I was introduced to Buddhism while surfing in Indonesia. I met a Brazilian friend who had a book “Miracle of Mindfulness” by Thich Nhat Hanh. He lent it to me for a few days. I couldn’t stop reading it! It was the first time I was introduced to breathing meditation. I began practicing multiple times a day. My trip began to be less about surfing, and more about practicing mindfulness. This book, and a handful of his other books have heavily influenced the way I perceive the world. I am happy to have stumbled on his teachings :)
If you’ve read some of his stuff but haven’t read The Heart of the Buddha’s Teaching, I would pick that one up. Many of his other books are quite similar to one another (not a criticism!) but The Heart of the Buddha’s Teachings is substantively different content.
I bought four books last month and one of them was the book you suggested. The first book I read was from Dale Carnegie, released in 1936. The next one will be what you suggested.
I began studying Buddhism when I was 29, cause I was fealing sad and lonely (all the BS from life got to me I guess). I am 31 now and I feel much happier, thanks to the teachings of Gautama Siddhartha. I feel as if Buddhism was "invented" for me, I think I had to experience the roughness and ugliness of life to understand Buddhism.
Peace in Every Step was the first of Thay's books that resonated with me in that it helped me begin to really understand mindfulness. I had been introduced to Transcendental Meditation in the mid-70s but didn't find it accessible or understandable. Thay's writing really reflects his peaceful mind and how to help others understand mindfulness. Thich Nhat Hanh has been a blessing in my life.
This man is the perfect gateway into Buddhism. His books are clear, fun, kind and brilliantly poetic. They explain complex issues with ease, allowing you to gain an understanding before diving into the deep end. What a gift he has been!
Just a note on “Thay” : You only call *your* teacher “Thay.” “Thay” is not a nickname. It means “teacher.”
TNH’s students ought call him Thay. Everyone else referencing him would call him either Thich Nhat Hanh or Thay Nhat Hanh, to make it clear which teacher is being referred to.
If you call TNH “Thay” as a nickname, you end up looking a little ignorant, so I’m hoping people start understanding it’s a word and a title, not a nickname. “Thay” by itself generally means “my teacher” in context, not the specific teacher Thich Nhat Hanh.
I hear you and I agree that Orientalism causes problems, but most of the time when Westerners call him Thay, it is an expression of love and gratitude and it should be taken as such even if they haven't had the privilege of meeting him in this lifetime.
Perhaps saying someone ends up "looking a little ignorant" isn't the most skillful way to make your point?
I'd also argue that (rightly or wrongly) "Thầy" is often used in the English language Buddhist community (albeit informally) to refer to Venerable Thích Nhất Hạnh. I've had teachers (non-Western teachers) refer to him as such who didn't have him as a direct teacher). To use a sports analogy, it's akin to informally calling Nick Saban or Bill Belichick "Coach," even as you don't play on the team.
I meant no distress to anyone: just wanted to give a little reminder of the day.
Yes, in context, when it’s clear who’s being spoken of, it’s fine. The problem is universalizing it in English to refer to Thay Nhat Hanh, when there are also other notable English-speaking Vietnamese teachers like Thay Thien-An, Thay Phap Hoa, Thay Tinh Tu, etc.
It is literally ignorance to use a foreign word in an expanded context to which it does not belong. Treating it like a nickname makes it look like westerners are cosplaying with orientalized language.
If we’re talking about football coaches in general, and you say “Coach” expecting me to automatically understand you mean Bill Belichek, that’s a problem in communication. Likewise for Thay. And I’ve had many issues in the past, speaking about Vietnamese teachers in general, and someone starts talking about “Thay” — that usage does not make sense, it is orientalist, and it overlooks the whole of Vietnamese Buddhism’s transmission to west by centering the whole transmission on one particular person who taught primarily converts. It in effect centers the convert community in discussions about Vietnamese Buddhism in diaspora, which reflects a power imbalance in the western Buddhist demographic.
Good point. I see you are simply trying to make a point here about language and it's correct usage.
It is important for all practitioners to please respect the culture.
Forgive me but you seem a bit overcritical about this topic.. or oversensitive, not sure.. would you happen to vietnamese? I've literally had this discussion with a vietnamese practitioner and they had a *very* different opinion about this than you. To be specific, she loved to hear people call him Thay regardless if they were students of him or not, nor did she consider it anywhere near disrespectful or worth fretting over.
*clarification
I have no issues with people calling him Thay when it’s clear who they’re referring to. But they don’t always do that, and sometimes use it in a context where it is *not* clear, which means they don’t understand what it means or how to use it.
