The Birth of Engaged Buddhism

Thich Thay Nhat Hanh

Shambala Sun's John Malkin asked Thich Thay Nhat Hanh:
"Will you describe the origins of Engaged Buddhism and how you became involved in compassion-based social change?"

Thich Nhat Hanh replied:
"Engaged Buddhism is just Buddhism. When bombs begin to fall on people, you cannot stay in the meditation hall all of the time. Meditation is about the awareness of what is going on-not only in your body and in your feelings, but all around you.

When I was a novice in Vietnam, we young monks witnessed the suffering caused by the war. So we were very eager to practice Buddhism in such a way that we could bring it into society. That was not easy because the tradition does not directly offer Engaged Buddhism. So we had to do it by ourselves. That was the birth of Engaged Buddhism.


Buddhism has to do with your daily life, with your suffering and with the suffering of the people around you. You have to learn how to help a wounded child while still practicing mindful breathing. You should not allow yourself to get lost in action. Action should be meditation at the same time."

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Deep Ecology and Conservation

Deep ecology is another mechanism for conservation Stephanie Caza explains that Gary Snyder and his poetry following Han Shan 'Cold Mountain' and the ancient mountain poetry of China and Japan lead to Deep Ecology as a domain of the Environmental Movement.

Deep Ecology (like many indigenous groups, Engaged Buddhism and the Permaculture movement) does not see humans as separate from nature, it holds that there is a need and instinct to be compassionate to all living beings and looks to the health of the natural world as it relates to the health of the self and the health of community. In a way, it is about healing the relationship of humans and nature through a dialogue.

Caza says we must learn to speak, or at least respect the language of nature, a language that mycologist Paul Stamets has said we cannot understand and therefore we disregard. Caza calls for a look to Joanna R. Macy and the idea of the ecological self, which she says is similar to what HH Dalai Lama calls the universal self. It is also similar to EO Wilson's Eco Philia (i.e. nature helps people stay healthy and to heal, they get better in hospitals when the have plants and when they see plants, also true in prisons).

A Poem by Han Shan translated by Gary Snyder

Clambering up the Cold Mountain path,
The Cold Mountain trail goes on and on:
The long gorge choked with scree and boulders,
The wide creek, the mist-blurred grass.
The moss is slippery, though there's been no rain
The pine sings, but there's no wind.

Who can leap the world's ties
And sit with me among the white clouds?