Random Thoughts About Thich Nhat Hanh

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[@tomenns7978]

I have read a few of Thich Nhat Hanh's books and liked them, especially "Zen Keys". I do not see Thich Nhat Hanh as a celebrity Buddhist, but rather I see him as a famous and influential Buddhist. He was authentic, brilliant, poetic, and on a mission. I am thankful to have found his teachings and to have been able to attend one of his talks many years ago. He certainly has helped me on my spiritual path and continues to do so.

[@HossainSalahuddin]

If one just reads ‘Old Path White Cloud’ one will realise why Thich Nhat Hanh was so special. Deep bow to the master.

[@stuartzalka]

Agreed. Read it twice.

[@AnnetteZimmerman]

TNH helped non Buddhists accept Buddhism. For this I’m grateful.

[@adamdacevedo]

When you’re sitting in your temple meditating and bombs are going off around you and your neighbors are being blown to bits, Engaged Buddhism becomes kind of obvious. Often circumstances in our immediate environment shape our destiny more than we realize….(Ziggy included…)

[@gunterappoldt3037]

"Buddhist Humanism" is part of the Buddhist reform-movement, which started around 150 years ago, triggered by the challenges of Western imperialism and colonialism, often accompanies by Christian supermatist attigudes. After WWII, there started a kind of inter-religious ecumenical movement, wherein Thomas Merton, Master Nhat-hanh and others partook, and which produced some syncretisms, like the idea of the "Buddha-Christ".

[@benmarcune9598]

It's obvious you really do not know much about TNH. For Thay, fame was never anything he sought. Thay has always lived as a very humble monk that had an amazing way of making the dharma accessible to anyone. Back in the 60's his sangha was quite small. But because he was such a great teacher his popularity just naturally grew. To study in the lineage of TNH actually does not require much physical proximity to him. It is through the many Sanghas that anyone with an aspiration can study and practice Buddhism. Yes when Thay would give a retreat later on in his years, the retreat center would be packed. But as a devout practitioner, the retreats led by the monastics and lay people at the monasteries were always the most beneficial to me. Usually only your serious practitioners would attend these. And it is the Sangha that will carry on presenting TNH's continuation to the world. So Thay's celebrity really has very little to do with him as a teacher. Thay was a living Buddha that only sought to teach the dharma and to ease the suffering in peoples lives. To this end the man was incredibly successful. I do not know of many other people throughout time that has had as great of a positive influence on so many people.

[@enterthevoidIi]

He became a celebrity, willingly or not, doesn't matter. He became a celebrity and this means that everything around him became celebrity-like.

[@wladddkn1517]

Do you know what of his mornings Thay woke up a Pop Star?

[@enterthevoidIi]

@@lorenacharlotte8383 wow just wow. You understand that when you say these things you're actually proving his point. TNH is surrounded by people who have nothing to do with buddhism. Calling someone poor in an attempt to insult them is just wow. It really takes a special kind of person to do that. Congrats you won everything!

[@as_the_turntables]

@@enterthevoidIi Bro. What is your deal? 😂

[@enterthevoidIi]

@@as_the_turntables What's my deal? What do you think my deal is? Is there actually something you can contribute to this discussion?

[@HossainSalahuddin]

Brad, I enjoy your videos, but I think this one was unnecessary, poorly timed and lacks deeper perspectives which you generally show. I just feel like I needed to say that because I admire you and your work. Metta.

[@paragozar]

I used to admire him, now it's clear he needs to go back to the forest for a few years.

[@kw1ksh0t]

Hossain, this is a very uncompassionate response and I urge you to reconsider

[@as_the_turntables]

@@kw1ksh0t how so, Joe?

[@BoulderHikerBoy]

Alas, TNH seems to stand squarely in Brad's blind spot. It is neither fair nor accurate to suggest that TNH is primarily for those who follow the crowd or who are passive in their exploration of Buddhist ideas; I personally know many people who are serious students of Buddhism who have learned a great deal from Thay, precisely because his writings are so approachable. And Thay was always forthright about the assistance he had in the books published by Plum Village, writing, as he was, in his second language. And, whoever wrote them, many of these books are simply excellent. It's true that some of these books are aimed at those totally new to Buddhism, but others go much deeper, and some (like Planting Seeds) have no equivalent. If you've seen any of Thay's dharma talks, it's obvious that he knew his stuff, so he was obviously not dependent on ghostwriters for knowledge of Buddhism. It's also not quite skillful to cast shade on Thay's inner circle without actually knowing them. Thay's experience is also the rebuttal to Brad's view that managing an organization dedicated to Buddhist teaching isn't worth the hassle. And it's also a rebuttal to the proposition that engaged Buddhism is a distraction from the real work of Buddhism. There's a lot that I respect in Brad's approach to Buddhism but there is some stuff he just gets (consistently) wrong, and a lot of that is stuff that Thay got right. Among other things, it's hard to imagine Thay trivializing the success of other Buddhist teachers as mere celebrity. Even harder to imagine Thay taking the occasion of their death as an opportunity to cast that shade. Honestly, this is a video I'd just take down because it already seems a bit petty, and I'm sure it won't age any better. Sorry, Brad; sometimes mistaken honesty is still just mistaken.

[@dr.jeffreyzacko-smith324]

How many Buddhist teachers get it all right? Zero. Brad is entitled to his opinion as you are yours.

