Honoring Thich Quang Do

I read with extreme joy that on Sept 21st the Thorolf Rafto Foundation for Human Rights announced its annual prize will be awarded to the Buddhist monk the Most Venerable Thich Quang Do of Vietnam. The announcement said that Thich Quang Do was receiving the award in recognition of "his personal courage and perseverance through three decades of peaceful opposition against the communist regime in Vietnam," and his continual challenge to authorities "to initiate a dialogue on democratic reforms, pluralism, religious freedom, human rights, and national reconciliation."

Those of you who read my book (bloody shame if you didn't!) will recall that I devoted a chapter to Thich Quang Do and his struggle to bring peace and reconciliation to Vietnam, as well as his attempt to preserve the 2,000 year old tradition of the Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam. Thich Quang Do has spent two and a half decades in detention and remains under house arrest to this day. He has been treated horribly, at times in unimaginable conditions in solitary confinement.

I found Thich Quang Do to be one of the brightest, most welcoming and kind-hearted people I have ever encountered. This prompted me to ask him, "Venerable, why do you laugh and smile so much? Why are you so happy?"

"No one can imprison my mind. That's why I'm happy," he replied, his eyes gleaming.

Many of his words return to my thoughts like hidden treasures unearthed at unexpected times. The other day I was thinking of him and recalled this exchange:

"Venerable, I feel the biggest problem in the world today is the lack of faith, the lack of self-confidence that you can change yourself, and by coming together with others, you can change the world."

"Yes. But many people cherish hatred," he noted.

"But the hope is that hatred is very thin," I countered. "And when you take it off, when you peel away the hatred, one's deeper nature is cleared and love is released."

"Oh, yes," he said, taking hold of my hand. "What is easily gained is not precious. If you teach a man to give up greed and to replace hatred with love, that man becomes a precious man."

We sat in silence for a time, then he added, "I have never been pessimistic. I always hope for good. Even the Communists are loveable people. We just have to change their way of thinking; make them think of goodwill, not hatred, give up their policy of power. We are the same people, and we must stop fighting each other."

In another exchange, I asked him pointedly, "Are the Communists eager for you to die?"

He howled with laughter. "Of course! I'm now seventy-two years old already. According to Oriental philosophy, the man who reaches seventy can die without any regrets. But for me it is like being at a cinema. I do not want to leave before the curtain comes down. When Vietnam has freedom, then I will die."

That's a man who has truly dedicated himself to something greater than himself.

Later, while we walked hand in hand, Thich Quang Do told me about the importance of patience in achieving peace. "Violence is the inheritence of many generations of man," he said. "It is deeply part of man. You cannot in one day or two days get rid of it. It will take time. " But again he stressed his optimism. "The human heart contains a good seed, " he said, smiliang and looking deeply into my eyes. "It is concealed deep within the heart. It is always there. When this concealed seed is realized, the whole world will be better. When you have peace in your mind, there will be peace in the world."

Four previous Rafto laureates, Myanmar's Aung San Suu Kyi, East Timor's Jose Ramos-Horta, South Korea's Kim Dae-Jung and Iran's Shirin Ebadi, subsequently won the Nobel Peace Prize. I hope the same honor comes to Thich Quang Do this year.