Claude AnShin Thomas
Encyclopedia
Claude Anshin Thomas is an American Zen
Buddhist
monk
and Vietnam War veteran. He is a vocal advocate of nonviolence
and an international speaker, teacher and writer. Thomas was brought to Buddhism by Vietnamese Zen Buddhist teacher Thich Nhat Hanh, and was ordained in 1995 by Tetsugen Bernard Glassman
of the Zen Peacemaker Order
. Thomas brings Buddhist meditation practice and dharma teachings directly to the public through social projects, talks, and retreats. Since 1994, Thomas has walked 19000 miles (30,577.5 km) on peace pilgrimages
throughout Europe, Asia, the Middle East, and the United States. While walking, Thomas carries no money and begs for food and shelter in the mendicant
monk tradition. He is the author of At Hell's Gate: A Soldier's Journey from War to Peace (2004) and founder of the Zaltho Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to ending violence.
and grew up in the town of Waterford
. His father was a teacher and veteran, while his mother worked odd jobs as a barmaid, waitress, and house cleaner. Thomas experienced an abusive childhood, with his mother responsible for much of the physical abuse in his home, and his father emotionally distant. In one incident, his mother threw him down a flight of stairs, and in another, his father severely beat him. His relatives spoke glowingly about their war experiences, talking about it as a "great adventure" and influencing the young Thomas. When he was 11, his parents separated. Thomas began studying Korean style Karate (Hapkido
) at the age of 14; His teacher worked closely with Thomas, practicing a secular form of Zen that did not include the teachings of the Buddha. In school, Thomas was a competitive athlete, and was influenced by the warrior mentality he found on the playing field. In addition to his relatives and school sports, Hollywood sold him on the idea of going to war. Thomas was offered an athletic scholarship to attend college, but turned it down; His father convinced him he wasn't ready for college and was afraid he would "flunk out". At the time, Thomas would often steal cars for joyriding
and lived by his own rules. Thomas joined the U.S. Army in 1965 after graduating from high school, and later, with the permission of his father, volunteered to serve in Vietnam at the age of 17. As a soldier, Thomas followed in the footsteps of his father, a World War II veteran, and his grandfather, a World War I veteran, and his great-grandfather, a veteran of the Spanish–American War.
. He began as a door gunner with the 90th Replacement Battalion in Long Binh
and was next assigned to the 116th Assault Helicopter Company in Phu Loi where he began using the M60 machine gun
during their runs. On one ground patrol, Thomas and four other men in his unit were fired upon by what appeared to be Buddhist monks carrying weapons beneath their robes. All five soldiers were wounded in the attack, and three died. As a soldier, Thomas killed several hundred Vietnamese people. The helicopter crews he worked on contributed to betting pool
s on soldiers who could rack up the most kills. Thomas survived being shot down five times. The fifth time, in the summer of 1967, he was shot down in the Mekong Delta
. The pilot and commander were killed and the gunner and Thomas were both wounded. In addition to injuries to his shoulder and face, Thomas broke his jaw, cheekbones, ribs and neck, and split his sternum. Thomas received 25 Air Medal
s, the equivalent of 625 combat hours, and the Distinguished Flying Cross
and the Purple Heart
military decoration.
in Fort Knox, Kentucky. He was released from the hospital and honorably discharged from the Army on August 23, 1968, at the age of 20. Thomas came home to a country that still supported the war, but wouldn't hire veterans, and he had difficulty finding a job. He carried a gun everywhere, even sleeping with one for protection. Although he tried to forget about the war, and didn't speak much about it, he could not stop thinking about it: "Everywhere I looked there was the war." Thomas eventually got married and enrolled at Slippery Rock University of Pennsylvania
where he studied English Education, but soon found himself homeless, unemployed and addicted to drugs and alcohol, drifting in and out of jail, and trying to cope with symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Horrific images of the war replayed themselves in his mind, leading to the disintegration of his marriage and the abandonment of his wife and son. PTSD made it difficult to sleep, and at night he would relive old memories from the war, "being shot down, the cries of the wounded, screams of the people I'd killed, screams of the dying." For two years, Thomas lived out of a burned-out car in the Strip District in Pittsburgh. He began traveling outside the U.S. in 1970, and in 1974, Thomas bought a one-way ticket from London
to Iran
. He eventually returned to the U.S. to stay. In the early 1980s, Thomas worked as a counselor for the Veteran's Outreach Center in Boston. In 1983, Thomas successfully completed drug rehabilitation
in New Hampshire and stopped using drugs and alcohol. Thomas stopped carrying a gun in 1984, concluding that it was no longer helping to keep him safe. Although he had studied and taught martial arts for 27 years, he realized that martial arts was contributing to the "seeds of violence", and he stopped his involvement in 1989. Thomas later received a master's degree from Lesley College
in Management and reconciled with his son.