[@BoulderHikerBoy]

@@dr.jeffreyzacko-smith324 Agreed. No one gets in all right. Neither do I mean to deny Brad his opinion. My purpose was to provide constructive feedback on the ideas presented so that they can be considered by Brad and others who may watch the video.

[@kw1ksh0t]

The way he wrote so many books is that 1. they are very short and 2. they repeat the same teachings but in slightly different contexts. If you've read one, you've read most of them

[@as_the_turntables]

@@kw1ksh0t how many of TNH' books have you read?

[@peterleslie1971]

Unfortunately there is alot wrong with what you say here Brad. I was/am a student of Thich Nhat Hanh and I also love your books. Engaged Buddhism is going in a boat into the middle of the fighting in the Vietnam war to help people, as Thich Nhat Hanh did. His own explanation of Engaged Buddhism was that ALL Buddhism is/has to be engaged, but he wanted to reiterate that Buddhism is about action, not just sitting on your cushion. That's why he called it Engaged. I've personally been to his center in France 10 years ago and he wasn't a celebrity, he spent time with all the people visiting, as much as he could. What really made Thich Nhat Hanh a celebrity was Jon Kabat-Zin creating MBSR treatment for the West, which made "Mindfulness" the hype it now is. Kabat-Zin wrote his program after visiting Thich Nhat Hanhs community in France. He basically took his teachings and marketed it for the West. That made Thich Nhat Hanh the celebrity, not his own life. Again thanks for your insights into Zen, they are very precious, but here you are a little off-point as they say.

[@HardcoreZen]

Thank you. I think one of the problems with "engaged Buddhism" is that not all of us are in a position to go in a boat in the middle of a war to save people's lives, and so we think we are not properly "engaged" when dealing with the much less spectacular problems in our own lives. We long for bigger causes and search for them while ignoring the smaller, more immediate causes.

[@osip7315]

@@helloalanframe i feel that's a bit toxic, perhaps you might like to say why ?

[@ObakuZenCenter]

@@osip7315 If you feel that something is toxic, it would be up to you to explain why, since you are the one having that feeling. Others aren't responsible for your feelings. Also, are you saying that war is toxic, which it is, or that people mentioning doing things to help others is toxic? Perhaps you might like to say why?

[@osip7315]

@@ObakuZenCenter i did actually explain it (alan's reply is what i had issue with) with the phrase "perhaps you might like to say why ?" in a word, its vicarious

[@lorenacharlotte8383]

@@HardcoreZen : If your Teacher Nishijima Were still alive would be both: very upset and dissapointed hearing all your nonsense sayings about such a holy man as it was TNH. TNH went through two wars. He went through an intense struggle and pain seeing all the violence, death, blood and misery in all the ways caused by both wars. He was engaged into Buddhist action all his life. The boat events was only one in the long list. I believe that any genuine real Buddhist practitioner from any tradition is already committed with life. A real Buddhist practitioner develops by itself daily practice a universal vision in which doesn’t see himself/herself separated from the rest manifestation of life. And because of that is very sensitive to the pain, the cries of the world and would like to somehow alleviate that. Engage Buddhism is not other than taken action in oneself life first and around with whatever is present at those moments there. Engage Buddhism could also involve social action. There is no discrimination between small or big actions. Small or big is just a dualistic point of view. If you see your dog Ziggy in pain, wouldn’t you try to help?. Would that be a little or big action?.

[@DavidJones-bl5wu]

I have several of Nhat Hanh's books, mostly because his words hit exactly where they needed to for me. I have several f yours for the same reason. I enjoyed his book The Other Shore very much. Since my tradition is Judeo-Christian and not primarily Buddhist his books met me where I was. I've read your book There Is No God for the same reasons. I'm not impressed with celebrity, but I am with skilful words. Thank you for being one of my book teachers, now that John Shelby Spong and Thich Nhat Hanh have moved on.

[@chilldragon4752]

I'm also a little on the fence about engaged buddhism. But to me it's clear why he got into the peace movement and other large issues. I think it's because of the horrors that he saw and lived through as a monk in Vietnam during the Vietnam war. So I'm sure he thought "This is horrible, how can I help to keep this from happening again". Anyway, I respect what he did and tried to do. He did lead many people to Buddhist practice. But I get what Brad says here. Also I liked the joke at the end lol.

[@lucasoswalt1782]

Brad, I have subscribed to your Patreon (sorry, money is tight right now, but I'll be back, I swear!), I have all your books, and I also am a member of a Plum Village Sangha (Singing Stones in rural Oklahoma). You've been kind enough to write back to many of my questions in the past, which I appreciate, so I just wanted to throw that out there so I don't sound just like a random dude on the internet. I always appreciate your laser eye and welcome critique of what commonly becomes mass culture, and I think it's true that a lot of people get swept up in the Oprah phenomenons of popular things. I can see why some have been critical of the "engaged Buddhism" movement in the west in the sense that some may get enamored in "causes" to the detriment of other things... But just for my small part, I felt compelled to chime in and say that the Plum Village sangha is really, really meaningful to me and many of my friends. Everyone I sit with has been very closely involved and participatory in Plum Village activity, and many of us engage with the teachings primarily to engage with life in the everyday. My sangha has actually had the opposite effect of the perceived "engaged Buddhism" effect for me, in that I'm probably now paying more attention to the sick dogs in my world than that "cause celebre" of the moment. Western folks seem to throw around the term "skillfull means" a little too much -- But I'd like to offer that teachers like you, or TNH, or Josh Korda, or Sharon Salzberg, are all committed practitioners in their own rights who are using skillful means to speak to different audiences with different temperaments and different expectations. I am grateful for the Dharma in my life, and it comes via various channels. Some are punk rock, some are Smashing Pumpkins. That's just how it goes with me. But to each their own. "Go forth for the good of the many, for the happiness of the many, out of compassion for the world, for the welfare, the good and the happiness of gods and men." (Aṅguttara Nikāya) Take care, Lucas

[@singaporeano]

Why would you support this guy on Patreon? He's just so full of himself. A total fraud masquerading as a dharma teacher.

