Thich Nhat Hanh: Meditation Is for Everyone

    —
June 16, 2009

Thich Nhat Hanh: Meditation Is for Everyone

Thich Nhat Hanh June 16, 2009

Tami Simon speaks with Thich Nhat Hanh, a Vietnamese Zen Buddhist monk, teacher, poet, peace activist, and the author of over 100 books and numerous Sounds True learning programs, including The Art of Mindful Living and Living Without Stress or Fear. In this interview, Thich Nhat Hanh talks about his experience as a young monk, the engaged Buddhist movement, and the core of the Buddhist teachings: liberation through mindfulness. (45 minutes)

Thich Nhat Hanh (1926–2022) was a Zen master in the Vietnamese tradition, scholar, poet, and peace activist. He founded the Van Hanh Buddhist University in Saigon and taught at Columbia University and the Sorbonne. Thich Nhat Hanh is the author of the national bestseller Living Buddha, Living Christ and more than 60 other books. He was nominated for the 1967 Nobel Peace Prize by Martin Luther King Jr.

600 Podcasts and Counting…

Subscribe to Insights at the Edge to hear all of Tami’s interviews (transcripts available too!), featuring Eckhart Tolle, Caroline Myss, Tara Brach, Jack Kornfield, Adyashanti, and many more.

Meet Your Host: Tami Simon

Founded Sounds True in 1985 as a multimedia publishing house with a mission to disseminate spiritual wisdom. She hosts a popular weekly podcast called Insights at the Edge, where she has interviewed many of today's leading teachers. Tami lives with her wife, Julie M. Kramer, and their two spoodles, Rasberry and Bula, in Boulder, Colorado.

Photo © Jason Elias

Also By Author

Thich Nhat Hanh: Meditation Is for Everyone

Thich Nhat Hanh is a Vietnamese Zen Buddhist monk, teacher, poet, peace activist, and the author of over 100 books and numerous Sounds True learning programs, including The Art of Mindful Living and Living Without Stress or Fear. In this episode of Insights at the Edge, Tami Simon speaks with Hanh about the core of Buddhist practice: discovering liberation through present-moment mindfulness. Hanh relates some of his experiences as a young monk in Vietnam, including his involvement in the “engaged Buddhism” movement. Finally, Tami and Hanh discuss why meditation is available no matter where you are or what condition you are in. (46 minutes)

A free video from our dear friend Thich Nhat Hanh

Enjoy this lovely video from our dear friend, Thich Nhat Hanh, recorded at the Body and Mind are One retreat in Colorado in the summer of 2011. There is something about Thich Nhat Hanh’s presence that just allows for an outpouring of mindfulness, love, kindness, and compassion. When we at Sounds True reflect upon mindfulness, we think immediately of our dear friend, Thich Nhat Hanh, and how fortunate we are to have the opportunity to work with him, something we’ve been blessed with over the last 20+ years. In so many ways, he embodies the work we’re doing here: our values, vision, and mission.

The beautiful and inspiring footage we gathered from Body and Mind are One was edited into a seven-hour online course, which you can enjoy from the comfort of your own home, on a schedule that works for you. More than an ordinary training course in mindfulness, Body and Mind Are One is at once a living transmission of insight from this beloved Zen master and a practical teaching series covering fundamental principles for a joyful life.

Free live stream with Thich Nhat Hanh!

Join us October 26 at 6pm ET!

Thich Nhat Hanh has spent decades exploring the power of the present moment to nourish oneself and others. In the present moment alone, he teaches, can we let go of ideas that lead to suffering, rest and renew ourselves, and discover the many conditions of happiness that are already here before us.

Now, you are invited to join one of the most respected teachers of our time in A Free Live Online Event with Thich Nhat Hanh: Refreshing Our Hearts: Touching the Wonders of Life. Streaming live from the historic Paramount Theatre in Oakland, California, on Saturday, October 26, at 6 pm ET (GMT-4), this two-hour video program will illuminate how the practice of mindfulness can radically transform our lives and our world.

Featuring the monks and nuns of Plum Village performing song and monastic chant, guided meditation and dharma teachings with Thich Nhat Hanh, and more, this rare event will bring you into the company of thousands around the globe as we open together to the joy and fulfillment that can be found within every moment.