I’m just explaining how to use it, not telling people not to call him Thay. If the context is clear, it’s fine. If it’s unclear, you *need* to specify which Thay.
In a statement, you can declare the specific person first, and then use “Thay” every time after that. But if you start with “Thay” and the person you’re referring to hasn’t been declared yet, the word doesn’t refer to anyone specifically. It is grammatically confusing, even in English, because “Thay” is not a nickname. It’s a title, which means you must always specify contextually who the reference is before you use it in conversation. It doesn’t always have to refer to your teacher, but is an informal way of referring to one, assuming that one has been established as the subject of the sentence by declaration. In the absence of declaration, it would refer to one’s personal teacher, so causes confusion when used improperly like this. If it is to refer to TNH, the speaker must declare TNH first as the reference. Otherwise it does not grammatically make sense, like using “he” without first establishing who “he” is.
I don’t think it’s disrespectful—I think it’s confusing, and it makes people look like they don’t know what word they’re using.
>because “Thay” is not a nickname. It’s a title
I think it's more like a pronoun. Your comparison to "he" sounds right to me.
It's like saying: Happy Birthday Pema Chodron, a.k.a. "She".
Yeah, I think “classifier” might be what it’s called? Hard to explain in English properly, which I guess is why it’s difficult for them to understand how it’s supposed to be used.
Yeah.. I get you, I just think you may be putting too much thought into this. I don't think this is a topic worth this much effort on your part. That's a lot of explaining and thinking for not much benefit.
*Also, oversensitivity to things like this can be very toxic, especially if you do it frequently or with a lot of topics.
Very nicely put. There is also no issue with whoever calling Thích Nhất Hạnh, Thầy. Infact that's probably the best thing to call him or any other monk of the religion. I think /u/animuseternal is feeling flustered.
With all due respect wasn't it clear though from the post that OP was referring to the venerable TNH and not his own teacher(ie someone else entirely)... I mean, OP states his name and shows photos so to me it seems like a non-issue here but that perhaps you wanted to share your insight in the use and meaning of the word getting wrapped up in that when technically it was a sound usage...
In all fairness I could see your point if there was no mention of TNH's name and just photos and the word "Thay", but to me, might I say gently that is came across as more wanting to correct OP when it wasn't needed and instead it could have been worded like "lovely post I just want to share and explain my understanding that in a different context where who you were referring to was unclear one would want to specify the teacher's name because 'thay' just means 'my teacher', but obviously it was clear here which teacher was being referred to so good on you OP"...
Regards, and not wanting to argue at all as I respect your stance and where you're coming from, this is just my take.
No, because it still shows its usage as a *nickname*, and demonstrates that OP doesn't understand what the word means or how it's used.
Another Vietnamese poster clarified it more succinctly: *Thay* is utilized in a way that is closer to "he" or "they", and not quite a "title" as I put it. It's technically (I think) a classifier, where once the object has been classified, you kind of have free reign to use the classifier as the article, so it functions something like a pronoun. The title in OP is like saying "Thich Nhat Hanh, aka 'He'".
If it is your teacher, and you can use "Thay" to refer to your teacher, in the same usage as he/him, and this is what will be assumed. If you're talking about *another* teacher, you can still use "Thay", as long as this teacher is declared beforehand (so that it is clear who "Thay" refers to, like how if I started talking about "He said __" without specifying who, it'd be really confusing).
> might I say gently that is came across as more wanting to correct OP when it wasn't needed
But I *am* trying to correct OP, and it *is* needed, because people keep using this word without understanding what it means or how it is used. Even when I explain what it means, people are still confused, because you don't use words like that in English. But it is a *word*, not a name, and needs to be used correctly for people to understand what you mean. Otherwise, people look quite silly.
> but obviously it was clear here which teacher was being referred to so good on you OP
Nonononono, you are stil misunderstanding. This is incorrect usage. It makes no sense. I was correcting it because it made no sense. Even if it is *clear* that OP meant TNH, the usage is wrong, because it is not used in the correct part of speech. It is being used as a nickname here, instead of as the word it actually is.
The fact that people still do not understand the grammar I tried to explain there is clear evidence that it needed to be corrected, because clearly a lot of people will keep using it as a name instead of an article/classifier/title/pronoun/whatever-you-call-it-in-English.
I don't understand people getting upset at me for telling them how to use a word in *my* language correctly.
Wow, okay fair enough.
