A friend sent the above documentary to me and I recently watched it. I was truly moved by the story of Thích Nhất Hạnh life. The first thing I noticed was the contrast between a true seeker of peace and love as compared with the hypocrites who claim to be religious but who are in truth fanatical ideologues, full of hubris, spite, and anger. So many want to control other people but they have never tried to transform themselves. This contrast between a really good person and the masses is so sharp, and the gap so wide, that it is hard to understand how people can’t tell the difference.
There is so much more to say but I let the beautiful documentary speak for itself.
Thank you, I watched it myself after reading your post. He is definitely a rare person, I was saddened to learn he had a stroke. I remember reading somewhere something he wrote, and it was about how an angry person is a person who feels hurt, who suffers. I realized how it had been true in my case when I had been particularly angry, but I was surprised how I never realized this about others. Incidentally, I came across an incredible book about Schopenhauer where it is found much material not yet published in English (which is the only reason why I buy a book not written in English). He made many devastating attacks on Western religion, and I have read accounts of how he foretold the story of Buddha, which I found really moving. There’s definitely a gigantic chasm between this type of Buddhism and ‘religion’, just as you indicated.