Mindfulness, Interbeing and the Engaged Buddhism of Thích Nhất Hạnh Yuen Ching Lam A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Education at the University of Canterbury School of Educational Studies and Leadership PhD Thesis Supervisors: Dr Christoph Teschers Assoc Prof Billy O’Steen Assoc Prof Mark Stevenson December 2020 for mum and dad ii Abstract This thesis explores the practices of mindfulness, interbeing and Engaged Buddhism proposed by Thích Nhất Hạnh (born 1926), a Vietnamese Zen Buddhist monk, writer, poet, calligrapher and peace activist, who was nominated for the 1967 Nobel Peace Prize by Martin Luther King, Jr. After being exiled from Vietnam in 1966, Thích Nhất Hạnh lived in France until 2016. He currently resides in Vietnam, intending to spend his remaining days in his home country. Thích Nhất Hạnh is known for his teachings on integrating mindfulness into daily life. He coined the term “interbeing” and promoted the concept of “Engaged Buddhism”, which links meditative practices with social engagement as well as applying them to everyday situations, with the aim of bringing benefit and wellbeing of humanity. This research adopts the qualitative method of ethnography with the intention to fill a gap in the current mindfulness literature, which largely focuses on quantitative methods. To understand and capture the experiences of mindfulness practitioners first-hand, I collected data through fieldwork at Plum Village – a Buddhist monastic community and retreat center that Thích Nhất Hạnh established in France in 1982 – where I conducted participant observation and ethnographic interviews. As mindfulness is essentially experiential and none of us can access minds other than our own, an autoethnographic approach is incorporated in the methodology. The data collected are examined from the perspective of a newly developed theoretical framework based on Pierre Bourdieu’s social theory of habitus, which provides new insights into the potentially transformative effects of mindfulness practice in the contemporary world. The findings reveal the ways in which Thích Nhất Hạnh has transformed the traditional Buddhist teachings to suit his modern audience and illustrate how his teachings can affect people’s daily lives and have an impact on society. iii Acknowledgements This thesis came into being as a result of the interbeing nature of reality. I am extremely fortunate to have come into contact with Zen Master Thích Nhất Hạnh’s teachings, which have benefited me tremendously. My immense gratitude toward the Plum Village monastic community, particularly the sisters at New Hamlet, who allowed me to carry out my fieldwork at their monastery and provided me with support that facilitated my research there. Thanks to the practices offered by them, my experience at Plum Village has been transformational. I am grateful to the 35 participants in my study, who shared their experiences of mindfulness practice with me. I have learnt a lot from their stories, which are the key ingredients of this thesis. I thank my primary supervisor, Dr Christoph Teschers, who agreed to come on-board during the writing stage of my PhD thesis. He has been supportive and encouraging throughout the process. I am also grateful to my co-supervisor, Assoc Prof Billy O’Steen, who joined the supervisory team at the same time, for his guidance and inspiring comments on my research. I owe my deepest gratitude to Assoc Prof Mark Stevenson, who became my external supervisor at the start of my second year of doctoral studies. If it had not been for him, this research was unlikely to have been carried on. He has provided valuable assistance and insightful advice for this study. I cannot thank him enough. I am greatly indebted to Dr Heidi Quinn who proofread and provided detailed feedback on drafts of my chapters as well as providing support whenever I needed it since the first year of my studies. She has made my PhD journey a lot easier. I am also grateful to Dr Shanshan Song for her keen interest in my research and emotional support during my first two years iv here. Thanks must go to Dr Samuel Maddimadugula (at the Disability Resource Service) for his help with transcribing the interviews when my hand was injured. He was a huge help for me to proceed with my research at the time. I especially owe huge gratitude to Dr Joanna C Lee, who has been a source of inspiration since my undergraduate studies 20 years ago. She has continued to provide support and advice along the way. I would like to express my deep gratitude to Dr Helen Ma for teaching mindfulness when I did my Master of Buddhist Studies at the University of Hong Kong more than 15 years ago. The experience changed my life. Thanks also to Ms Wendy Risdon, a healing touch therapist at the UC Health Centre, who helped me to ground myself in my times of trouble. I would like to acknowledge Prof Aditya Malik, the late Prof Patrick McAllister, Dr Anne Scott and Assoc Prof David Conradson for their guidance during the earlier part of my studies. My research has also benefited from the C Wright Mills Scholarship in Anthropology for 2017 and the EDSL Hardship Grant for 2019 and 2020. Lastly, I thank my parents who have trust and confidence in me. Without their support, this research simply would not have happened. This thesis is for them. I also give special thanks to my two brothers for their unlimited support. They have all helped make my dream come true. v Contents Abstract .................................................................................................................................... iii Acknowledgements ................................................................................................................... iv Contents .................................................................................................................................... vi List of figures ............................................................................................................................ ix Preface........................................................................................................................................ 1 Chapter 1: Introduction .............................................................................................................. 5 Part I - Historical Context and Theoretical Foundations Chapter 2: A Brief History of Mindfulness ............................................................................. 16 Introduction .......................................................................................................................... 16 Mindfulness in early Buddhism ........................................................................................... 16 Mindfulness in modern Buddhism ....................................................................................... 28 Mindfulness in contemporary secular contexts .................................................................... 32 Mindfulness in Thích Nhất Hạnh’s Engaged Buddhism ...................................................... 41 Summary .............................................................................................................................. 43 Chapter 3: A Brief History of Dependent Origination............................................................. 45 Introduction .......................................................................................................................... 45 Dependent origination in early Buddhism ........................................................................... 45 Dependent origination in Mahāyāna Buddhism ................................................................... 51 Dependent origination in modern Buddhism ....................................................................... 54 Interbeing in Thích Nhất Hạnh’s Engaged Buddhism ......................................................... 59 Summary .............................................................................................................................. 64 Chapter 4: A Habitus Transformation Model as Theoretical Framework ............................... 66 Introduction .......................................................................................................................... 66 Bourdieu’s concept of habitus .............................................................................................. 67 Social habitus as an analytical concept ................................................................................ 69 Habitus transformation model as a methodological device ................................................. 96 Mindful habitus .................................................................................................................. 102 Habituslessness................................................................................................................... 105 Summary ............................................................................................................................ 117 vi Part II - The Application of a Newly Created Theoretical Framework to Thích Nhất Hạnh’s Teachings and the Participant Data Chapter 5: Methodology for Participant Study ...................................................................... 119 Introduction ........................................................................................................................ 119 Ethnography ......................................................................................................................