[@stuartzalka]

"blah, blah, blah ... I'm not saying I know anything about Thich Nhat Hahn but blah, blah, blah..." You certainly do not and in the absence of knowledge you fill the idea of Thich Nhat Hanh with you own issues, ideas, projections and conclusions. Sad indeed. Meaningless chatter.

[@Zaimk]

😮😮😮😮😮😮😮😮😮😮😮😮😮😮😮😮😮😮😮😮😮😮😮😮

[@dbuck1964]

Meaningless chatter about meaningless chatter, eh?

[@stuartzalka]

@@dbuck1964 rewatched the vid. As it relates to Thich Naht Hahn, yep. Never let not knowing what your talking about (an he admits he doesn't) keep you from expressing an opinion.

[@mac1414]

And Suzuki etc, were no different at all. But, in the same way, nearly all teachers, including the Buddha, were surrounded by those countless people. Those teachers were all like "celebrities". Otherwise, how could Buddhism even go past being some small groupie trend, into a global movement? Well, it would never do.

[@WoodsyLadyM]

Thanks for bringing it all down to earth.

[@heidi5304]

I always appreciate your honesty Brad. You speak your mind openly, with respect, and that is also a teaching. It seems to be that different teachers have unique ways of impacting the broader system . There is always a danger to going "big" because more people may misinterpret or twist your words to do harm. At the same time there is more of a chance to plant positive seeds . I have listened to many of TNH KZbin lectures and he offers various teachings that are useful in daily life. He also liked to have kids go first for audience questions which I like a lot for "beginners mind" . Celebrity can be a turn off for sure but I think that he handled it about as well as a person could. Thanks again Brad. Appreciate you!

[@singaporeano]

For someone who confesses he has absolutely no idea who Thich Nhat Hanh was and clearly is unfamiliar with his body of teaching, you certainly felt entitled enough to go on and on.

[@Rocky-pc1bj]

About engaged Buddhism and other topics but not Thich Nhat Han per se. Forgot that bit of context.

[@singaporeano]

@@Rocky-pc1bj Dude thinks Engaged Buddhism is mimicking Christian charity. Clearly he wasn't even born when Thich Nhat Hanh was out campaigning against the Vietnam war or getting called traitor by both North and South Vietnam and subsequently getting exiled.

[@HardcoreZen]

@@singaporeano I was born in 1964.

[@singaporeano]

​@@HardcoreZen So no offence, but this means you literally weren't even swimming in your father's balls yet when Vietnamese monks like Thich Quang Duc were setting themselves on fire in protest against anti-Buddhist policies - not in the commie north, but in US-backed South Vietnam. It was in such a milieu that TNH found himself, and he rose to the occasion. The persecution of his order by the communist powers has continued to this very day. Not so long ago, they found themselves set on by pro-government thugs and banished from one of their monasteries, and TNH was subject to non-stop surveillance since being allowed to return to Vietnam, even though it was clear he could no longer speak after his stroke! When dealing with a totalitarian regime, you *can't* not be engaged, but even if you're in a democratic environment, there is no reason not to be engaged. To the extent that I understand it, Engaged Buddhism is TNH's way of saying that you may not care about politics but politics cares about you. Each generation of Buddhists cannot afford to keep themselves cloistered in their own little ghettos and must rise up to meet the needs of their times with the teachings of the Buddha - mindfully, non-violently and with no hatred in their hearts for the 'other'. Whether in dealing with issues like racism or climate change, they believe it all starts with the foundational practice of mindfulness, because that is where people can gain freedom from their own hatred and anger and pre-conceived notions and grow compassion for all beings. I do see a nice full circle in their entire philosophy.

[@elijahrlopez]

“I’m not saying I know anything about Thich Nhat Hanh…” I don’t understand why you made this video. You say that you’re not saying X about him, but then proceeded to make that very claim. Before I call someone a fraud I’d find out if they really were. I don’t know how many books Hanh wrote, nether do you, so why call into question the authorship of his work? You say that “I’m not saying he didn’t write a 100 books”, then proceed to whisper “He didn’t write 100 books”. Both your tone and what you said in this video doesn’t match up with my past experiences with your videos and books. You come off 100% like you’re saying you are better than him. Maybe you’re just having an off day? If so I hope thing turn around.

[@paragozar]

He needs to go back to zen bootcamp, where opinion is left behind.

[@friarzero9841]

"And what is right speech? Abstaining from lying, from divisive speech, from abusive speech, & from idle chatter: This is called right speech." -- The Buddha, Samyutta Nikaya 45.8

[@jaked5144]

I’ve read a few books of his, two I’d say were genuinely good and insightful, the other, while being a little too lovey-dovey, was really helpful. I think he comes off as the real deal. I get what you mean in saying it is no where near the same thing as that intimate teacher-student teaching, still, I feel really grateful for his (and his ghost writer’s haha) work.

