Dalai Lama condoles Thich Nhat Hanh’s death

In his condolence message shared on Thich Nhat Hanh’s official Twitter account, he called the Vietnamese Buddhist monk “my friend and spiritual brother.”

“In his peaceful opposition to the Vietnam war, his support for Martin Luther King and most of all his dedication to sharing with others not only how mindfulness and compassion contribute to inner peace, how also how individuals cultivating peace of mind contributes to genuine world peace, the Venerable lived a truly meaningful life,” he wrote.

“I have no doubt the best way we can pay tribute to him is to continue his work to promote peace in the world,” he added.

Thich Nhat Hanh died Saturday at Tu Hieu Temple in his birthplace Hue in central Vietnam, aged 95.

The Zen Master, considered the second most influential Buddhist leader in the world after the Dalai Lama, studied and practiced Zen Buddhism from 1942.

He became a monk at the age of 23 after studying Buddhism for seven years.

He left Vietnam in 1966 and has lived in Plum Village in southern France for decades, traveling regularly throughout North America and Europe to give lectures on mindfulness and peace.

Tribute has been pouring in from across the world following his death.

AFP called him the “Buddhist monk who brought mindfulness to West”, the New York Times called him “a monk of global influence” while CNN called him a “peace activist and leading voice in opposition to the Vietnam War.”