Thich Nhat Hanh on Being and Nonbeing and Beyond

Abstract

This paper aims to resolve an apparent recurring contradiction concerning being and nonbeing in the works of the Vietnamese Zen master Thich Nhat Hanh. Thus, he states that ‘everything is only for one brief instant’ and at the same time that ‘nothing can be created or destroyed’. He talks about this also in terms of birth and no-birth or death and no-death. Thus, he says, ‘we are all dying and being reborn at every moment’ and at the same time that ‘nothing can be born, nothing can die’. I analyse the idea that everything is only for one brief instant, which indicates that there is in a sense no being, and the idea that nothing can be created or destroyed, which indicates that there is in a sense no nonbeing, explain how a contradiction appears to arise, show how to resolve it, and point to what there is beyond being and nonbeing. The paper does thus not only argue that Thich Nhat Hanh’s metaphysical framework is coherent, but also reveals a practical dimension that goes beyond both forms of ontological eternalism and nihilism towards a middle way based on an insight into interbeing.