[@ivrz]

Thanks for clarifying my thoughts on this

[@ivrz]

Ps. Keep working on the jokes

[@shaggydog9789]

Hi Brad. Have you ever seen the cover of the first Rage Against The Machine album with the burning Vietnamese monk? That was a guy called Thich Quan Duc who sat down in lotus posture and set himself on fire with a can of gasoline in protest against the persecution of Buddhist monks by the South Vietnamese government in 1963. I'm sure I read in one of his books (either Being Peace or Peace Is Every Step) that Thich Nhat Hanh was going to also perform self-immolation like that as well in protest, but his fellow monks begged him not to do it as they believed he had an important role to play in helping people and teaching. When you look at what he did as a young activist in the 60's and 70's such as going to America to talk to Martin Luther King about the war in Vietnam, founding an order of Buddhist peace workers in rural Vietnam that established schools, healthcare, and rebuilt villages ravaged by the war, and sending boats to aid refugee boat people, I think you can definitely say that Thich Nhat Hanh walked it like he talked it. All the stuff that came later in life, Plum Village, the mindfulness movement, his celebrity chats with Oprah, we can have our opinions on that but in terms of peace activism coming from Buddhism he was definitely the real deal. In terms of his books, yeah it's true that after a certain point they were written by Plum Village students rather than him himself (and you can really tell the difference as the post millenium ones are a bit slushly and huggy feely) but the early ones he wrote such as The Sun My Heart, Being Peace, and The Miracle Of Mindfulness are really good books. And of course I'm sure that the OG Buddha didn't really say half the things that are ascribed to him, but yet we don't mind as we accept that they contain the essence of his teachings and in themselves serve as good teaching aids.

[@gunterappoldt3037]

He was "old school", the Vietnamese (Indo-Chinese) mixed style (which seems to differ from northern branches in some ways). The Sangha was, back then, in the 1960ies, trapped between the warring factions, and they tried their best to find adequate responses (as already discussed in this commentary-section some month ago, if I remember right). The situation was very complicated, dangerous, and painful for nearly everybody "over there". There were also so many "unsong heroes", we all too easy tend to forget (or don´t even know). These facts, at least, seem quite clear, and relatively undisputed. Another fact seems to be that he built his own "house" and "housestyle" via a strong charisma (which writes his own rules, so to speak). Whether one likes his "style" or not, seems to depend strongly on deeply ingrained preferences. And, lastly, he was -- and somehow still is (i.e., via the traces of memory, and so forth) -- a "figure of public interest", with all effects that follow from that.

[@benrusher581]

Brad, I find your point about the engaged Buddhism, as it is generally understood i.e 'big world stuff', rather then what's in front of us day to day, really helpful, thank you.

[@HardcoreZen]

Thanks.

[@adamdacevedo]

I think the bottom line is, we need (many) different spiritual teachers available in different formats (book, video, audio, in-person) because no one person can give us all the ideas/teachings we need…it’s just too big for any one person to take on…

[@edgepixel8467]

Or simply that we might resonate more with a different style of teaching.

[@kenh5317]

Isaac Asimov is credited with writing almost 500 books, so I would be more cautious in statements regarding authorship and the number of publications. Most of Thích Nhất Hạnh’s books are short and simple. There is also a lot of overlap of content in his books. Given those parameters, his literary output is remarkable but not unbelievable.

[@lopezb]

love it!!!!

[@kungfu31]

Hey! That was a good joke at the end. I’m not going to act like a TNH expert as I’ve only read a couple of his books. but I will say that when I was going through a “spiritual transformation” (really I was just deconstructing the faith I grew up with.) I found TNH which ultimately gave me a gateway to Zen and Buddhism and just for that I am very thankful for him. Funny enough his book “Heart of the Buddha’s teaching” was the whole reason I found your books as “Don’t Be a Jerk” was the first recommended book to me after I bought TNH’s book so that’s another plus.

[@gedfi]

As riled up you seem to be about Thich Nhat Hanh writing 100 books and being famous, just wait until you get to a few earlier productive Buddhists. I hear there was this dude in 13th century Japan who first went to China and then built his fame by writing not only 95 highly convoluted and hard-to-read essays but also having a bunch of his talks, poems and commentaries recorded by others. And even before that there was this other guy several centuries BCE who started out rich as anyone but went on to live a seriously hippie life and got so famous people are arguing on KZbin to this day about which way his fame should be discussed. How's that for fame or infamy? Seriously Brad, if you don't know what you are talking about - perhaps consider not talking about it? Respect is something you earn, and something you give. Some people even deserve it. In this case, you missed the mark.

[@gunterappoldt3037]

He was not that far off the mark, it seems to me. And there as good advice, given by an old, although not really "holy" master, Winston Churchill, I suppose: "Never trust statistics you did not fake yourself!"

[@DavidFerguson62]

By merely being alive you're engaged. I liked the joke.

[@michaelelgar8574]

I think there' a lot of projecting going on about TNH himself here. I've read a dozen or so of his books and he doesn't seem like the schmoozy type. He's popular and sort of a gateway into the world you inhabit for people that didn't do the seeking. Sort of like Pixies fans hating on Nirvana and making their little club open to more people including bandwagoners.

[@Manhwa108]

I mega loled with the Tich Nath Han joke 🤣

[@friarzero9841]

Professional jealousy from the man who describes himself as "by any measure the best living writer about zen in the english speaking world".