Can’t make the live event? An on-demand edition will be available within three business days of the event’s conclusion.

thnstream

You Might Also Enjoy

Cortland Dahl, PhD: The Energizing Force of Compassion

Imagine how our world would change if all of our actions were rooted in love and compassion. Is that even possible? In this podcast, Tami Simon sits down with Dr. Cortland Dahl, the renowned Buddhist scholar, translator, scientist, researcher, and author of several books including his newest, A Meditator’s Guide to Buddhism, to discuss how compassion can become the energizing force that motivates you and inspires you each and every day.

Listen now for their insights on attuning to the intelligence of your heart; a neuroscientific approach to healing anxiety; the exciting research and new modalities emerging from the study of contemplative practice; how quickly we can begin to enjoy the profound benefits of meditation; the four pillars of a healthy mind: awareness, connection, insight, and purpose; appreciation and noticing the positive; living life in a meditative way; bringing your innate compassion up to the surface of conscious experience; doing the dishes as an act of love—how every action can become a gift; generosity, the inner richness that can never be exhausted; how empathy and compassion activate the brain’s “care network”; compassion in relationships; the universal longing for meaning and purpose; transformative pain, and why physical discomfort does not equal suffering; dealing with uncertainty; unlocking the insights of our emotions and finding the beauty in difficult experiences; a pith instruction: look at your mind; and more.

Note: This episode originally aired on Sounds True One, where these special episodes of Insights at the Edge are available to watch live on video and with exclusive access to Q&As with our guests. Learn more at join.soundstrue.com.

Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche: In Love with the World

Can you recall an experience from your past that felt simply awful at the time, but you now see as something positive and necessary for your personal growth? When we’re in the midst of a painful situation, it’s natural for us to resist, complain, or wish it would just go away. The last thing we want to hear from someone is, “Be grateful for this learning opportunity!” In this podcast, Tami Simon speaks with world-renowned meditation teacher Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche about his book In Love with the World, and how we can begin to transform suffering into a pathway to compassion and connection. 

Give a listen for some profound insights on: adding wood to the fire, or turning obstacles into opportunities; thinking outside of the box for solutions; impermanence; making friends with life’s ups and downs; challenging yourself to grow and testing your level of realization in the real world; uncovering the fundamental qualities of awareness, love, and compassion within you; cultivating courage; bardo practice and meditating on our mortality; discovering the ground of luminosity; the four-step process of offering, dedication, intention, and motivation; emptiness, or “unborn awareness”; how acceptance leads to freedom; maintaining confidence and trust during times of uncertainty or despair; and more.

Note: This episode originally aired on Sounds True One, where these special episodes of Insights at the Edge are available to watch live on video and with exclusive access to Q&As with our guests. Learn more at join.soundstrue.com.

Yuria Celidwen, PhD: Flourishing Is a Gradual Unfoldin...

Dr. Yuria Celidwen is at the forefront of a historic expansion in the field of contemplative science—or the study of inner practices like meditation, prayer, and mindfulness. Until recently, researchers have primarily focused on major religious traditions such as Buddhism or Christianity. Today, Dr. Celidwen is bringing the long-overdue perspective of Indigenous cultures into the discussion. In this podcast, Sounds True founder Tami Simon speaks with Dr. Celidwen about her new book, Flourishing Kin: Indigenous Wisdom for Collective Well-Being

Tune in for this invigorating conversation exploring: Yuria’s definition of flourishing as a gradual unfolding of aesthetic arrest; cultivating an embodied sense of your interconnection with all of creation; why Indigenous perspectives are vital for solving the climate crisis; honoring spirit, the animating principle of life; a deeper understanding of health; the direct experience of “moments of truth”; sunshine as a seed of awareness; the core right of self-determination; relating to Indigeneity respectfully; the possibility of collective flourishing; and more.

Note: This episode originally aired on Sounds True One, where these special episodes of Insights at the Edge are available to watch live on video and with exclusive access to Q&As with our guests. Learn more at join.soundstrue.com.

>
Share via
Copy link
Powered by Social Snap