By Janice Mason

Buddhist Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh arrived this week for the retreat, “Building a Foundation for the Future, Here & Now,” offered at the YMCA of the Rockies. Nhat Hanh gave lectures and led silent, sitting and walking meditations throughout the week.

Nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize by Martin Luther King in 1967, Thich Nhat Hanh (pronounced Tick-Naught-Hanh) is a Vietnamese Buddhist monk who worked tirelessly for reconciliation between North and South Vietnam during the war. Exiled from Vietnam in 1966, Nhat Hanh has been living in France and sharing Buddhism with students in the West. In 1982, he established Plum Village, a large retreat center near Bordeaux, France. Since 1983, he has been giving lectures on mindful living and social responsibility.

Nhat Hanh, now 81, delivers a simple message, helping people discover joy and peace within in order to share it with the world. In a Dharma talk on Wednesday, Nhat Hanh proposed, “let there be no place at war,” and he spoke of wisdom and the awakened mind. He urged the audience of several hundred people to let go of separation, fear and insecurity, and be at peace. To Nhat Hanh, to be in joy and at peace is to be with the Buddha. He talked about the American flag, how when we salute the flag, we are saluting America. He talked about some of the Buddhist customs of bowing and greeting, how some devotees worry about the method of the bow or the greeting, when intention and compassion are to be the focus.

Nhat Hanh instructs devotees to be mindful when sitting, eating, washing dishes — that when he does these things he is doing them with the Buddha.

“I love to do things with the Buddha,” he said. To be free from stress, anger and fear, to be calm and loving is to share the Buddha with others. This is the gift and Nhat Hanh says that this is what we have to offer our loved ones.

When you are fresh and smiling, in the moment, you are with the Buddha, he said. “Everyone is capable of being with the Buddha.”

A deeper element of his teachings is directed to the audience attending the retreat to learn his meditation practices.

“How can someone sit on a lotus flower?” he said — to be light, fresh and free in body and mind.

Nhat Hanh talked about coming together, like the river with no more separation — to learn how to sit, how to walk mindfully and enjoy every second, every step. Freshness, relaxation, calm and happiness nourish healing, he said. By learning and practicing these simple thoughts, peace can take place within and can then be shared with the world.

Nhat Hanh has offered retreats for Vietnam veterans, mental health and social workers, prison inmates, ecologists, businessmen, police officers and members of Congress. In 1997, Nhat Hanh founded the Green Mountain Dharma Center and Maple Forest Monastery in Vermont. In 2000, he founded Deer Park Monastery in Escondido, Calif. He has ordained over 500 monks and nuns from different parts of the world. In addition, 230 lay practice communities meet regularly throughout the United States and around the world.

Nhat Hanh continues his work to alleviate the suffering of refugees, boat people, political prisoners and hungry families in Vietnam and other Third World countries. Nhat Hanh has published over 100 titles of accessible poems, prose, and prayers, with most of those works in English. His best-known books include “Peace is Every Step,” “Being Peace,” “Touching Peace,” “Call Me by My True Names,” “Living Buddha, Living Christ,” “Teachings on Love” and “Anger.”

Internationally known for his message of peace, Nhat Hanh has also been delivering an environmental message across the world.

“We know that global warming is our common concern,” he said to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization’s General Assembly in 2006. “We are polluting the world. We are making our Mother Earth suffer too much. We have to take action.”

Thich Nhat Hanh will present “Our Environment — Touching the Gift of Life” on Wednesday, Aug. 29, at 7 p.m. at the Buell Theater in Denver. Tickets are available at all King Soopers, ticketswest.com, or toll-free at 866-464-2626. For more information, visit www.ccml.info.