Vietnam: Lotus in a sea of Fire

“I am determined not to kill, not to let others kill and not to support any act of killing in the world, in my thinking or in my way of life.”

— Plum Village

In 1967, while war tore through his country, a young Vietnamese monk wrote a short book in English for American readers. Vietnam: Lotus in a Sea of Fire was the first book Thich Nhat Hanh published in English. It gave a voice to the many Vietnamese people who took no side and wanted the bombing to stop. Friends such as Thomas Merton helped bring it out in the United States, and it also circulated underground in Vietnam as Hoa Sen Trong Biển Lửa. Decades before he founded Plum Village in France, these pages show where his life’s work for peace began.

Thich Nhat Hanh and the Vietnam War

As the fighting grew, Thich Nhat Hanh, known to his students as Thay (“teacher”), became a leading figure in the Buddhist peace movement. In this book he sets out the cultural and political background of the war from a Vietnamese point of view, which very few authors writing in English could offer at the time. His message was radical for its day: an end to the bombing, and peace. The book reached the growing anti-war movement in the United States and was widely discussed there. Readers today find a portrait of a people caught between great powers, and the first steps of what would become engaged Buddhism.

A Practice for Peace, Starting Tonight

At Plum Village, peace begins in how we think and live. Try this before sleep:

• Sit quietly and follow your breathing for a few minutes.
• Read the opening line slowly.
• Bring to mind one conflict near you, at home, at work or in the news.
• Breathe in for the people on one side, breathe out for the people on the other.
• Choose one small act of non-violence for tomorrow: a kind word, or a pause before you answer.

About This Book

• Author: Thich Nhat Hanh.
• Foreword: Thomas Merton.
• First published: 1967, in the United States; also circulated underground in Vietnam as Hoa Sen Trong Biển Lửa.
• Language: English.
• Reading as practice: one chapter at a time, followed by a few minutes of silence for the people it describes.

For more of Thay’s own story, read his letters in In Love and Trust, and the life of Vietnam’s first Zen teacher in Master Tang Hoi.

Going as a River: Why the Official Source Matters

In the Plum Village tradition, we know that a single drop of water evaporates, but as a river, it reaches the sea. When you choose to support your practice through the Plum Village Official Shop, your purchase is more than a transaction. It is an act of Dana (generosity). Every purchase directly supports the Plum Village monastic community and its mission to share the practice of mindfulness with the world. Thank you for going as a river with us.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: What is Vietnam: Lotus in a Sea of Fire about?

A: Vietnam: Lotus in a Sea of Fire is Thich Nhat Hanh’s 1967 account of the war in his country, written in English for American readers. It explains the cultural and political background of the conflict from a Vietnamese point of view and calls for an end to the bombing. Lotus in a Sea of Fire was his first book in English.

Q: Who wrote the foreword to Lotus in a Sea of Fire?

A: The Catholic monk Thomas Merton wrote the foreword. Merton was a friend of Thich Nhat Hanh and helped publish the book in the United States. He believed it could show Americans that the more the United States bombed Vietnam, the more communists the war would create.

Q: What did Thich Nhat Hanh do during the Vietnam War?

A: During the Vietnam War, Thich Nhat Hanh became a leading figure in the Buddhist peace movement and spoke for the Vietnamese people who took no side. In 1967 he published Vietnam: Lotus in a Sea of Fire in the United States. He later founded Plum Village in France, in exile, and taught the path of peace and mindfulness around the world.