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Thich Nhat Hanh: 'Father of Mindfulness' Passed Away

  • 22 Jan 2022

  • Thich Nhat Hanh, an influential Vietnamese Buddhist monk, has passed away on 22 January 2022.
  • A prolific author and peace activist, Thich Nhat Hanh, is often referred to as the "father of mindfulness".
  • Thich Nhat Hanh, was exiled from Vietnam in the 1960s after opposing the war.
  • During the height of the Vietnam War, he met with Martin Luther King, persuading the civil rights leader to speak out against the conflict. King later nominated Thich Nhat Hanh for a Nobel Peace Prize, describing him as "an apostle of peace and non-violence".
  • The monk spent decades in France after being exiled and went on to establish monasteries and meditation centres around the world, known as the ‘Plum Village Tradition’.

Mindfulness in Buddhism

Mindfulness is the practice of purposely bringing one's attention in the present moment without evaluation, a skill one develops through meditation or other training. Mindfulness derives from sati, a significant element of Buddhist traditions, and is based on Zen, Vipassanā, and Tibetan meditation techniques. Though definitions and techniques of mindfulness are wide-ranging, Buddhist traditions explain what constitutes mindfulness such as how past, present and future moments arise and cease as momentary sense impressions and mental phenomena.