. At this time, he was still experiencing the symptoms of severe PTSD, confined to his home and afraid to go outside. When he did leave, jets flying overhead would bring him back to the war, and he would think he was under attack. If he went grocery shopping, he would imagine that the canned goods were booby-trapped. To deal with these feelings, he began working closely with a social worker in Cambridge. The social worker recommended visiting a retreat for Vietnam veterans, which later turned out to be run by Thich Nhat Hanh, a Vietnamese Buddhist monk. Thomas traveled to Rhinebeck
, New York
to attend the retreat at the Omega Institute
. Several months later, a nun invited Thomas to come to Plum Village
in France
to work directly with the Vietnamese community. Thich Nhat Hanh invited Thomas to become a monk in 1992, but Thomas wasn't ready and turned it down. Actor and Zen Buddhist Michael O'Keefe
introduced Thomas to Tetsugen Bernard Glassman
in 1994. While participating in a peace pilgrimage in Auschwitz, Thomas took vows as a Zen Peacemaker from Glassman on December 6 at the Birkenau extermination camp. During the ceremony, Glassman gave Thomas two new names: Anshin ("Heart of Peace") and Angyo ("Peacemaker"); Thomas also took sixteen peacemaker vows. Less than a year later, Glassman ordained Thomas as a Zen Buddhist monk in the Japanese Soto and Rinzai Zen tradition in Yonkers, New York, on Hiroshima Day, August 6, 1995.
. In 1996, he wrote an account of "Finding Peace after a Lifetime of War", and it was published in a collection of works about Engaged Buddhism
by Parallax Press. His poems were published in 1997 as part of the poetry collection, What book!? Buddha Poems from Beat to Hiphop, and in 2004, Shambhala Publications released his first book, At Hell's Gate: A Soldier's Journey from War to Peace. In Italy
, At Hell's Gate was published by Arnoldo Mondadori Editore
as Una volta ero un soldato – Dall’orrore del Vietnam all’incontro con il Buddhismo. In 2006, selected work by Thomas was included in Kingston's Veterans of War, Veterans of Peace, a collection of stories by veterans who attended Kingston's workshops.
. This practice of generosity is rooted in the Buddhist virtue called dāna
, the first of the ten pāramitā
s. Buddhists like Thomas are trying to keep the practice of dāna alive, as they believe that the act of giving benefits those who give. Since 1994, Thomas has walked 19000 miles (30,577.5 km) around the world on peace pilgrimages.
lineage of the Nichiren
Buddhist sect helped organize and lead a convocation of 200 people at Auschwitz for The Interfaith Pilgrimage for Peace and Life., an eight month peace march from Auschwitz to Hiroshima. The peace march was timed to honor the memory of the fiftieth anniversary of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki
and the liberation of the Auschwitz concentration camp
. Thomas helped lead the march, beginning a 5000-mile peace pilgrimage that would allow him to "bear witness to major sites of war and violence" through 27 countries in Eastern Europe and Asia. The Pilgrimage began at the Auschwitz concentration camp in Poland
and continued on foot to Vienna, Austria
, and continued by a combination of foot and motorized transport to Croatia
, Hungary
, Serbia
, Romania
, Bulgaria
, Greece
, the West Bank
, Gaza
, Israel
, Jordan
, Iraq
, India
, Malaysia, Thailand
, Cambodia
, and finally, Vietnam
, where Thomas was accompanied by his son. Because of both the vast distances to be covered, as well as closed borders and government restrictions, there were times where the group was unable to walk and had to travel by alternative means. Reflecting on the march, Thomas writes:
, particularly in the state of Ohio
where they were stopped more often by the police. Nevertheless, the group was helped by strangers throughout the country. Some invited them into their homes in an act of "selfless giving". In Boulder, Colorado
, the group began relying on a truck to carry their water through the desert.
and then finally to the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp
. This pilgrimage retraced the death marches made by Jews during the Holocaust.
