answer on a retreat that doesn't try to upsell you, and offers the "right" daily events.
No, not 'why can't you just google it'. The question is why can't you just DO it. Take some food in to your room, put your devices outside, close your door.
I imagine for the same reasons they can't "just" quit smoking, lose weight, get in shape, write a novel, etc. They may not believe they're capable, they need support, they need structure, they need incentive, etc.
Thich Nhat Hanh taught that just like a cloud seems to disappear from the sky, it's not really, it has simply changed form. The appearance of vanishing is just that: an appearance. Really nothing is created or destroyed. In this way, there is no loss here, Thầy has transitioned into another phase of life. A beauty worth celebrating
> Impermanence (Pali anicca, Sanskrit anitya) means that all things (saṅkhāra) are in a constant state of flux. Buddhism states that all physical and mental events come into being and dissolve.
> Human life embodies this flux in the aging process and the cycle of repeated birth and death (Samsara); nothing lasts, and everything decays. This is applicable to all beings and their environs, including beings who are reborn in deva (god) and naraka (hell) realms. This is in contrast to nirvana, the reality that is nicca, or knows no change, decay or death.
Buddhism is about recognizing that everything is one, i.e. there's no sky/earth, but just sky-earth as one thing altogether.
Of course you don't have to believe it or find it useful, I'm just explaining Buddhist thought in general and Thich Nhat Hanh's thoughts in particular here.
There's many flavors of Buddhism and the idea of all "being one" isn't a shared philosophy amongst them all. The "woo" and connected, anything goes mentality, etc is mostly centered on "California Buddhism," which is a sort of western bastardization of common Buddhist concepts.
If you were to study, say, Theravada, you'd see something a lot more austere, less touch-feely (but compassionate), and very much centered on the four noble truths and eightfold path. It reflects a great deal about suffering, overcoming suffering in a Buddhist fashion, and living very, very morally.
So it helps to name the specific brand of Buddhism you're discussing. You're saying something akin to Christians all believe in transubstantiation and see the Pope as their leader, who can declare himself infallible if he chooses. Yes, Catholics do believe this, but not other Christians. Or speaking in tongues or handling snakes. Or that Jesus was a white northern European man with blue eyes.
Specifically the "all is one" philosophy is a western misreading of the Three Marks of Existence, so it's easy to misidentify them as the same thing if you have never been properly exposed to the latter. An egocentric culture would rather extend the ego outward, rather than fully embrace the concept of ego being illusory.
The absurdity I like to point out sometimes (usually with a lot of downvotes when I talk about this on HN) is how capitalism corrupts nearly all. Countless employers sell their employees on the idea of "Learn meditation to help with work stress" instead of "Lets talk about by work is stressful and how we can fix that." The former just buzzword dishonesty, the latter something that could affect profits, and even if only .01% of profits spent to make workers lives 100% better it would be deemed unacceptable in capitalism. Even if the stinginess of the capital owning class could be curtailed, this reform still wouldn't be acceptable because it would be a win for workers, and keeping workers from rising up in any form is a prime feature of capitalism. Remember, the most perfect capitalist entity hires no one, pays no salaries, and only makes money for its owner. The second most perfect form uses slaves for labor. Due to a loss of a civil war, this is no longer possible here, but we certainly spilled a lot of blood trying to keep it for capitalism. Now quasi-slavery is how the game is played by making sure life's expenses keep people in line and making sure wages never get anyone independently wealthy. Some slip through but that's a bug not a feature.
Of course capitalism can't exist without the ego. Everyone here is, as they say, a temporary embarrassed millionaire. Everyone believes in the CEO as this force of nature who does all sorts of things, because the CEO is crafty enough to steal credit from his underlings as self-marketing. Characters like John Galt are seen as realistic and people defend Rand's writing with a straight face. Capitalism is the ego's playground so of course, Buddhism translated here is littered with narratives that protect capitalism.
I also find it a little amusing at how casually we recommend meditation as a self-help tool for workers to be more productive. If done correctly, it should do the opposite.
Also this excellent piece explaining how the Pali canon refutes California Buddhism's "we are all one" belief:
Much as I admire Thich Nhat Hanh, I don't see how Buddhism is an answer to a culture that operates primarily from exploitation, predation, status seeking, self-importance, and bad faith.
I don't think anyone has that answer, because it's an incredibly hard question - how do you de-toxify a culture whose true values are defined by varying intensities of of sociopathy?
