Thich Nhat Hanh on Reducing the Level of Violence

Born in central Vietnam in 1926, Zen Buddhist monk Thich Nhat Hanh has dedicated his life to the work of inner transformation and nonviolence for the benefit of individuals and society. He was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in 1967 for his work to end the Vietnam War.

In a 2003 interview with Bob Abernethy on PBS Religion & Ethics Newsweekly, he shared some thoughts on the high level of violence in our society and how we can reduce it.

Abernethy: We have violence all around us. As you observe what is going on in the world and in this country, does it seem to you we are becoming more violent?

Nhat Hanh: Yes, the level of violence in society is very high — violence in families, violence in schools, violence on the streets. We do not seem to focus our efforts in order to transform that violence; we are trying to seek violence outside and to invest all our time and energies and money in order to fight violence outside. But we don’t know that violence is there within ourselves, within our society.

There are ways to transform and to reduce the amount of suffering in our families, in our schools; but people have not done much in order to do that. We, as practitioners of transformation and healing — we know how to do it, how to help reduce the level of…