“If you have the chance to be exposed to a loving, understanding environment where the seed of compassion, loving kindness, can be watered every day, then you become a more loving person.”

Vietnamese Thiền Buddhist monk

Thích Nhất Hạnh was a Vietnamese Thiền Buddhist monk, peace activist, author, poet, and teacher. He was widely known as the "father of mindfulness" and for founding the Plum Village Tradition, which is recognized as the main inspiration for engaged Buddhism. He became a major influence on how Buddhism was practiced in the West. His work and teaching were closely tied to mindfulness and engaged Buddhism, and his reputation rested on both his writing and his role as a Buddhist teacher.