, through Connecticut
, New York
, New Jersey
, and Delaware
, until they reached their final destination, Washington, D.C.
and Border Field State Park, Imperial Beach, California
. Support was provided by the All Souls Unitarian Universalist Church in Brownsville. It took a month to walk from Brownsville to El Paso. During this time, the group (with Thomas leading them in front) was often stopped by law enforcement several times a day, sometimes by the Country Sheriff, the National Guard, or even the Border Patrol. Each time they were stopped, the officers would often approach the group with loaded firearms, expressing concern for the group. Thomas would use these incidents as an opportunity to practice nonviolence. When asked if there was anything law enforcement could do for the Zen Buddhists, Thomas would answer, "We're ok, we have plenty of water, but could you take your hands off your sidearm?" According to Thomas, 87% would remove their hands from the gun. He would then ask them if he could share information about their pilgrimage with them. While passing through West Texas, the group encountered a dust storm; 68 days later, they arrived at the Pacific Ocean.
and the Clock Tower Practice Center in Maynard, Massachusetts
.
Zen
Zen is a school of Mahāyāna Buddhism founded by the Buddhist monk Bodhidharma. The word Zen is from the Japanese pronunciation of the Chinese word Chán , which in turn is derived from the Sanskrit word dhyāna, which can be approximately translated as "meditation" or "meditative state."Zen...
Buddhist
Buddhism
Buddhism is a religion and philosophy encompassing a variety of traditions, beliefs and practices, largely based on teachings attributed to Siddhartha Gautama, commonly known as the Buddha . The Buddha lived and taught in the northeastern Indian subcontinent some time between the 6th and 4th...
monk
Bhikkhu
A Bhikkhu or Bhikṣu is an ordained male Buddhist monastic. A female monastic is called a Bhikkhuni Nepali: ). The life of Bhikkhus and Bhikkhunis is governed by a set of rules called the patimokkha within the vinaya's framework of monastic discipline...
and Vietnam War veteran. He is a vocal advocate of nonviolence
Nonviolence
Nonviolence has two meanings. It can refer, first, to a general philosophy of abstention from violence because of moral or religious principle It can refer to the behaviour of people using nonviolent action Nonviolence has two (closely related) meanings. (1) It can refer, first, to a general...
and an international speaker, teacher and writer. Thomas was brought to Buddhism by Vietnamese Zen Buddhist teacher Thich Nhat Hanh, and was ordained in 1995 by Tetsugen Bernard Glassman
Tetsugen Bernard Glassman
Bernie Glassman , aka Tetsugen Bernard Glassman, is an American Zen Buddhist roshi and co-founder of the Zen Peacemakers , an organization established in 1996 with his late wife Sandra Jishu Holmes...
of the Zen Peacemaker Order
Zen Peacemaker Order
The Zen Peacemakers is an organization of socially engaged Buddhists. It was founded by Zen Master Bernie Glassman and his wife Sandra Jishu Holmes in 1996, as a means of continuing the work begun with the Greyston Foundation in 1980 of expanding Zen practice into larger spheres of influence such...
. Thomas brings Buddhist meditation practice and dharma teachings directly to the public through social projects, talks, and retreats. Since 1994, Thomas has walked 19000 miles (30,577.5 km) on peace pilgrimages
Peace walk
A peace walk or peace march, sometimes referred to as a peace pilgrimage, is a form of nonviolent action where a person or groups of people march a set distance to raise awareness of particular issues important to the walkers.-Europe:...
throughout Europe, Asia, the Middle East, and the United States. While walking, Thomas carries no money and begs for food and shelter in the mendicant
Mendicant
The term mendicant refers to begging or relying on charitable donations, and is most widely used for religious followers or ascetics who rely exclusively on charity to survive....
monk tradition. He is the author of At Hell's Gate: A Soldier's Journey from War to Peace (2004) and founder of the Zaltho Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to ending violence.
Early life
Thomas was born in November 1947 in PennsylvaniaPennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
and grew up in the town of Waterford
Waterford, Pennsylvania
Waterford is a borough in Erie County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 1,449 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Erie Metropolitan Statistical Area.-Geography:Waterford is located at ....