[@HardcoreZen]

Did TNH describe himself that way?

[@friarzero9841]

@@HardcoreZen No, you described yourself that way in your blog post entitled "Death and Dreaming".

[@as_the_turntables]

@@friarzero9841 nice

[@mariomontelongo9967]

I lost some respect I had for you for this video. It sounds like you felt bullied to publish this video, one you did not have to publish. I echo @lorena charlotte’s sentiment.

[@wkennedypsyd1]

You know, I normally agree with you on most things, but I have to push back on the notion that he could not have written 100 books. He died at 90+ years old. He started publishing poetry in the 40's. That's almost 80 years of writings. I don't think 100 books are outside the realm of plausible, just saying. I think your openness is not so good here.

[@HossainSalahuddin]

Thich Nhat Hanh had a very unique style of writing. As a Librarian who is into these sorts of things, I have absolutely no doubt that they were Thay’s own writings. I have many of this children’s books as well (for my 2.5 year old), and I can clearly tell from the language and terminologies used how they are, in a sense, ‘baby version’ of his adult books. Thay was an accomplished poet and artist, you can see signature of his poems in his prose. Brad’s comments about Thay’s writings are unfair and ignorant. And, I say that with no disrespect towards Brad.

[@joeg3950]

Time for a nap! I read some of his books. However, I’m not a Plum Village guy. Ready for some cartoons or maybe a game of cards

[@danielpack6109]

My original Zen teacher referred to Thich Naht Hanh as the Mr. Rodgers of Zen.

[@BagelBagelBagel]

Hell yes to that! Perfect analogy

[@adamdacevedo]

And Brad Warner is the Kurt Cobain of Zen!

[@bobbyjames1986]

What a great compliment to Thay.

[@bobbyjames1986]

@@adamdacevedo narcissist and whining?

[@adamdacevedo]

@@bobbyjames1986 Hmmmm….more like punk rock philosopher who’s bringing nuanced ideas to the masses. (But I admit I’m biased in favor of Cobain in a way many people are not…)

[@user-lh7tq3yk4f]

Thich's most famous book is focused on small, attainable goals. That he seemed to talk about larger scale stuff, it's because he was a product of his times. And, since he actually lived through them and got involved, for him it probably was a series of immediate causes that amounted firstly in his survival, then in engaging with his turbulent surroundings. It's not like an abstract cause made him rise up from his suburban home (though I wouldn't laugh that off either). And that 'engaged' thing, it's an idiosyncrasy as much as anything, he had that and went along with it. I think 'mainstream' buddhism is palatable for people that won't research certain topics more thoroughly, in order to find the grassroots, the underground, the real thing. No shame in that, cause you either have the drive to do that digging, or you don't. Of course, there are levels to this, but there should be something for everyone. Like a person could dig out a thousand 60s garage rock bands, another could just listen to his dearest 5 Rolling Stones LPs for all his life, they both enjoy the music. Also, in many parts of the world, it's either mainstream or nothing, there are no groups or retreats or references in pop culture. So if a Thich book reaches a public library, it might be the only buddhist-related thing a local could get his hands on. In rural orthodox Greece, we are lucky if we can get Osho hidden among self-help books. What can you do? Needless to say, about 3 greek websites referenced Thich's passing, such is his celebrity status here. As for the number of his books, a lot of times it's recurring topics from different angles (eg fear, anger, Buddha vs Christ etc). There's also a lot of anecdotal material (examples), guides for meditation, plus some of them are fairly small ('The miracle of Mindfulness'). Many of them were published in Vietnam under pseudonyms, cause of him being persecuted. Mostly essays dealing with contemporary stuff, then corrections to those essays or responses to other peoples' essays...Or translations, then revised translations with commentary etc. Thus, a 20 page essay in Vietnamese printed in 60 copies could qualify as a book. So, given that he was a scholar who wrote until he was 85, 100 books is not unattainable. If Bukowski could knock off a novel in three weeks while drunk, why couldn't Thich note down his daily contemplations, sort of like a journalist with a daily column, and when he gathered enough, publish them under certain thematics? It's not like he was trying to break new ground in literature with every new book. Brad is right though. I could imagine members of his circle transcribing his speeches, or piecing together bits and excerpts. Like a ghostwriter helping out with an autobiography, or worse, putting words in his mouth, words that 'Thich would had said under certain circumstances', the way Thucydides improvised in his texts. And it's inevitable that more books will follow after his passing. Again, what can you do? Random fact; Ennio Morricone is said to had composed more than 400 scores for cinema and television, as well as more than 100 classical works. I wonder if....

[@goatsplitter]

I've read quite a few of his books, too. Whether they're his books or "his" books, i cannot say 🤭 but they were quite good and there are a few really memorable sections and quotes and the like that help me keep hip on my practice. 🤓

[@sim85oo]

I could imagine how you could've ended this video in the 2nd minute of recording :P Maybe one thing that is out of your radar is Plum Village (community founded by Thich Nhat Hanh). I think they do pretty decent job in terms of their presence on YT, they keep on streaming ceremonies and dharma talks, I think it's just valuable contribution (in some way similar to yours) to what can be found on the internet.

[@barence321]

is Ziggy OK now?

[@chrisplaysdrums09]

I hereby support the great cause of Ziggy’s health. You should check out Hanh’s talks on Alaya consciousness. I’ve watched yours and I think you would enjoy his. It’s also possible that his books were separated from larger works that he wrote. Just a thought.