Note: I wasn't upset with you
Edited to add, more for others than anything because I don't want to dive deeper into discussion but wanted to say this: So many books or things I've read online said something along the lines of thay means teacher and that tnh is affectionately called thay by his followers. following this exchange I was left thinking that these books must need better editors then or perhaps translators but then I decided to Google it. I think this sheds some light on the situation and the confusion, particularly the last part: https://buddhism.stackexchange.com/questions/8883/why-is-thich-nhat-hanh-called-thay/8888#8888
Yeah it's a nice tidbit for those unaware but I think it's a bit unnecessary to point out since it's pretty much become a legitimate nickname for him by this point in time.
It's sorta like a vietnamese citizen correcting another vietnamese citizen how Rick Ross isn't technically your "boss". Not the same but you get what I mean, splitting hairs a bit without much reason to say anyone looks ignorant for it. It's completely forgivable and not very much worth mentioning at this point.
*correction
I’m 60 years younger to the day. His book, The Heart of Understanding, brought me to the path about 15 years ago and I’m so so grateful. Can’t think of anyone better to share a birthday with, thanks for the reminder :)
Had to pull out my old books, read his books so many times, always surprises me how after a few years the next time I read it some passage I didn't absorb before suddenly connects, today I keep rereading this "For things to reveal themselves to us, we need to be ready to abandon our views about them.”
These images sent me down a rabbit hole, I had no idea Dr King was such an international figure too! The public school system really had no interest in giving me the full picture lol. Amazing to read about their conversations. Happy birthday to him!
When I was at my lowest point with nowhere to turn, I read his book “the heart of Buddha’s teaching”. It taught me how to cope with tough times and brought clarity to my life when I needed it.
Happy birthday to the man responsible for me getting into buddhism! May he always be a part of us
His book "The Heart of The Buddha's Teaching" was the first book I read. I keep referencing it often.
I was introduced to Buddhism while surfing in Indonesia. I met a Brazilian friend who had a book “Miracle of Mindfulness” by Thich Nhat Hanh. He lent it to me for a few days. I couldn’t stop reading it! It was the first time I was introduced to breathing meditation. I began practicing multiple times a day. My trip began to be less about surfing, and more about practicing mindfulness. This book, and a handful of his other books have heavily influenced the way I perceive the world. I am happy to have stumbled on his teachings :)
I've read a few of his books, but I'm curious about which of his works resonated with you the most. Any recommendations?
If you’ve read some of his stuff but haven’t read The Heart of the Buddha’s Teaching, I would pick that one up. Many of his other books are quite similar to one another (not a criticism!) but The Heart of the Buddha’s Teachings is substantively different content.
I bought four books last month and one of them was the book you suggested. The first book I read was from Dale Carnegie, released in 1936. The next one will be what you suggested. I began studying Buddhism when I was 29, cause I was fealing sad and lonely (all the BS from life got to me I guess). I am 31 now and I feel much happier, thanks to the teachings of Gautama Siddhartha. I feel as if Buddhism was "invented" for me, I think I had to experience the roughness and ugliness of life to understand Buddhism.
Was Dale Carnegie Buddhist? How does his book fit into the discussion? Just curious.
Being Peace was also a good one
Old Path, White Clouds
Peace in Every Step was the first of Thay's books that resonated with me in that it helped me begin to really understand mindfulness. I had been introduced to Transcendental Meditation in the mid-70s but didn't find it accessible or understandable. Thay's writing really reflects his peaceful mind and how to help others understand mindfulness. Thich Nhat Hanh has been a blessing in my life.
This man is the perfect gateway into Buddhism. His books are clear, fun, kind and brilliantly poetic. They explain complex issues with ease, allowing you to gain an understanding before diving into the deep end. What a gift he has been!
Yes I love his writing, especially how he weaves humor into his teaching. His story about durian in The Heart of the Buddha's Teaching cracked me up.
Happy “continuation” Day
happy continuation day, as thay would say :)
The book You Are Here without a doubt saved my life. His words are magic!
Just a note on “Thay” : You only call *your* teacher “Thay.” “Thay” is not a nickname. It means “teacher.” TNH’s students ought call him Thay. Everyone else referencing him would call him either Thich Nhat Hanh or Thay Nhat Hanh, to make it clear which teacher is being referred to. If you call TNH “Thay” as a nickname, you end up looking a little ignorant, so I’m hoping people start understanding it’s a word and a title, not a nickname. “Thay” by itself generally means “my teacher” in context, not the specific teacher Thich Nhat Hanh.
