Thich Nhat Hanh and Martin Luther King's friendship explored as renowned Buddhist monk dies aged 95

On January 22, Plum Village Tradition's founder, renowned Vietnamese Thiền Buddhist monk Thich Nhat Hanh passed away at the age of 95. Nhat Hanh's official Twitter profile announced the news of his passing.

While no cause of death was revealed, the revered monk and peace activist was known to have complications following a stroke in 2014. At the time, Nhat Hanh suffered a brain hemorrhage which left him unable to speak.

After his stroke in 2014, the spiritual leader returned to Vietnam. Until his death, he remained at his birthplace, the Thừa Thiên Huế province.

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Exploring Thich Nhat Hanh and Martin Luther King's friendship

According to the spiritual leader's foundation, the late Buddhist monk's first interaction with MLK was via a letter he sent to King in 1965. In the lengthy letter, Nhat Hanh explained the situation of his country amid the US-Vietnam war. He urged Martin Luther King to showcase his support for the war's end.

Prior to Nhat Hanh's letter, MLK chose to express his concerns to the public about the war cautiously. A year later, the two met in Chicago. Nhat Hanh described their meeting on his foundation's website. He recalled,

"We had a discussion about peace, freedom, and community. And we agreed that without a community, we cannot go very far."

Following their meeting, Martin Luther King publicly spoke about ending the Vietnam war, despite being discouraged from speaking against the Lyndon B. Johnson administration. In 1967, MLK nominated Nhat Hanh for the Nobel Peace Prize, which was unfortunately canceled that year.

In his letter to the Nobel Institute, MLK wrote:

"Thich Nhat Hanh offers a way out of this nightmare, a solution acceptable to rational leaders…. His ideas for peace, if applied, would build a monument to ecumenism, to world brotherhood, to humanity."

The two met in Geneva, Switzerland, at the Pacem in Terris conference the same year. Thich Nhat Hanh's foundation quotes him recalling his statement to Martin Luther King then. He reportedly told MLK,

"Martin, you know something? In Vietnam, they call you a bodhisattva, an enlightened being trying to awaken other living beings and help them go in the direction of compassion and understanding."

This was one of the last interactions that Nhat Hanh had with MLK before the latter was assassinated on April 4, 1968, in Memphis, Tennessee. Author Marc Andrus explored their friendship in his 2021 book titled Brothers in the Beloved Community: The Friendship of Thich Nhat Hanh and Martin Luther King Jr.