. His father was a teacher and veteran, while his mother worked odd jobs as a barmaid, waitress, and house cleaner. Thomas experienced an abusive childhood, with his mother responsible for much of the physical abuse in his home, and his father emotionally distant. In one incident, his mother threw him down a flight of stairs, and in another, his father severely beat him. His relatives spoke glowingly about their war experiences, talking about it as a "great adventure" and influencing the young Thomas. When he was 11, his parents separated. Thomas began studying Korean style Karate (Hapkido
Hapkido
Hapkido is a dynamic and also eclectic Korean martial art. It is a form of self-defense that employs joint locks, techniques of other martial arts, as well as kicks, punches, and other striking attacks...
) at the age of 14; His teacher worked closely with Thomas, practicing a secular form of Zen that did not include the teachings of the Buddha. In school, Thomas was a competitive athlete, and was influenced by the warrior mentality he found on the playing field. In addition to his relatives and school sports, Hollywood sold him on the idea of going to war. Thomas was offered an athletic scholarship to attend college, but turned it down; His father convinced him he wasn't ready for college and was afraid he would "flunk out". At the time, Thomas would often steal cars for joyriding
Joyride (crime)
To joyride is to drive around in a stolen car, boat, or other vehicle with no particular goal, a ride taken solely for pleasure.In English law, joyriding is not considered to be theft, because the intention to "permanently deprive" the owner of the vehicle cannot be proven...
and lived by his own rules. Thomas joined the U.S. Army in 1965 after graduating from high school, and later, with the permission of his father, volunteered to serve in Vietnam at the age of 17. As a soldier, Thomas followed in the footsteps of his father, a World War II veteran, and his grandfather, a World War I veteran, and his great-grandfather, a veteran of the Spanish–American War.
Vietnam War service
From September 1966 to November 1967, Thomas served as a helicopter crew chief in the Vietnam WarVietnam War
The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...
. He began as a door gunner with the 90th Replacement Battalion in Long Binh
Long Binh
Long Binh is a ward, in District 9 of Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.-Long Binh Post:During the Vietnam War, Long Binh Post was located near Bien Hoa, Dong Nai province. Vietnam, 33km from Saigon . The base functioned as a U.S. Army base, logistics center, and major command headquarters for United...
and was next assigned to the 116th Assault Helicopter Company in Phu Loi where he began using the M60 machine gun
M60 machine gun
The M60 is a family of American general-purpose machine guns firing 7.62×51mm NATO cartridges from a disintegrating belt of M13 links...
during their runs. On one ground patrol, Thomas and four other men in his unit were fired upon by what appeared to be Buddhist monks carrying weapons beneath their robes. All five soldiers were wounded in the attack, and three died. As a soldier, Thomas killed several hundred Vietnamese people. The helicopter crews he worked on contributed to betting pool
Betting pool
A betting pool, sports lottery, sweep or office pool if done at work, is a form of gambling, specifically a variant of parimutuel betting influenced by lotteries, where gamblers pay a fixed price into a pool , and then make a selection on some outcome, usually related to sport...
s on soldiers who could rack up the most kills. Thomas survived being shot down five times. The fifth time, in the summer of 1967, he was shot down in the Mekong Delta
Mekong Delta
The Mekong Delta is the region in southwestern Vietnam where the Mekong River approaches and empties into the sea through a network of distributaries. The Mekong delta region encompasses a large portion of southwestern Vietnam of . The size of the area covered by water depends on the season.The...
. The pilot and commander were killed and the gunner and Thomas were both wounded. In addition to injuries to his shoulder and face, Thomas broke his jaw, cheekbones, ribs and neck, and split his sternum. Thomas received 25 Air Medal
Air Medal
The Air Medal is a military decoration of the United States. The award was created in 1942, and is awarded for meritorious achievement while participating in aerial flight.-Criteria:...
s, the equivalent of 625 combat hours, and the Distinguished Flying Cross
Distinguished Flying Cross (United States)
The Distinguished Flying Cross is a medal awarded to any officer or enlisted member of the United States armed forces who distinguishes himself or herself in support of operations by "heroism or extraordinary achievement while participating in an aerial flight, subsequent to November 11, 1918." The...
and the Purple Heart
Purple Heart
The Purple Heart is a United States military decoration awarded in the name of the President to those who have been wounded or killed while serving on or after April 5, 1917 with the U.S. military. The National Purple Heart Hall of Honor is located in New Windsor, New York...
military decoration.