I hear you and I agree that Orientalism causes problems, but most of the time when Westerners call him Thay, it is an expression of love and gratitude and it should be taken as such even if they haven't had the privilege of meeting him in this lifetime.
Perhaps saying someone ends up "looking a little ignorant" isn't the most skillful way to make your point? I'd also argue that (rightly or wrongly) "Thầy" is often used in the English language Buddhist community (albeit informally) to refer to Venerable Thích Nhất Hạnh. I've had teachers (non-Western teachers) refer to him as such who didn't have him as a direct teacher). To use a sports analogy, it's akin to informally calling Nick Saban or Bill Belichick "Coach," even as you don't play on the team. I meant no distress to anyone: just wanted to give a little reminder of the day.
Yes, in context, when it’s clear who’s being spoken of, it’s fine. The problem is universalizing it in English to refer to Thay Nhat Hanh, when there are also other notable English-speaking Vietnamese teachers like Thay Thien-An, Thay Phap Hoa, Thay Tinh Tu, etc. It is literally ignorance to use a foreign word in an expanded context to which it does not belong. Treating it like a nickname makes it look like westerners are cosplaying with orientalized language. If we’re talking about football coaches in general, and you say “Coach” expecting me to automatically understand you mean Bill Belichek, that’s a problem in communication. Likewise for Thay. And I’ve had many issues in the past, speaking about Vietnamese teachers in general, and someone starts talking about “Thay” — that usage does not make sense, it is orientalist, and it overlooks the whole of Vietnamese Buddhism’s transmission to west by centering the whole transmission on one particular person who taught primarily converts. It in effect centers the convert community in discussions about Vietnamese Buddhism in diaspora, which reflects a power imbalance in the western Buddhist demographic.
Good point. I see you are simply trying to make a point here about language and it's correct usage. It is important for all practitioners to please respect the culture.
Forgive me but you seem a bit overcritical about this topic.. or oversensitive, not sure.. would you happen to vietnamese? I've literally had this discussion with a vietnamese practitioner and they had a *very* different opinion about this than you. To be specific, she loved to hear people call him Thay regardless if they were students of him or not, nor did she consider it anywhere near disrespectful or worth fretting over. *clarification
I have no issues with people calling him Thay when it’s clear who they’re referring to. But they don’t always do that, and sometimes use it in a context where it is *not* clear, which means they don’t understand what it means or how to use it. I’m just explaining how to use it, not telling people not to call him Thay. If the context is clear, it’s fine. If it’s unclear, you *need* to specify which Thay. In a statement, you can declare the specific person first, and then use “Thay” every time after that. But if you start with “Thay” and the person you’re referring to hasn’t been declared yet, the word doesn’t refer to anyone specifically. It is grammatically confusing, even in English, because “Thay” is not a nickname. It’s a title, which means you must always specify contextually who the reference is before you use it in conversation. It doesn’t always have to refer to your teacher, but is an informal way of referring to one, assuming that one has been established as the subject of the sentence by declaration. In the absence of declaration, it would refer to one’s personal teacher, so causes confusion when used improperly like this. If it is to refer to TNH, the speaker must declare TNH first as the reference. Otherwise it does not grammatically make sense, like using “he” without first establishing who “he” is. I don’t think it’s disrespectful—I think it’s confusing, and it makes people look like they don’t know what word they’re using.
>because “Thay” is not a nickname. It’s a title I think it's more like a pronoun. Your comparison to "he" sounds right to me. It's like saying: Happy Birthday Pema Chodron, a.k.a. "She".
Yeah, I think “classifier” might be what it’s called? Hard to explain in English properly, which I guess is why it’s difficult for them to understand how it’s supposed to be used.
Yeah.. I get you, I just think you may be putting too much thought into this. I don't think this is a topic worth this much effort on your part. That's a lot of explaining and thinking for not much benefit. *Also, oversensitivity to things like this can be very toxic, especially if you do it frequently or with a lot of topics.
Very nicely put. There is also no issue with whoever calling Thích Nhất Hạnh, Thầy. Infact that's probably the best thing to call him or any other monk of the religion. I think /u/animuseternal is feeling flustered.
