I was scrolling through Facebook when I came to an article about Thich Nhat Hanh and it reminded me of a story a friend has about his mother who actually saved Thich Nhat Hanh's life. Here is the interview with Lien Hai Nguyen.
When did you first meet Thich Nhat Hanh? It was In the early 1960's.... the Vietnamese government did not want to extend his expired Viet passport because they wanted him back to Vietnam to be put in jail for opposing the war. I worked for the Vietnam embassy at the time & helped him obtain an extension on his passport through a back channel. With his passport extension, he was able to obtain a visa to go to France.
When a friend of my mine asked if he remembered the difficultly of his passport at that time, he did not remember. However this passport incident was over 50 yrs ago.
Do you practice Buddhism yourself? Yes
How do you try to fit your practices in with the reality of life? Is it easy or difficult? Yes. Sometimes easy & sometimes difficult
Do you ever feel like you would want to spend time being more separated from the world to focus on meditation? Or do you feel t is better not to do this? Better not to do this at this time
Can you tell me a little bit about how you fit Buddhism into your life experiences in terms of coming to this country and becoming so successful. Were their other ideologies that pushed you as well? Buddhism helped me indirectly because its teachings help lead the right moral path which in turn helps me to become a successful person.
I have had many fortunate outcomes with difficulties in my life, which led me to believe I'm benefiting from good karma in the past.
When did you first meet Thich Nhat Hanh? It was In the early 1960's.... the Vietnamese government did not want to extend his expired Viet passport because they wanted him back to Vietnam to be put in jail for opposing the war. I worked for the Vietnam embassy at the time & helped him obtain an extension on his passport through a back channel. With his passport extension, he was able to obtain a visa to go to France.
When a friend of my mine asked if he remembered the difficultly of his passport at that time, he did not remember. However this passport incident was over 50 yrs ago.
Do you practice Buddhism yourself? Yes
How do you try to fit your practices in with the reality of life? Is it easy or difficult? Yes. Sometimes easy & sometimes difficult
Do you ever feel like you would want to spend time being more separated from the world to focus on meditation? Or do you feel t is better not to do this? Better not to do this at this time
Can you tell me a little bit about how you fit Buddhism into your life experiences in terms of coming to this country and becoming so successful. Were their other ideologies that pushed you as well? Buddhism helped me indirectly because its teachings help lead the right moral path which in turn helps me to become a successful person.
I have had many fortunate outcomes with difficulties in my life, which led me to believe I'm benefiting from good karma in the past.
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