Coming home
Thomas was rotated back to the U.S. and spent nine months in physical therapy recovering from a shoulder injury at the Ireland Army Community HospitalIreland Army Community Hospital
The earliest hospital at Fort Knox Kentucky, was a World War I cantonment building, constructed in 1918 on the site of the Lindsey Golf Course. When the facility burned in 1928, medical services moved to the World War I guesthouse on Bullion Boulevard until a brick hospital was built in 1934 on E...
in Fort Knox, Kentucky. He was released from the hospital and honorably discharged from the Army on August 23, 1968, at the age of 20. Thomas came home to a country that still supported the war, but wouldn't hire veterans, and he had difficulty finding a job. He carried a gun everywhere, even sleeping with one for protection. Although he tried to forget about the war, and didn't speak much about it, he could not stop thinking about it: "Everywhere I looked there was the war." Thomas eventually got married and enrolled at Slippery Rock University of Pennsylvania
Slippery Rock University of Pennsylvania
Slippery Rock University of Pennsylvania is a public, master's-level university that offers some doctoral programs in cooperation with Indiana University of Pennsylvania. Both institutions are members of the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education...
where he studied English Education, but soon found himself homeless, unemployed and addicted to drugs and alcohol, drifting in and out of jail, and trying to cope with symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Horrific images of the war replayed themselves in his mind, leading to the disintegration of his marriage and the abandonment of his wife and son. PTSD made it difficult to sleep, and at night he would relive old memories from the war, "being shot down, the cries of the wounded, screams of the people I'd killed, screams of the dying." For two years, Thomas lived out of a burned-out car in the Strip District in Pittsburgh. He began traveling outside the U.S. in 1970, and in 1974, Thomas bought a one-way ticket from London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
to Iran
Iran
Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...
. He eventually returned to the U.S. to stay. In the early 1980s, Thomas worked as a counselor for the Veteran's Outreach Center in Boston. In 1983, Thomas successfully completed drug rehabilitation
Drug rehabilitation
Drug rehabilitation is a term for the processes of medical or psychotherapeutic treatment, for dependency on psychoactive substances such as alcohol, prescription drugs, and so-called street drugs such as cocaine, heroin or amphetamines...
in New Hampshire and stopped using drugs and alcohol. Thomas stopped carrying a gun in 1984, concluding that it was no longer helping to keep him safe. Although he had studied and taught martial arts for 27 years, he realized that martial arts was contributing to the "seeds of violence", and he stopped his involvement in 1989. Thomas later received a master's degree from Lesley College
Lesley College
Lesley College is the undergraduate section, and founding institution of, Lesley University.The college was founded in 1909 by Edith Lesley as The Lesley School, a women's college which focused on early childhood education as a part of the international kindergarten movement established by...
in Management and reconciled with his son.
Buddhism
In the beginning of the 1990s, Thomas was residing in Concord, MassachusettsConcord, Massachusetts
Concord is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, in the United States. As of the 2010 census, the town population was 17,668. Although a small town, Concord is noted for its leading roles in American history and literature.-History:...
. At this time, he was still experiencing the symptoms of severe PTSD, confined to his home and afraid to go outside. When he did leave, jets flying overhead would bring him back to the war, and he would think he was under attack. If he went grocery shopping, he would imagine that the canned goods were booby-trapped. To deal with these feelings, he began working closely with a social worker in Cambridge. The social worker recommended visiting a retreat for Vietnam veterans, which later turned out to be run by Thich Nhat Hanh, a Vietnamese Buddhist monk. Thomas traveled to Rhinebeck
Rhinebeck
Rhinebeck may refer to:* Rhinebeck , New York* Rhinebeck , New York* Old Rhinebeck Aerodrome* Rhinebeck and Connecticut Railroad* New York State Sheep and Wool Festival, held in Rhinebeck, New York...
, New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
to attend the retreat at the Omega Institute
Omega Institute for Holistic Studies
Omega Institute for Holistic Studies is a non-profit educational retreat center located in Rhinebeck, New York. Founded in 1977 by Elizabeth Lesser and Stephan Rechtschaffen, inspired by Sufi mystic, Pir Vilayat Inayat Khan and his ecumenical spirituality, today it offers classes to over 25,000...