[@never_late_late]

THIS MESSAGE IS FOR BRAD : I am on break now, but I came across this video by chance (the KZbin algorithm) and, as an ex-monastic in the Plum Village tradition, I would like to offer my response based not only on years of practicing, studying, and being active in the sangha, but also on my experiences with Thay (Thich Nhat Hanh) “behind the scenes” in various scenarios and settings. I have to return to work now, but I wanted to post this now just in case I would forget hours from now. Stay tuned…

[@JAPRYDER]

Says…the Celebrity Buddhist! Funneh..,

[@as_the_turntables]

Wonder what the dislike count is in this one...

[@teresadewi2144]

Thay helped me to understand more about Buddhist emptiness. Before listening to his talks, I thought of Buddhist emptiness as really empty (nihilistic).

[@Tsotha]

Thich Nhat Hanh simply didn't aim his message at an intended audience that included me. You, however, did Brad.

[@magpiecity]

"That was tick, not Hahn". 😂

[@awakenow7147]

You make good points. I'm not sure if I agree with them, but they're food for thought! It seems that the balance of maintaining your practice, but also having a huge responsibility and machine to maintain...is quite precarious. The temptations must be plentiful. I know nothing about that kind of responsibility, and I dunno if I want to know anything about it.

[@ColeCash]

Ursula Bloom wrote 500 books. Jozef Ignacy Kraszewski wrote more than 200 novels. Kathleen Lindsay wrote 904 books. I could go on and on, you should look into it, the human potential is amazing. What team goes into “producing” Brad Warner every day? Could you do what you do, the way you do it, without your wife? Without your father in law? Without Ziggy? Without the municipal government and roads? Without the trash collectors, the book publishers, the readers? Without the workers that produced your food? Also for as much as you talk about engaged Buddhism, maybe it’s time for you to read primary sources on it?

[@HardcoreZen]

What would you recommend that I read? It's not so much the primary sources that concern me. Those might be of very high quality. What concerns me is how they seem to be interpreted.

[@peteuplink]

@@HardcoreZen Try reading Thay's books Lotus in a Sea of Fire or Fragrant Palm Leaves.

[@cluck_cluck]

“Engaged Buddhism” should really just be right action at the right time, appropriate to the situation. It doesn’t need a name.

[@katherinejackson6354]

Nan Huai-Chin had rock star status in China. I really don't think that's a problem. What matters is the quality of the teaching and they way the lived their lives. Actually there's Master Hai Deng too. I read a great article about him yesterday... "The Truth About Ch’an Master Hai Deng (1902-1989)". Contemporary celebrities are functions of electronic media. John David Ebert has a great book on that topic called "Dead celebrities, living icons."

[@jakubbanasiak5563]

I have read two his books: "Zen Keys" and "The Miracle of Mindfulness" (I think former one was better) and watched a few videos with him. I have to say authors who write a lot of books on spirituality always seem suspected for me (you know what I mean), yet in his case it may be very unfair perspective, because his teaching helped people.

[@HardcoreZen]

I know he's helped people. It's just that, as a guy who writes books, I get irked by people who claim to have written books that they didn't actually write.

[@elijahrlopez]

@@HardcoreZen how do you know this? Do you have evidence of him not being the author of a book with his name on it?

[@singaporeano]

​@@HardcoreZen Do you have any idea how incredibly obnoxious you sound here? Did you take a close hard look at his bibliography before thinking it was your place to make a judgement like that? Just what is so hard to believe about a 95-year-old man having 100 titles under his belt? How many dharma talks do you think he has given in his 80 years as a monk? Some of his books are his translations and commentaries on the various sutras, some are collections of his artwork (poetry, calligraphy and so on), some are chilldren's books, some are practices he developed in his order which they deemed helpful to publish (like the one on their own monastic code and the other one on mindful movements). Many of his books are actually not full-length books, but pocket books, collections of essential writings, quotable quotes and so on - ie., the same material, remixed and repackaged in different ways. I have no doubt that many of his books were edited from his talks by his followers, like the 2021 book on climate change. According to your logic, I suppose a writer can only have a book bearing his name if he was the one sitting at the computer editing his own stuff, but for most reasonable people, it only matters if the ideas came from him. I see a whole load of envy, projection and ignorance from you. Shameful.

[@enterthevoidIi]

@@singaporeano So many of his books are not books at all, which means he didn't write 100+ books? And yes, if you write a book, you're the author of the book. If someone writes down what you say and makes a book out of it, you're not the author. The author is the person who wrote down what you said. Also, you don't decide what most reasonable people do or think or what matters to them. You don't have that kind of authority pal. Claiming that people who don't agree with your skewed logic are not reasonable makes you very unreasonable.

[@HardcoreZen]

@@singaporeano I do have some experience with writing books.

[@dudeonthasopha]

This shit sucks bro. From your liking tweets equating child vaccination to abuse and support for ultranationalists (very punk rock) to such an uninformed take on TNH looks like an ideal exit.

[@reasonablecompanion4426]

what support for ultranationalists?

[@HardcoreZen]

@@reasonablecompanion4426 That's what I want to know!

[@beebop333]

The first book I read that had anything to do with Buddhism was No Death No Fear by Thich Nhat Hanh so in that way he helped me to explore Buddhism, so for that I thank him RIP Thich

[@dougbanner6165]

Did he really choose it though?

