Vietnam: lotus in a sea of fire

Thich Nhat Hanh is an elegant writer, no less in 1967, when he wrote Vietnam: The Lotus in the Sea of Fire, than today when his books are personal-growth bestsellers. In 1967 he sought to help the Western world understand the self-immolation deaths of Buddhist monks in Vietnam, not as acts of suicide but acts of suffering to bring attention to the suffering of the Vietnamese people during the Vietnam War. To accomplish his purpose, he begins at the beginning, the development of Vietnamese Buddhism, and travels through the introduction of Roman Catholocism by the French, then the influence of communism and the Americans. Thich Nhat Hanh wrote in a letter to Martin Luther King Jr., "What the monks said in the letters they left before burning themselves aimed only at alarming, at moving the hearts of the oppressors and at calling the attention of the world to the suffering endured then by the Vietnamese. To burn oneself by fire is to prove that what one is saying is of the utmost importance."

First book by TNH published in English in the U.S. A history of Viet Nam from the perspective of a then 40 year old Buddhist monk, with emphasis on the role of French and Catholic influences on Vietnamese society during the 19th and 20th centuries.

Mention is made of the need for a "reformation of Buddhism" with a role in "the future society of Viet Nam". This "engagement of Buddhism in the modern society" was called "Nhan Gian Phat Giao, or engaged Buddhism" (page 42) -- and thus the first mention in English of Engaged Buddhism.

Of great interest also are Thomas Merton's foreword and the appendix which includes "Frequently Asked Questions" about Viet Nam by TNH, TNH's letter to Martin Luther King dated 6/1/65 explaining the significane of self-immolation by Buddhist monks, remarks by TNH to Pope Paul VI on 7/16/66, and TNH's statement to the American people and Congress dated 6/1/66 on the steps needed to find a true peace in Viet Nam. ( )