. Several months later, a nun invited Thomas to come to Plum Village
Plum Village
Plum Village is a Buddhist meditation center in the Dordogne, in southern France. It was founded by Vietnamese monk Thích Nhất Hạnh, and his colleague Bhikkhuni Chân Không, in 1982.-History:...
in France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
to work directly with the Vietnamese community. Thich Nhat Hanh invited Thomas to become a monk in 1992, but Thomas wasn't ready and turned it down. Actor and Zen Buddhist Michael O'Keefe
Michael O'Keefe
Michael Raymond O'Keefe is an American film and television actor.- Early life :O'Keefe was born Raymond Peter O'Keefe, Jr. in Mount Vernon, New York, the oldest of seven children in a devoutly Roman Catholic Irish American family. His father was a law professor at Fordham University, as well as...
introduced Thomas to Tetsugen Bernard Glassman
Tetsugen Bernard Glassman
Bernie Glassman , aka Tetsugen Bernard Glassman, is an American Zen Buddhist roshi and co-founder of the Zen Peacemakers , an organization established in 1996 with his late wife Sandra Jishu Holmes...
in 1994. While participating in a peace pilgrimage in Auschwitz, Thomas took vows as a Zen Peacemaker from Glassman on December 6 at the Birkenau extermination camp. During the ceremony, Glassman gave Thomas two new names: Anshin ("Heart of Peace") and Angyo ("Peacemaker"); Thomas also took sixteen peacemaker vows. Less than a year later, Glassman ordained Thomas as a Zen Buddhist monk in the Japanese Soto and Rinzai Zen tradition in Yonkers, New York, on Hiroshima Day, August 6, 1995.
Writing
Thomas began publishing essays, poetry, and books about his experience as a veteran and Buddhist after combining mindfulness meditation and writing, a practice he learned after participating in the Veterans Writing Workshop organized by author Maxine Hong KingstonMaxine Hong Kingston
Maxine Hong Kingston is a Chinese American author and Professor Emeritus at the University of California, Berkeley, where she graduated with a BA in English in 1962. Kingston has written three novels and several works of non-fiction about the experiences of Chinese immigrants living in the United...
. In 1996, he wrote an account of "Finding Peace after a Lifetime of War", and it was published in a collection of works about Engaged Buddhism
Engaged Buddhism
Engaged Buddhism refers to Buddhists who are seeking ways to apply the insights from meditation practice and dharma teachings to situations of social, political, environmental, and economic suffering and injustice...
by Parallax Press. His poems were published in 1997 as part of the poetry collection, What book!? Buddha Poems from Beat to Hiphop, and in 2004, Shambhala Publications released his first book, At Hell's Gate: A Soldier's Journey from War to Peace. In Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
, At Hell's Gate was published by Arnoldo Mondadori Editore
Arnoldo Mondadori Editore
Arnoldo Mondadori Editore is the biggest publishing company in Italy.-History:Founded by the 18-year-old Arnoldo Mondadori in 1907 to publish the magazine titled Luce!, it soon became an important publisher. Its headquarters are in Milan....
as Una volta ero un soldato – Dall’orrore del Vietnam all’incontro con il Buddhismo. In 2006, selected work by Thomas was included in Kingston's Veterans of War, Veterans of Peace, a collection of stories by veterans who attended Kingston's workshops.
Pilgrimages
Thomas participates in and organizes peace pilgrimages that take him around the world. Clothed in nothing more than robes and carrying no money, Thomas leads groups of Buddhists from town to town begging for food and lodging, a practice known as takuhatsuTakuhatsu
Takuhatsu is a traditional form of alms, common to Buddhist monks in Japan. In the practice of takuhatsu, monks travel to various businesses and residences in order to exchange chanting of sutras in Sino-Japanese for donations of food and money...
. This practice of generosity is rooted in the Buddhist virtue called dāna
Dana
-Singers:Some singers are popularly known only by the name, Dana:* Dana Rosemary Scallon , Irish-American singer and politician* Dana , Korean pop singer* Dana International , Israeli pop singer-In fiction:...