You end up with what you described - vacation and workplace Buddhism, where the more superficial elements of a different moral tradition are used to decorate and sweeten a life of striving that remains oriented towards other goals.
That still has value for the people who can appreciate it - something is better than nothing, after all.
But the Buddhist ideals of community fundamentally contradict capitalist ideals of aggressive ambition, individualism, and acquisition. I see no way of truly blending them without one giving way to the other.
The origination story of Buddhism starts with a guy with the highest status and wealth, in a society of extreme inequality, leaving his fortunes behind to help everybody (hint hint).
The first ashrams where so radically inclusive, letting people from all caste and gender live as equals, that they were chased out from many villages by armed crowds. (hint hint)
If that's not clear enough, Thich Nhat Hanh literally called his practices "engaged Buddhism".
I’ve never heard of him before. When I saw the title of this post I thought it was a wordplay thing, where the letters had been switched around (maybe by a confused AI) or perhaps some Old/Middle English post.
I randomly bought The Heart of Buddha’s Teaching two decades ago at my university bookstore and it changed me forever. I’m not a Buddhist today but I’d like to think the core principles are still there.
This book really got me into Buddhist theory. I really like how the ends with direct translations of suttras you can by then actually read and understand quite well. Transmissions of 2500 y/o teachings that stood the test of time, come within reach of someone not having any study in that direction.
His books helped me through some of my toughest times, especially “No mud, no lotus” and “Work”. He’s had a big influence on me and I hoped to meet him at some point. I’m teary eyed and sad to hear this. He lived a beautiful life and was a bright light in our world.
This man was my first introduction to meditation. I read his book "the miracle of mindfulness" when I was undergoing an extremely difficult, near suicidal period of my life, and it pulled me out and put me back on track. I'm indebted to him and I wish I had an opportunity to meet him.
Reading his book helped me overcome one of the darkest period in my life. Just a few paragraphs in a random book that I picked up. My heart lifted just a little bit, enough for me to carry on living. Peace to you my friend.
I haven't heard of him until today. I am very interested in learning meditation/mindfulness, but as an agnostic I tend to shy away from religious teachings. Are his methods heavily religious?
I think most Buddhist traditions are “non theistic.” This is different from atheism and theism, in that it essentially says “Even if God exists, God is mostly if not completely beside the point. The point is relying on yourself to save yourself.”
1. There are a lot of gods, as well as demons, etc. Typically the Sanskrit or Pali terms devas and asuras are used untranslated, in part because the ontological categories of different mythologies may not correspond exactly.
2. One of them was first and lives longer than the others. He says he's eternal and created everything else in the universe, but he's mistaken about both of those things.
3. The gods are better off than humans are, and they understand more than ordinary humans, but they still suffer and die; they all die every time the universe ends, which has happened many times.
4. So even the gods need to follow the path of awakening in order to end their suffering, which can lead to awareness that encompasses even the many creations and destructions of the whole universe. Some of the gods follow the Buddha for this reason.
5. But lots of people (and gods) have been able to observe some part of this picture and think they've seen the whole thing, which leads them to beliefs like monotheism, polytheism, atheism, or nihilism.
6. Thinking and debating about the gods and the nature of the universe is just a distraction from the meditation and awakening you need to end your own suffering.
The Tipitaka is much bigger than the small part I've read, so I don't know if I'm accurately representing what it says, and of course it's only one of many Buddhist canons. But I think the overall cosmology is not really a major point of disagreement between the different Buddhist traditions, especially because of point #6.
Still, I don't think it's accurate to describe Buddhism as nontheistic. If you think the devas aren't real you must think that the Tipitaka is at best an extremely unreliable guide to reality, at which point you're really just following whoever your personal guru is, not the teachings of Shakyamuni. Hopefully he's a good guru and not somebody like Baker-roshi.
Buddhism rejects the concept of a creator god, though it does not deny the existence of "gods". But it holds that they, too, are subject to the cycle of rebirth and suffering like the rest of us.
That is a thing I was trying to say; I suppose I must have not said it very clearly if you thought it needed to be said again. Thank you for clarifying.
I'm an atheist and I am really enjoying reading "The Heart Of Buddhas Teaching" by him. I wouldn't say his teachings are heavily religious from what I've read so far. But some parts require a lot of imagination. You don't have to become a monk after reading his books. Sometimes good teachings transcends differing beliefs.