[@TheWrongCar84]

True: About a dozen of his books are transcribed from lectures. Still nothing at all to sneeze at! And good joke, btw. Punchline snuck up on me!

[@lorenacharlotte8383]

Thich Nhat Hanh was the most extraordinary enlightened human being I’ve ever come across. He was not chasing after fame but it came to him out of his really effective good teachings if practiced. He always walk his talk. The historic Buddha is also very famous and admired by millions of people. Will you criticised The Buddha because of that?. You can not understand Thich Nhat Hanh yet because your heart mind is not opened. Your talk is out of your ego.

[@luduvicomcdougall224]

That joke really Thich'd me off!

[@larahamilton2273]

Poor little Ziggy! I’m new to your channel and recall that you said he had surgery. What happened to him?

[@HardcoreZen]

He never had surgery. I might have been talking about taking him to the vet for a vaccine, but never surgery.

[@bronsonmcnulty1110]

did Ziggy get omicron ?

[@HardcoreZen]

@@bronsonmcnulty1110 No.

[@baruchdespinoza6318]

I loved the joke! 😂

[@barence321]

Science Fiction/Fantasy writer Piers Anthony (87 years old) has supposedly published 166 books, some of which I have read. Maybe it is different for fiction?

[@HardcoreZen]

I can believe that someone who spends pretty much all day every day doing nothing but writing can produce that many books.

[@barence321]

@@HardcoreZen Piers Anthony's "Xanth" novels are full of bad (and good) puns. They are fun to read.

[@benhorner8430]

I think Isaac Asimov wrote a lot of books. :) He was a pretty extreme example though.

[@bxvzky2361]

I love this joke and Ziggy too

[@bayreuth79]

I found that rather dismissive. It would have been wiser to speak on the basis of knowledge rather than supposition. Since you have read on book written by Thich Nhat Hahn and have never been to Plum Village, etc., it is unfair to make any comments.

[@chmeditations]

Thanks man, I think no one should be raised above. Teachers can be idolized and become a dependency. Principles not personalities.

[@SageBlackthorn]

I enjoyed the documentary "Walk With Me", and the only other thing I know of Thich Nhat Hanh was a quote attributed to him "Drink your tea slowly and reverently, as if it is the axis on which the world earth revolves - slowly, evenly, without rushing toward the future.” I like sipping on a cup of hot tea.... or ice tea for that matter......so I rather liked that quote. Regarding Smashing Pumpkins.... or any concerts really...... I never had any interest in dealing with the craziness of concerts, no matter how much I like a singer, or a band. I've never liked crowds during the best of times. I might watch a video of a live performance, but honestly all of those that I've seen have had pretty bad sound quality, so I'd rather just get the albums and enjoy them at home.

[@dbuck1964]

Ahh, the celebrity crowd appears to have come for Brads head! Meanwhile denying their own existence, hmmm 🤔😅😂

[@austinhill5825]

Thank you Brad ❤️

[@lulagoodwin5372]

Good video I pretty much agree people deified him and I think like mythologizing people like that does muddy the truth

[@MrTheLuckyshot]

As far as the 100 books go, a lot if them are VERY similar. I'm not saying he wrote the same book 100 times, but...

[@TheJedynak]

What I like about this video and comments, is that people express slightly different views (on engaged buddhism) and the result is clarification on their opinions which can be actually helpful to readers. It does not end in the usual flaming (for which the internet was invented, I guess).

[@elliotlee6425]

Even as you try to qualify what you say many times, this is really a reflection on the nature of celebrityhood (or a spiritual version of it) than on Thay himself. I think you would have responded more fruitfully if you dealt with the person of Thay--his purity, his passions, and his writings.

[@OxymoronInchief-pj1jr]

I listen to The Way In Is Out podcast, read bools by TNH, attend Sangha based on his teachings. Not sure I agree with this at all. It was Oprah who claimed 100 books not him but even so what we call a may be a pamphlet and in TNH's case a collection of poetry that requires no research. It could be that TNH is sincere and humble but got caught into a celebrity cyclone by his courageous response to the Viet Nam war. BTW let us know your thoughts on Peter Frampton's induction in the rock hall. I am hopeful this will raise Humble Pie's profile!

[@mattrkelly]

spirituality has always been like this... didnt dogen also have keizan to promote him and be a spiritual celebrity?

[@dr.jeffreyzacko-smith324]

Like 5 people probably read Dogen’s work whole he was alive …

[@mattrkelly]

@@dr.jeffreyzacko-smith324 yes.

[@shanesullivan460]

Come to think of it, Billy Corgan (of Smashing Pumpkins) does strongly resemble Thich Nhat Hanh. I never noticed. I hope Ziggy feels better!

[@paragozar]

Let's not talk about things we don't know about and let's not talk about things we do know about. Bowing only. Seriously, this video is a disappointment in the current status of zen in America. This is just a bunch of worthless opinion, everyone weighing in on their egocentric evaluation of a globally influential zen master, who did a lot and said very little, for 5 or 6 decades. Everyone needs to shut up and do more zazen, determine what is a real teacher, and there are a good number of them out there, even in their 20s and 30s. Yutadhammo Bikkhu, for example, teaches authentic dharma, a Canadian in Sri Lanka, age 43.

[@katherinejackson6354]

Colin Wilson wrote more than 100 books.

[@HardcoreZen]

I don't know who that is.