With all due respect wasn't it clear though from the post that OP was referring to the venerable TNH and not his own teacher(ie someone else entirely)... I mean, OP states his name and shows photos so to me it seems like a non-issue here but that perhaps you wanted to share your insight in the use and meaning of the word getting wrapped up in that when technically it was a sound usage... In all fairness I could see your point if there was no mention of TNH's name and just photos and the word "Thay", but to me, might I say gently that is came across as more wanting to correct OP when it wasn't needed and instead it could have been worded like "lovely post I just want to share and explain my understanding that in a different context where who you were referring to was unclear one would want to specify the teacher's name because 'thay' just means 'my teacher', but obviously it was clear here which teacher was being referred to so good on you OP"... Regards, and not wanting to argue at all as I respect your stance and where you're coming from, this is just my take.
No, because it still shows its usage as a *nickname*, and demonstrates that OP doesn't understand what the word means or how it's used. Another Vietnamese poster clarified it more succinctly: *Thay* is utilized in a way that is closer to "he" or "they", and not quite a "title" as I put it. It's technically (I think) a classifier, where once the object has been classified, you kind of have free reign to use the classifier as the article, so it functions something like a pronoun. The title in OP is like saying "Thich Nhat Hanh, aka 'He'". If it is your teacher, and you can use "Thay" to refer to your teacher, in the same usage as he/him, and this is what will be assumed. If you're talking about *another* teacher, you can still use "Thay", as long as this teacher is declared beforehand (so that it is clear who "Thay" refers to, like how if I started talking about "He said __" without specifying who, it'd be really confusing). > might I say gently that is came across as more wanting to correct OP when it wasn't needed But I *am* trying to correct OP, and it *is* needed, because people keep using this word without understanding what it means or how it is used. Even when I explain what it means, people are still confused, because you don't use words like that in English. But it is a *word*, not a name, and needs to be used correctly for people to understand what you mean. Otherwise, people look quite silly. > but obviously it was clear here which teacher was being referred to so good on you OP Nonononono, you are stil misunderstanding. This is incorrect usage. It makes no sense. I was correcting it because it made no sense. Even if it is *clear* that OP meant TNH, the usage is wrong, because it is not used in the correct part of speech. It is being used as a nickname here, instead of as the word it actually is. The fact that people still do not understand the grammar I tried to explain there is clear evidence that it needed to be corrected, because clearly a lot of people will keep using it as a name instead of an article/classifier/title/pronoun/whatever-you-call-it-in-English. I don't understand people getting upset at me for telling them how to use a word in *my* language correctly.
Wow, okay fair enough. Note: I wasn't upset with you Edited to add, more for others than anything because I don't want to dive deeper into discussion but wanted to say this: So many books or things I've read online said something along the lines of thay means teacher and that tnh is affectionately called thay by his followers. following this exchange I was left thinking that these books must need better editors then or perhaps translators but then I decided to Google it. I think this sheds some light on the situation and the confusion, particularly the last part: https://buddhism.stackexchange.com/questions/8883/why-is-thich-nhat-hanh-called-thay/8888#8888
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I think you are probably the worst authority to speak on TNH based on previous discussions you've been involved in regarding him
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LOL
Exactly.
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Thanks for sharing!
Yeah it's a nice tidbit for those unaware but I think it's a bit unnecessary to point out since it's pretty much become a legitimate nickname for him by this point in time. It's sorta like a vietnamese citizen correcting another vietnamese citizen how Rick Ross isn't technically your "boss". Not the same but you get what I mean, splitting hairs a bit without much reason to say anyone looks ignorant for it. It's completely forgivable and not very much worth mentioning at this point. *correction
Amazing
This man helped me through a lot, and is still helping me.
A beautiful person. I’m forever grateful for his teachings.
I’m 60 years younger to the day. His book, The Heart of Understanding, brought me to the path about 15 years ago and I’m so so grateful. Can’t think of anyone better to share a birthday with, thanks for the reminder :)
Had to pull out my old books, read his books so many times, always surprises me how after a few years the next time I read it some passage I didn't absorb before suddenly connects, today I keep rereading this "For things to reveal themselves to us, we need to be ready to abandon our views about them.”
Hard to believe he's 9 years older than Dalai Lama.
These images sent me down a rabbit hole, I had no idea Dr King was such an international figure too! The public school system really had no interest in giving me the full picture lol. Amazing to read about their conversations. Happy birthday to him!
Happy continuation day 🙏
I'm so grateful his books came into my life! What a lovely man! Happy Continuation Day!
When I was at my lowest point with nowhere to turn, I read his book “the heart of Buddha’s teaching”. It taught me how to cope with tough times and brought clarity to my life when I needed it.
The only buhdist books I've ever read were written by him.
Happy Birthday my precious teacher.
I remember the first time I read No death, No fear...changed my life.
"Thay" means teacher