A world-renowned Zen teacher is bringing his disciples to Vietnam for a United Nations celebration of a Buddhist holiday, prompting critics to renew their accusation that he is cooperating with the communist government.
Thich Nhat Hanh (photo right, in front), at 81 probably one of the best known living Vietnamese Buddhist figures, plans to hold the biennial retreat for his adherents in Vietnam May 4-17. They will participate in the United Nations Day of Vesak being held in Hanoi, May 13-17.
Thich Nhat Hanh operates the Plum Village retreat center in France, the Deer Park Monastery in Southern California, and a number of other Zen centers.
The Day of Vesak is sponsored by the United Nations. First held in 2004, the UN Day of Vesak celebrates the holiday of the birth of the Buddha. This year marks the first time the UN Day of Vesak takes place in Vietnam.
This event has received criticism because the government of Vietnam is using its police power to control the practice of Buddhism. The government claims supremacy over the religion, requiring all Buddhists to join the government-sponsored Vietnam Buddhist Sangha (the term “Sangha” means “association” or “fellowship” and is somewhat equivalent to “church” as in “the Methodist church”). Monks that refuse to do so have been imprisoned and many churches have been confiscated. For a government that does not respect freedom of religion to organize the Day of Vesak is, to many, anathema.
Critics have attacked Thich Nhat Hanh for being a major part of this event. Nhat Hanh will give the second keynote address, and members of his Plum Village delegation will chant at the conference. See the conference program here.
Controversies
As a Zen teacher, Nhat Hanh attracts adherents worldwide. As a peace activist, however, he has been controversial. 
During the 1960′s, Thich Nhat Hanh traveled to the United States to lecture on Zen Buddhism and also to urge the U.S. withdrawal from Vietnam. He met with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in person to urge him to oppose American involvement in Vietnam. Dr. King was so impressed, he nominated Thich Nhat Hanh for the Nobel Peace Prize.
At the Paris Peace Talks that resulted in the U.S. withdrawal, Nhat Hanh led the Buddhist delegation.
In 2001, criticisms of Thich Nhat Hanh flared up when he ran an ad in the New York Times on September 24, less than two weeks after the September 11 terrorist attack.
The ad (right) claims that during the war, when seven communist guerillas in Ben Tre, South Vietnam, shot at an American warplane, the Americans retaliated and destroyed the entire town, population 300,000.
That story had been repeated several times by antiwar activists, but it never happened. The ad provided fodder for Nhat Hanh’s detractors to claim that he was a left-wing radical.
In 2005, after almost 40 years in exile, Thich Nhat Hanh returned to Vietnam and was received by throngs of devotees. However, when he came to visit another famous monk, the Venerable Thich Tue Sy, 
the latter went into meditation and could not (or would not) receive Nhat Hanh.
Thich Tue Sy (also spelled “Tue Si,” photo left) had been imprisoned by the government as a dissident, refusing to merge his pagoda into the government-sponsored Vietnam Buddhist Sangha. Read more about Thich Tue Sy here and here.
In 2007, Thich Nhat Hanh went to Vietnam again. He held three ceremonies in three major cities of Vietnam: Saigon, Hue and Hanoi - pray for the dead on both sides of the Vietnam War. This effort at reconciliation was also criticized.
In fact, there are some who even object to the use of the word “reconciliation” at all. They consider that a veiled attempt by the communists to assimilate the opposition.
In an ironic twist of events, Thich Tue Sy has agreed to participate in the UN Day of Vesak and as a result has drawn criticism as well.
