By Ron Landsel
Thich Nhat Hanh, the 2015 recipient of the Pacem in Terris Peace and Freedom Award, is embraced into a beloved community of award recipients: Martin Luther King Jr., Cesar Chavez, Dorothy Day, Mother Theresa, Bishop Desmond Tutu, and scores of others, who are, in Dr.
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By Ron Landsel
Thich Nhat Hanh, the 2015 recipient of the Pacem in Terris Peace and Freedom Award, is embraced into a beloved community of award recipients: Martin Luther King Jr., Cesar Chavez, Dorothy Day, Mother Theresa, Bishop Desmond Tutu, and scores of others, who are, in Dr. King’s words, “bound by a common concern for peace and justice and a willingness to sacrifice themselves for this cause.”
Bishop Martin Amos presented the award in the presence of 120 monastics and 500 retreatants at Deer Park Monastery on October 31, 2015. Sister Chan Khong and Brother Phap Dang accepted the award on behalf of Thay. As the first Buddhist recipient of this ecumenical award, Thay was honored for his lifelong commitment to peace and justice, for balancing Eastern and Western spiritual traditions, and for his pioneering Engaged Buddhism.
The Pacem in Terris Award grew out of a vision of peace in Pope John XXIII’s 1963 encyclical—the first encyclical addressed to “all men of good will” rather than only to Catholics. Formally entitled, “On Establishing Universal Peace in Truth, Justice, Charity and Liberty,” the document came to be known by its opening greeting: “Peace on earth, for which all men of every era have most eagerly yearned, cannot be firmly established unless the order which God laid down is dutifully observed.” Many people saw the Pontiff’s appeal as a plea that the responsibility to create peace in the world belongs to each of us—to all people of good will.
In his introduction to Lotus in a Sea of Fire, the Trappist Monk, peace activist, and mystic Thomas Merton wrote of Thay’s understanding of Buddhism as “much less a matter of organized and institutional orthodoxy than a state of mind.” Merton and Thay established a brotherly relationship underlined by the Pacem in Terris encyclical’s theme, which Merton expounded as “establishing God’s Order” through contemplation and action.
Father Daniel Berrigan, a fellow Pacem in Terris awardee and Jesuit Priest, wrote of Thay, “It seems to me … this Buddhist monk, Thich Nhat Hanh, and his people, [are] a literal living out of the words of Paul the apostle, writing to his community, ‘… fatiguing labors … many threats of death … adrift on the high seas … in perils from my own nation … in fatigue and hardship … And apart from these things, there is my daily … solicitude for all our communities!’” 1
Thay was awarded this highly esteemed recognition during the 50th anniversary year of Martin Luther King Jr.’s selection for the award in 1965. In that same year, Dr. King complied with Thay’s letter, “Searching for the Enemy of Man,” which appealed to the civil rights leader to raise his voice against the American war in Vietnam. Thay wrote, “The great world humanists cannot remain silent, you yourself cannot remain silent.” 2
In that same year, Thay’s poem, “A Prayer for Peace,” was chanted throughout South Vietnam by youth to arouse willingness to work for peace in Vietnam. His verses still speak to us today:
Help us remember we are just one family,
North and South.
Help us rekindle our compassion and brotherhood,
and transform our separate interests
into loving acceptance for all. …
I am determined to cultivate only thoughts
that increase trust and love,
to use my hands to perform only deeds
that build community,
to speak only words of harmony and aid.3
For more information about the Pacem in Terris Award, including a list of past recipients, go to davenportdiocese.org/socialaction/sapaceminterris.htm.
1 Thich Nhat Hanh, Love in Action: Writings on Nonviolent Social Change (Berkeley: Parallax Press, 1993).
2 La Boi Press (June 1965).
3 Thich Nhat Hanh, Call Me by My True Names (Berkeley: Parallax Press, 1999).
Ron Landsel, True West Garden, lived in an intentional pacifist Christian community for twenty years and practiced as a social worker before ordaining into the Order of Interbeing. He coordinates the Rising Tide Sangha in Oceanside-Carlsbad, California, and co-coordinates the Palomitas De Paz Sangha in Vista, California. He lives in Oceanside with his wife, Margaret (Compassionate Patience of the Heart).
