there are some people we remember by looking back.
and there are some people we remember by continuing what they taught us.
Thầy Thích Nhất Hạnh belongs to the second kind. (Thầy means “teacher” in Vietnamese. it is what his students call him.)
Thầy once asked his students not to build a stupa to keep his ashes:
“please do not build a stupa for me… if I am anywhere, it is in your mindful breathing and in your peaceful steps.”
— Thích Nhất Hạnh
read his words in the Plum Village App →
perhaps this is one of the most beautiful things he left us.
he did not ask us only to remember him.
he showed us how to continue him.
in a breath. in a step. in the way we live.
in this post
- what Thầy gave me
- a teacher of peace in everyday life
- so, how do we continue Thầy?
- breathe with him for a little while
- continue, not only remember
what Thầy gave me
I never had the chance to meet Thầy.
but I met his teaching, at Plum Village in Thailand and reading his books, at a time when I needed it more than I knew.
there, something in me that had been hurting for a very long time, the child I once was, began to heal. slowly, breath by breath, I came to feel what I had not believed for years: that I am loved, and that I am protected.
and then I heard him speak of continuation.
that one word went straight to my heart. it became a quiet turning point in my life, the moment my way of seeing myself and the world began to change, from the inside out.
this is why my gratitude to Thầy runs so deep.
I cannot thank him in person. but I can do what he asked of us: continue. breathe as he taught. walk as he taught. and share his teaching, gently, with anyone who might need it the way I did.
this post is one small way of doing that. it is my thank-you, my respect and my promise to him, offered with all my heart.
if you would like to begin right now, here is an 11-minute breathing practice with his words and the sound of the bell.
breathe with Thich Nhat Hanh · 11 minutes of mindful breathing →
kindly press play when you're ready, and breathe with him for 11 minutes.
a teacher of peace in everyday life
Thầy was a Vietnamese Zen teacher, poet and peace activist. he founded Plum Village in France and helped mindfulness reach people across many cultures and countries.
his gift was to make it feel close enough to touch. not something only for a meditation hall, but for breathing, walking, eating, working, listening and resting.
you do not need to go somewhere extraordinary to begin.
you can begin where you are, with the breath you already have.
so, how do we continue Thầy?
1. breathe
when life becomes too fast, stop for a moment.
you don’t need to change your breath. simply notice it.
breathing in, I know I am breathing in.
breathing out, I know I am breathing out.
your breath is a small bridge back to the present moment, away from regret about the past and worry about the future.
try it for one minute. or take three breaths whenever you hear a bell, a phone or a door, the way Thầy taught his students to let everyday sounds call them home.
let that be enough.
2. walk
the next time you walk somewhere, see if you can walk without rushing to arrive.
feel your feet touching the earth. let your breath and your steps find each other.
Thầy taught that walking meditation is not about getting somewhere else. it is about arriving, in each step:
I have arrived. I am home.
you don’t need a meditation hall. a quiet street, a garden, or the few steps from one room to another can be enough.
3. practise with others
alone, we forget. we get distracted, and we slip back into old habits.
this is why Thầy cared so much about Sangha: a community of people practising together.
Plum Village has practice centres and monasteries in France, Germany, the United States, Hong Kong, Thailand and Australia. there, walking, eating, working, sitting, cleaning and resting all become practice. you can visit, join a retreat, or find a local Sangha near you.
explore Plum Village practice centres →
no Sangha nearby? practise with one friend.
or open the Plum Village App. it’s free, with guided meditations, deep relaxations and talks by Thầy and the Plum Village community, wherever you are. listen for a few minutes in the morning. take a deep relaxation after a long day. hear Thầy’s teachings while you walk.
you don’t have to do a lot. just begin.
4. read slowly
Thầy wrote many books, but you don’t need to read them all.
choose one. read a few pages. then put the book down and practise what you have just read.
- The Miracle of Mindfulness (Phép lạ của sự tỉnh thức): his classic little book on mindfulness, and still the gentlest place to start.
- Peace Is Every Step (An lạc từng bước chân): peace practised in the middle of ordinary days. many of his best-loved sayings come from here.
- Anger (Giận): how to hold anger with care instead of letting it burn us and the people we love. one of his most read books.
- no mud, no lotus (Không bùn thì không sen): how suffering, held with care, can become the ground for joy.
- Reconciliation: Healing the Inner Child (Thiền sư và em bé 5 tuổi): how to turn towards the hurt child within us with tenderness, and heal together. this is the book that walked with me through my own healing.
- Old Path White Clouds (Đường xưa mây trắng): the life of the Buddha told as a story, beloved by readers for generations.
if you only have a few minutes a day, his small pocket books (how to sit, how to walk, how to love, how to relax…) can be read in a few minutes, and are full of short practices you can try the same day.
find his books at Parallax Press, the publisher Thầy founded →
and when you read, don’t only ask: what does Thầy mean?
ask: what can I practise today?
that question turns a book into a path.
5. keep his words close
sometimes we don’t need another lesson. we need a reminder.
something to return to when we are rushing, angry, tired or afraid, or when we forget the life already in front of us.
here is one of them.
see all 12 Thich Nhat Hanh quotes →
save one on your phone. keep one on your desk. put one where you will see it tomorrow morning.
and when one of them speaks to you, pause, take a breath, and practise it.
breathe with him for a little while
the simplest way to remember Thầy is also the simplest way to begin.
stop. breathe. be here.
I made a short breathing practice as a small invitation to do exactly that: his words, the sound of the bell, and a few slow breaths together.
it is for anyone who loves Thầy. for anyone who misses him. for anyone who is tired. and for anyone who simply needs a quiet moment.
it lasts 11 minutes and 10 seconds, a quiet detail for 11/10, his birthday, which he called his continuation day.
but the number is only a doorway. what matters is what happens inside those minutes.
you can sit. you can breathe. you can let something heavy rest for a while.
and instead of only remembering him, you can practise with him.
breathe with Thich Nhat Hanh · 11 minutes of mindful breathing →
kindly press play when you're ready, and breathe with him for 11 minutes.
continue, not only remember
we don’t have to keep Thầy only in the past.
when we take a mindful breath, something continues.
when we walk peacefully, something continues.
when we listen deeply to someone who is hurting, something continues.
when we choose understanding over blame, something continues.
perhaps this is what he meant when he showed us where to find him.
not in a monument. not only in a book, or in a memory.
in the life we are living right now.
so if you love and respect Thầy, you don’t have to do something grand.
one breath. one peaceful step. one page. one person listened to deeply.
and then again tomorrow.
perhaps the most beautiful way to thank him is not only to say, “we remember you,” but, “we will continue.”
thank you, Thầy.
p.s. this post was written for Thầy’s 100th continuation day, 11 October 2026, in gratitude for the life, teachings and seeds of peace he continues to share with the world.
