Message of Condolences for The Most Venerable Thich Nhat Hanh

Message of Condolences to those who have deeply associated
with the Most Venerable Thich Nhat Hanh

We would like to express our sincere condolences on the passing away of the great Buddhist monk, the Most Venerable Thich Nhat Hanh.

As a Buddhist in action, the Most Venerable Thich Nhat Hanh devoted his life wholeheartedly to concrete practices based on the Buddhist spirit and teaching for the happiness of humanity and the realization of peace in the world. During the Vietnam War, he devoted himself to humanitarian aid work for the victims and anti-war activities.

Despite the harsh conditions of his life in exile, he continued to work tirelessly for the relief of people through Buddha’s teachings,
and created and developed the Engaged Buddhism movement through which Buddhist are engaged with the social issues.
This is exactly how he has applied Buddhism to the practice of relieving people’s annoy and suffering.

He attended the First Assembly of World Conference of Religions for Peace (WCRP) , now Religions for Peace, in Kyoto, Japan in 1970, which led to the founding of WCRP/Religions for Peace, and made a heartfelt appeal for an end to the Vietnam War. His call led to the establishment of the Special Committee on the issue of Vietnam, and the following month a delegation from Religions for Peace visited Vietnam to seek a path to reconciliation. In this way, the Most Venerable Thich Nhat Hanh contributed to promotion of WCRP/Religions for Peace in action.

At the first Assembly of WCRP, he said:

          We are not saved by some new organization or some new doctrine.
          We are saved by our own humanity.
         How can we see the restoration of ourselves and our creation?
         This is the role of religion.

On the passing of this respected great Buddhist, we, on behalf of the committed members of the Religions for Peace movement,
express our deepest condolences, remembering his great achievements to the happiness of people and peace of the world.

We, people of faith and religion, spare no efforts in following the path he paved throughout  his entire life.


​The Asian Conference of Religions for Peace (ACRP)
Religions for Peace Asia