Buddhist monk had worldwide following

Thich Nhat Hanh, a Buddhist monk who developed a worldwide following through his teachings and writings while living in exile for decades from his native Vietnam, died Saturday at a Buddhist temple in Hue, Vietnam. He was 95.

The death was announced in a statement by the Plum Village community, a monastery he founded in France. The cause was not disclosed, but he had a debilitating stroke in 2014.

Thich Nhat Hanh, who was perhaps the world’s most renowned Buddhist monk after the Dalai Lama, often wrote and spoke about the Buddhist notion of “mindfulness,” or being fully attentive to one’s thoughts, actions and surroundings at every moment.

“Mindfulness is to be aware of everything you do every day,” he wrote in one of his nearly 100 books.

He led Buddhist workshops and spiritual retreats for international leaders, members of Congress, the World Bank and Silicon Valley technology companies.

He was with the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. in 1966 when King criticized U.S. involvement in the war in Vietnam.

Starting in the 1950s, when war began to tear apart Vietnam, Thich Nhat Hanh aimed to use his Buddhist beliefs to bring the different factions together.

During those years, he developed the concept of “engaged Buddhism,” in which his faith’s teachings could be used to promote humanistic practices in education, health care and politics. His ideas were not popular with traditional Buddhist monks, who typically stayed out of public life.

After studying and teaching in the United States in the early 1960s, he returned to Vietnam in 1964. He organized the School of Youth Social Service, which recruited 10,000 young volunteers to build schools and medical facilities and to restore villages.

In 1966, Thich Nhat Hanh visited Pope Paul VI to enlist his support in ending the war in Vietnam.

In the United States, he held meetings with Defense Secretary Robert S. Mcnamara, Sen. Edward Kennedy and more.

Neither North Vietnam nor South Vietnam would allow him to return. He was granted asylum in France.

When he finally returned in 2005, he was greeted by jubilant crowds. Since 2018, he had lived in the same monastery in Hue where he had studied in his youth.