Thich Nhat Hanh  turned 80 on October 11 of this year. Instead of gifts, he requested that we make a promise “to ourselves.” See below:

Thây’s message for his 80th birthday…

“Members of the Sangha in Canada have begun to send me birthday presents and
they think that this is a very special birthday.
I would like to tell you about the kind of presents I would like to have, to
receive this year. Of course we can buy a present from the market and we put
a lot of love into it. But to tell you the truth, my hut in Upper Hamlet is
not large enough to store all these kind of presents. I would like to have a
kind of present that I can enjoy every day and you also can enjoy every day
and a present that can last for a long time. I’ll be very happy to receive
these birthday presents from my friends, monastic and lay. And of course,
the present will be a present of the heart and it should be long lasting. I
have reflected on that and I think that the best kind of present you may
like to give to offer is a promise that you can honour, you are sure that
you can honour, like: dear Thây, I promise that from now on, every time I
hold a cup of tea, I will see the cloud in the tea and I can see the cloud
within myself. That kind of present would be wonderful. Don’t make a big
promise, like: dear Thây, I promise that from now on every step I make will
be in mindfulness. That may be a little bit too difficult. So, look deeply
and make the kind of promise that you think, you believe you can honour. Not
too much, just one. And the maximum is two. Like: dear Thây, I promise that
from now on, every time I’m about to sit down, I’ve realized that I’m
sitting down on the foot of a bodhi tree. I will sit beautifully, like the
Buddha. Or: dear Thây, I promise that from now on every time I open the
water tap, I can see the water flowing from the high mountain, from the deep
earth, and I will enjoy the wonderful fresh contact between the water and my
fingers. You know that this is my practice every time I open the water tap.
I see it is a miracle and I’m very happy and grateful every time I touch the
water. We know when the water is cut we suffer, but we use to wait until the
water is cut in order to realise how wonderful it is to have running water
in our own home. And I enjoy every time touching the water tap and I always
see the miracle, I always enjoy the feeling of the fresh water running
between my fingers. That kind of promise; or: dear Thây, I promise that from
now on every time I come up the stairs to my bedroom, that I will walk like
a Buddha, enjoying every step. I suggest only one promise, not too many, the
kind of promise that you are sure it will do. You know that I have a set of
stairs in the last 30 years I have gone up and down always in mindfulness.
And that is why everywhere I go, whether that is the airport or a railway
station, or in the mountains, I always walk mindfully and enjoy every step.
So, you may make a commitment with your stairs or with Thây, that you will
enjoy every time you go up. Just a letter promise that will last all your
life. That would be the most wonderful “cadeau”, birthday present for Thây.
And that Thây will enjoy a lot and you also will enjoy a lot and it will be
very long lasting. And the connection between my friends and myself, my
disciples and myself will be deeper. I have you in me and you have me in you
with that kind of present. We have the time to choose our present, we don’t
have to do it right now, but it will be wonderful if I receive so many
presents like that this year, that is the most wonderful birthday for me.”


To give all our friends a chance to engage in such a promise, we would like
to ask you to spread this message between all your Sangha members. Please
send all promises directly to Thây, to Plum Village, France.