[@HossainSalahuddin]

Humayun Ahmed, an extremely popular author in Bangladesh and in the subcontinent, wrote close to 200 books in about 20 odd years and died at the age of 64. It’s possible. They were not ghost-written.

[@gunterappoldt3037]

@@HossainSalahuddin It´s also a question of definition, really. Brad must have thought of some big voliants, monographs, studies, etc., where much labor goes in nearl each and every passage (and then, only some 25 odd pages may even be "revolutionary", like Albert Einstein´s first article on his "Theory of Relativity" in a scientific journal). When you follow hight scientific standards, such an huge amount of books produced would really be extraordinary, if only for formal, methodological reasons. However, if you are, e.g., a free-lance journalist, "convolution" is much easier. And that applies, even more so, for "virtuosos", unbound by formal and other criteria. Then it is possible, if one really sticks to the aim of high output, to hit even higher marks.

[@BudoJoksimovic]

11:04 Billy Corgan?

[@magpiecity]

Maybe the 100 books were lectures? Think Osho or even Rudolf Steiner...

[@pajamawilliams9847]

Sure is a lot of not staring at walls going on in this comment section.

[@michaellyle8769]

He wrote the same book at least 50 times so 100 might be accurate.

[@kw1ksh0t]

Yeah pretty much. It's his basic teachings applied to 50 different situations: work, stress, inner child work, etc.

[@davidgates3190]

For another view see Alex Kakuyo on KZbin.

[@elenakuzmina2637]

Hope nothing serious with lovely Ziggy? How is he?

[@HardcoreZen]

He seems to be doing much better.

[@wladddkn1517]

Heh... It is said, thou shalt not make idols, and it is said, if you meet a buddha kill him. But you can't kill the Idol made in human mind - it is not a wooden buddha, it will fight back :)

[@dbuck1964]

Ha ha Brad loved the joke.

[@lopezb]

Ziggy Nhat Hanh!!!

[@madebyPure]

Friendly feedback: a script could be useful for these videos. The frequent tangents and verbal stumbling gets in the way of your message.

[@guyolive1071]

About that joke, "Here's your fucking like". : )

[@Evildentistsfromhell]

Interesting! I always thought that american "engaged buddhism" is some version of a buddhist woke progressive activism. LGBTQIA buddhism, being black and buddhist etc...

[@JAPRYDER]

And you’re “not saying”? You’re implying mate. Shabby stuff.

[@dannymeske3821]

Feed Ziggy better food and he won't get sick!

[@ronmcbee4743]

100%

[@Burps6]

Well, TNH didn’t spend his days sharing his opinions on KZbin. Why is that?

[@HardcoreZen]

I would guess that he was probably too busy running Plum Village. He was also from an earlier generation who are generally less interested in new technologies like KZbin. Also, there is a LOT of TNH content on KZbin...

[@JacqueRabie]

I’m a big fan of yours Brad but this felt pretty disrespectful just a few days after his passing

[@dr.jeffreyzacko-smith324]

So …. Literally everyone else on the planet can have an opinion and express it now, except anyone who isn’t a “super fan”?

[@JacqueRabie]

@@dr.jeffreyzacko-smith324 of Thich Nhat Hanh? I feel he was objectively a pretty good human and his death can be used as a means of spreading a message of love rather than of confusion around his philosophies. Also allowing people who were connected to him to grieve freely. So giving that space for at least a few weeks before shelving out what might be totally fair critiques is more respectful in my opinion.

[@paragozar]

@@dr.jeffreyzacko-smith324 Real Zen teachers know the difference. Brad shows a lack of true wisdom at time of great reverence.

[@kw1ksh0t]

@@JacqueRabie There's no such thing as "objectively a good human"

[@stephenlupoli]

I think you’re off the mark with this analysis. I certainly don’t hate you for it. If he was a celebrity, we in America made him one. He would have still been who he was regardless.

[@wkennedypsyd1]

I guess another interesting thing is that this does not seem to be how you review works from people like Dogen. What do you think about his interpretation and teachings as they relate to Zen? His Dimond sutra or Heart sutra translations?

[@dr.jeffreyzacko-smith324]

I think Brad’s talked about this all pretty extensively over the years!

[@HossainSalahuddin]

@@dr.jeffreyzacko-smith324 But not Thich Nhat Hanh’s interpretations (unless I have missed them, which is very possible).

[@wkennedypsyd1]

@@dr.jeffreyzacko-smith324 I think he has too. And I like how he tied it together, however, the point of this video, as I understood it was his thoughts on TNH, so talking about TNH's teachings, not his personality feels like an important thing to address.

[@as_the_turntables]

Why would it be impossible for a person to write 100 books. Genuinely curious...

[@HardcoreZen]

Try writing a book. Like really WRITE the book, don't just have someone transcribe things you said and then edit it for you.

[@estebanb7166]

You’re really just moving hot air, huh 🤔

[@as_the_turntables]

This video was an oversight lol

[@barence321]

I clicked for a serious video, and all I got was this stupid pun. Haha.

[@cyrilgcoombsiii]

I love the joke; it was probably not that good but your”spiritual” influence exacerbates the humor 🤣

[@danielpinojr.8312]

Billy Corgan!!!

[@tubetrace]

Not even Steven King has written a hundred books!

[@friarzero9841]

Brazilian author Ryoki Inoue holds the Guinness World Record for being the most prolific author with 1,075 books published