Followers of radical leader Thich Nhat Hanh claim they are not safe in Vietnam after standoff with authorities turns violent
Justin McCurry
guardian.co.uk, Thursday 17 December 2009 09.00 GMT
Hundreds of Vietnamese followers of a radical Buddhist leader have called on the French president, Nicolas Sarkozy, to grant them temporary asylum, a week after they were attacked [...]
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Help Bat Nha Staff
who has written 33 posts for Help Bat Nha Monastery.
Guardian (London): Vietnamese Buddhists seek asylum in France
Religious persecution in Vietnam: 400 disciples of Thich Nhat Hanh urgently request temporary asylum
Vietnamese Bat Nha monks and nuns seek temporary safety in France .
AFP: Threatened Buddhists to leave Vietnam temple: Abbot
Associated France Press – 11 Dec, 09
HANOI — The head of a Buddhist pagoda in Central Vietnam said Friday that followers of an influential French-based monk can no longer seek shelter with him following three days of mob pressure.
“I had to agree, and I had no choice,” Thich Thai Thuan told AFP from Phuoc Hue [...]
Vietnam: Sharp Backsliding on Religious Freedom
18 Oct. ‘09
HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH report: Harsh Crackdown on Followers of Buddhist Peace Activist Thich Nhat Hanh
Bat Nha Monastics sit still in refuge at Phuoc Hue Pagoda – 05/10/09
“Once again Vietnam has clamped down on a peaceful religious group – even one that was initially welcomed by the government. The government views many [...]
Voice of Your Children – Bat Nha Letter to the Police Officers
Posted Oct 17, 2009
Translated from Vietnamese
Letter written by the Bat Nha baby monks to the policemen.
Mid-Autumn 2009
Dear uncles in the police, we are writing this letter while our hearts have temporarily returned to peace. We love you very much. In order to give others peace and good sleep, you have had to work hard day [...]
Letter From a US Police Captain to Vietnamese Government
To: Mr. Nguyen Minh Triet, President of Vietnam
Mr. Nguyen Tan Dung, Prime Minister of Vietnam
Minister of National Public Security Department of the Republic Socialist of Vietnam
(Bo Truong Bo Cong An nuoc Cong Hoa Xa Hoi Chu Nghia Viet Nam)
From: Captain Cheri Maples, United States of America
Date: October 15, 2009
Re: Monastics of Bat Nha Monastery
Dear Sirs,
I [...]
Magical Sound of the Sitar – Letter of Thich Nhat Hanh
…Why have these policemen behaved like that, using such violent means? Why can’t they continue the integrity and honesty of the revolution? Why are they not children of the revolution? Why do corruption and power abuse permeate everywhere? There is only one accurate answer: It is because the fire of the revolution has extinguished. The virtues of the revolution no longer exist. The source of volition, which is the ideal of the revolution, no longer exists. When we cannot retain our Mind of Love – our Bodhicitta – then we are no longer each other’s “companions on the path” or “friends of the same path”; even though we may refer to ourselves as Buddhists or as disciples of the Buddha. When the aspirations of revolutionaries no longer exists, when we are eroded by corruption and power abuse, then we are no longer each other’s “comrades,” even though on the social level we may still call each other “comrades”. When we have our aspirations, our Mind of Love, our brotherhood and sisterhood, then we no longer need to search for happiness in the direction of money, fame, power and sensual pleasures anymore…
Diamond Body: Thay’s letter to the Bat Nha monastic brothers and sisters
Blue Cliff, October 7th, 2009
To my Bat Nha Children,
I wrote “my Bat Nha children” and not “my children in Bat Nha” as I had done before, because even though you are not living in Bat Nha anymore, you continue to carry the name of the Bat Nha Sangha. You and Bat Nha are one. [...]
The Last Walking Meditation
October 1st, 2009
Written by a young monastic sister from Bat Nha Monastery
On Sunday September 27th, 2009, we had the opportunity to do sitting meditation together, and then to do walking meditation together around the “Garuda Wing” meditation hall. It was raining heavily that day. My brothers’ and sisters’ robes were soaking wet, but we [...]
Letter to Ms. Susan Rice, Permanent Representative of the U.S. to the United Nations
Her Excellency Ms. Susan E. Rice
Permanent Representative of the United States to the United Nations
United States Mission to the United Nations
140 East 45th Street
New York, N.Y. 10017
October 5, 2009
Dear Ambassador Rice,
We are representatives of the Most Venerable Thich Nhat Hanh, a Vietnamese Buddhist monk whom many consider to be one of the most well-known Buddhist leaders and Zen masters in the world. We are writing to request a meeting with you or [...]