I've read maybe 3 or 4 of his books, and it all tends to be pretty much secular.
He specifically argues against ideology, and argues for adapting buddhist teachings to the needs of another culture. IIRC, in The Art of Living he argues for an "American style of Buddhism" which is adapted to American culture.
I'm generally pretty allergic to religion, but I find his teachings to be really palatable and quit helpful.
So generally I think you'd find the Plum Village tradition pretty easy to swallow.
You might want to check out the documentary "Walk With Me" which came out in 2017 and gives a pretty good picture of what Thich What Hanh and Plum Villiage tradition is all about.
There’s also a book by Sam Harris called Waking Up: Searching for Spirituality Without Religion. I found it really good when I was in the same place that you are
I can wholeheartedly recommend this book too. Sam has a perspective that allows him to take the best parts of religion without believing in anything supernatural. This was perfect for me just after leaving religion when I was searching for a new way to be human.
You can't expect everyone to be familiar with the vast array of items posted here. It's assumed that everyone is understands the ease with which information can be found on the internet in this day and age, so there's no need to spend so much effort and page space on curating and adding introductions for every concept and person.
His honest commitment to non-violent action is legendary. The very embodiment of Buddha teachings. His words have touched generations. He will be missed.
A quote from my favorite Thich Nhat Hanh's book Old Path White Clouds:
"The same clouds that Buddha had seen were in the sky. Each serene step brought to life the old path and white clouds of the Buddha. The path of Buddha was beneath his very feet."
Your comment resonates with me. I have always been a bit of "left-brained" when it comes to things like "rebirth" and assumed these things are fiction. Just learning to not reaching any conclusions and accept that this might be possible has made me enjoy things more :)
May his teaching echo for generations to come. I read some of his books this year and I'm sure the world would be a much better place if more people adopted his perspective.
That's a really difficult question. Every aspect of Thich Nhat Hanh I think of, I think of people who are as old as him, or who predeceased him. Hopefully that is my own generational bias.
For example, he was a Zen master whose writings reached a broad audience and provided a modern voice for a tradition where some of the foundational works such as the Platform Sutra are roughly a thousand years old. For other modern Zen voices, there are books such as Three Pillars of Zen, Dropping Ashes on the Buddha, Opening the Hand of Thought, and probably many others. (Albert Low is on my to-read list.) All of those are by authors who died before Thich Nhat Than, though.
He also was an activist and an original proponent of "engaged Buddhism," in which compassion is seen to mandate action for social change. I'm sadly ignorant of the current landscape here; the Dalai Lama and Gary Snyder certainly count, but they are both getting on in years.
He also wrote a lot of books that are light on doctrine but very direct, grounded, and gentle, that people have found comforting and supportive in a crisis. For that, many people look to the books of Pema Chödrön, Tara Brach, and Sharon Salzberg, who are at least a little bit younger, but all in their sixties or older.
Agreed Venerable Thanissaro Bhikkhu is a serious Buddhist. He teaches a no-fluff Dharma. If you want to know what Buddha taught, listen to his talks. His translations and contributions are extensive.
I learned today that technically he died years ago. It's not that he was healthy and then today he passed away. Apparently he had a stroke years ago and couldn't walk, use the bathroom, eat, talk, etc. on his own.. everyone had to do everything for him. Definitely a DNR would have been good to have here.
For something that teaches the impermanence of things, they sure tried hard to make him permanent.
In 2011, I co-founded a software startup called Buffer, which I left in 2017 to live in multiple Thich Nhat Hanh / Plum Village monasteries for almost 2 years. I felt completely disoriented at the time, uncovering the many delusions of money, tech and fame as the final life answers, alongside broken relationships and friendships and nowhere to turn. The monks and nuns took me in in a way that I will be forever grateful for and Thich Nhat Hanh's teaching was the beginning on a long journey of self-discovery, healing, relaxation and coming to terms with reality as it is, right now.
Thich Nhat Hanh taught me something very ordinary: That it is important to pause often, to reflect, to sit still or walk in silence and to observe and acknowledge what is happening around you, inside and out. And to then act from that place of stillness and quiet with calm and kindness to the people around you. And to keep practicing this over and over again, without fail or getting tired from it.
I feel tremendous gratitude to him and his teaching, as well as the monks and nuns that dedicate themselves to his many practices and insights.
May he rest in peace and may his intentions and practices live on for a long time!