Engaged Buddhism: Act NOW - Thich Nhat Hanh

Engaged Buddhism: "To Ensure a Future, We Must Act Today"

(Thich Nhat Hanh @ Plum Village) This is a Dharma talk offered by Thay or Thich Nhat Hanh in Oct. 2006, a few days after his 80th birthday (a few days after getting back from UNESCO):

All things are interdependent (interbeing)

“If you ask me how old I am, I will reply that 50 years ago, I was 30….” And that’s how Thay opens a beautiful talk about his time at An Quang in his 30s, editing the magazine of the National Buddhist Association.

He then talks about UNESCO, endless war in the Middle East, terrorism, climate change, and the importance of practicing peace rather than just talking about it.

“In Plum Village [Thay's center in France, akin to Deer Park in California] you can see the kind of Buddhism we need to respond to the needs of our times.”

“You can call Plum Village a center for the practice of peace and non-violence,” he adds.

How do I "engage" Americans for Tibet?

“If I had to choose between Buddhism and peace, I would choose peace. Because if you choose Buddhism and war, you lose both, and you destroy Buddhism in the process, because Buddhism is peace.”

Thay hands it over to everyone in the end: “If you are 30, you may have 50 years ahead of you, [so] you have to think how you would like to spend them. When people get older, they have regret because they did not do what they should have done.

"You need to be the arms of the Buddha…and the Buddha will be there to support you. Do not wait until tomorrow; tomorrow will be too late. You need to do it today."

• This is the transcript of Thay's speech at UNESCO headquarters in Paris, Oct. 7, 2006 (plumvillage.org)
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