I know Thich Nhat Hanh, and am privileged to call him my friend.
—Martin Luther King Jr., Nobel Peace Prize Nomination
Thich Nhat Hanh (1926–2022) and Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. (1929–1968) shared a friendship based on solidarity with the suffering of one another’s communities.
A. J. Muste, working on behalf of the Fellowship of Reconciliation, arranged a meeting between Nhat Hanh and King in Chicago on May 31, 1966. They conferred privately for some time, discussing the latest crises in Vietnam, and then held a joint press conference…. The main artifacts of the 1966 meeting are photographs of Nhat Hanh and King at the press conference…. If the photographs can be considered to have iconic quality, it would be of friendship and solidarity. They are not two men working on isolated issues; their message is their commitment and their common cause.
At some point that day, likely during the press conference, they released a joint statement. The statement read:
… We also believe that the struggles for equality and freedom in Birmingham, Selma and Chicago, as in Hue, Danang and Saigon, are aimed not at the domination of one people by another. They are aimed at self-determination, peaceful social change, and a better life for all human beings. And we believe that only in a world of peace can the work of construction, of building good societies everywhere, go forward…. [1]
This brief statement of mutuality and solidarity bursts with meaning…. Common cause is made between those in the Vietnamese peace movement and Black civil rights activists….
To make this statement together, on their first meeting was an extraordinary step in their relationship. At the … meeting, with its private conversation followed by the press conference, we may say that Nhat Hanh and King began a friendship that is at the heart of the Beloved Community to which both men dedicated their lives. [2]
After King’s death, Nhat Hanh was inspired by their friendship to continue exploring the connections between their two religions:
The challenges to maintaining the Beloved Community are easy to discern in our everyday world. Wherever we encounter divisions that lift some up and oppress others, we recognize the betrayal of the Beloved Community. Among the most notorious divisions of our world are those between religions…. Nhat Hanh has helped lower the barriers between two of the great world religions, Buddhism and Christianity.
The continuing and developing friendship between King and Nhat Hanh led Nhat Hanh to further explore the relationship between Buddhism and Christianity. As he wrote in Living Buddha, Living Christ,
It was only later, through friendships with Christian men and women who truly embody the spirit of understanding and compassion of Jesus, that I have been able to touch the depths of Christianity. The moment I met Martin Luther King, Jr., I knew I was in the presence of a holy person. Not just his good work but his very being was a source of great inspiration for me. [3]
References:
[1] Martin Luther King Jr. and Thich Nhat Hanh, “A Joint Statement,” International Committee of Conscience on Vietnam, May 31, 1966, unpublished. Quoted by Andrus, 108–109.
[2] Marc Andrus, Brothers in the Beloved Community: The Friendship of Thich Nhat Hanh and Martin Luther King Jr. (Parallax Press, 2021), 107–110.
[3] Andrus, Brothers, 147–148; and Thich Nhat Hanh, Living Buddha, Living Christ, 20th anniv. ed. (Riverhead Books, 1995, 2007), 5–6.
Image credit and inspiration: Ashkan Forouzani, untitled (detail), 2020, photo, Iran, Unsplash. Click here to enlarge image. Each bead in a strand could represent a faith tradition—rising beyond rivalry to something new, larger, and whole—while holding fast to the beauty of its own singular shape.
Story from Our Community:
At first glance, the contemplative path may appear to be a weak option when so many others are taking sides. In reality, the contemplative path means centering the experience of others alongside yourself. The path is like walking a razor’s edge—every step is fraught with personal risks to reputation and friendships. I still experience pressure to take sides and join the madness of the crowd, but contemplation invites me to remain centered in both stillness and courage.
—Chris L.
