Profile: Thich Nhat Hanh

Thu, 02 Oct 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Thich Nhat Hanh (1926-2022) was a Vietnamese Zen master, poet, and peace activist whose teachings on “Interbeing” examined the interconnectedness of all phenomena. His development of “Engaged Buddhism” integrated contemplative practice with social and environmental action.

During the Vietnam War, Thich Nhat Hanh worked with war refugees and advocated for peace, leading to decades of exile. He established Plum Village in France, which became one of the most visited monasteries in the West. His “School for Youth and Social Services” helped rebuild villages bombed during the war and later became the Order of Interbeing, a worldwide lay practice community.

Profile: Pierre Teilhard de Chardin

Sun, 28 Sep 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Pierre Teilhard de Chardin (1881-1955) was a Jesuit priest, paleontologist, and visionary thinker who pioneered the integration of evolutionary science with mystical spirituality, articulating cosmic evolution as a fundamentally spiritual process moving toward greater consciousness and unity. His cosmic vision provided essential foundations for contemporary approaches to ecological spirituality and planetary consciousness.

Trained as both paleontologist and theologian, Teilhard spent decades studying fossil evidence of human evolution while developing a mystical understanding of cosmic development as the unfolding of divine creativity. His work in China during the 1920s-1930s, including participation in discovering Peking Man, grounded his spiritual insights in empirical paleontological research. This unique integration anticipated many themes in contemporary cosmology while offering spiritual interpretation of scientific discoveries about universe evolution.

France on deep ecology

Profile: Thich Nhat Hanh

Profile: Pierre Teilhard de Chardin