How a Vietnam War veteran became a Zen Buddhist monk...

Ajay0 · Jan 31, 2022

Insightful story of a Vietnam war veteran who became a zen buddhist monk...

How a Vietnam War veteran became a Zen Buddhist monk

Claude AnShin Thomas has walked a literal path from war to peace.

As a teenager, he joined the US Army and was sent to fight in the Vietnam War.

Now, Claude is a Buddhist monk and renowned teacher of sitting meditation.

"On the one hand, I am who I am because of what I have done, where I've been," he tells RN's Soul Search.

"At the same time, my life is committed today to bring an end to all war, all violence — and I do believe that's possible."

Since immersing himself in the Zen Buddhist tradition, Claude has come to see the roots of war, violence and suffering as internal, not external.

"They exist in each of us individually and it is our responsibility to wake up to that," he says.

It was a social worker who directed Claude to a meditation retreat. He was sceptical at first, but then something clicked when he was on the retreat.

"They were just asking me to sit down and become still, to carry that into my life and see what reveals itself to me," he says.

"I can't even remember exactly what was said, but I can remember what I heard was a truth I had known since I was 10.

"We're not bad people attempting to get good, we're wounded people looking for healing."

After committing to the practice, Claude began his training under the Vietnamese monk Thich Nhat Hanh, then the Zen peacemaker Bernie Glassman.

This led to his full ordination as a Zen Buddhist monk into the Japanese Soto Zen tradition in 1995.

Sitting meditation is now a crucial discipline for Claude, who — 40 years ago — could barely stay out of jail or go anywhere without a handgun.

"I haven't done anything in particular, except stay disciplined in my commitment to sit just to sit, to walk just to walk, to eat just to eat, to work just to work," he says.

The practice has also helped Claude process the impact of war on his body.

He says he hasn't been able to sleep for more than two hours at a time since 1967.

Claude no longer sees "healing" as being able to sleep soundly, without nightmares, but rather learning to accept that "how I sleep is just how I sleep".

"Healing is not the absence of suffering. It's learning to live in a more conscious and active relationship with that suffering," he says.
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themnax · Feb 1, 2022

i had rather hoped this would be someone telling their own story of how they followed their own path.
books and third person are ok too, but first person accounts are more interesting.

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