, the first of the ten pāramitā
Pāramitā
Pāramitā or pāramī is "perfection" or "completeness." In Buddhism, the pāramitās refer to the perfection or culmination of certain virtues...
s. Buddhists like Thomas are trying to keep the practice of dāna alive, as they believe that the act of giving benefits those who give. Since 1994, Thomas has walked 19000 miles (30,577.5 km) around the world on peace pilgrimages.
Auschwitz–Vietnam
In December 1994, Sasamori Shonin and other Japanese monks active in the Nipponzan-MyōhōjiNipponzan-Myohoji
Nipponzan Myōhōji , founded in 1917 by Nichidatsu Fujii, is a new religious movement that emerged from the Nichiren sect of Japanese Buddhism....
lineage of the Nichiren
Nichiren Buddhism
Nichiren Buddhism is a branch of Mahāyāna Buddhism based on the teachings of the 13th century Japanese monk Nichiren...
Buddhist sect helped organize and lead a convocation of 200 people at Auschwitz for The Interfaith Pilgrimage for Peace and Life., an eight month peace march from Auschwitz to Hiroshima. The peace march was timed to honor the memory of the fiftieth anniversary of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki
Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki
During the final stages of World War II in 1945, the United States conducted two atomic bombings against the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in Japan, the first on August 6, 1945, and the second on August 9, 1945. These two events are the only use of nuclear weapons in war to date.For six months...
and the liberation of the Auschwitz concentration camp
Auschwitz concentration camp
Concentration camp Auschwitz was a network of Nazi concentration and extermination camps built and operated by the Third Reich in Polish areas annexed by Nazi Germany during World War II...
. Thomas helped lead the march, beginning a 5000-mile peace pilgrimage that would allow him to "bear witness to major sites of war and violence" through 27 countries in Eastern Europe and Asia. The Pilgrimage began at the Auschwitz concentration camp in Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
and continued on foot to Vienna, Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
, and continued by a combination of foot and motorized transport to Croatia
Croatia
Croatia , officially the Republic of Croatia , is a unitary democratic parliamentary republic in Europe at the crossroads of the Mitteleuropa, the Balkans, and the Mediterranean. Its capital and largest city is Zagreb. The country is divided into 20 counties and the city of Zagreb. Croatia covers ...
, Hungary
Hungary
Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...
, Serbia
Serbia
Serbia , officially the Republic of Serbia , is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeast Europe, covering the southern part of the Carpathian basin and the central part of the Balkans...
, Romania
Romania
Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...
, Bulgaria
Bulgaria
Bulgaria , officially the Republic of Bulgaria , is a parliamentary democracy within a unitary constitutional republic in Southeast Europe. The country borders Romania to the north, Serbia and Macedonia to the west, Greece and Turkey to the south, as well as the Black Sea to the east...
, Greece
Greece
Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....
, the West Bank
West Bank
The West Bank ) of the Jordan River is the landlocked geographical eastern part of the Palestinian territories located in Western Asia. To the west, north, and south, the West Bank shares borders with the state of Israel. To the east, across the Jordan River, lies the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan...
, Gaza
Gaza
Gaza , also referred to as Gaza City, is a Palestinian city in the Gaza Strip, with a population of about 450,000, making it the largest city in the Palestinian territories.Inhabited since at least the 15th century BC,...
, Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
, Jordan
Jordan
Jordan , officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan , Al-Mamlaka al-Urduniyya al-Hashemiyya) is a kingdom on the East Bank of the River Jordan. The country borders Saudi Arabia to the east and south-east, Iraq to the north-east, Syria to the north and the West Bank and Israel to the west, sharing...
, Iraq
Iraq
Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....
, India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
, Malaysia, Thailand
Thailand
Thailand , officially the Kingdom of Thailand , formerly known as Siam , is a country located at the centre of the Indochina peninsula and Southeast Asia. It is bordered to the north by Burma and Laos, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the...
, Cambodia
Cambodia
Cambodia , officially known as the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country located in the southern portion of the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia...
, and finally, Vietnam
Vietnam
Vietnam – sometimes spelled Viet Nam , officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam – is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and the South China Sea –...
, where Thomas was accompanied by his son. Because of both the vast distances to be covered, as well as closed borders and government restrictions, there were times where the group was unable to walk and had to travel by alternative means. Reflecting on the march, Thomas writes:
On the pilgrimage from Auschwitz to Vietnam, I went to practice peace, to be peace, but I was not walking expressly for peace. If I have some preconceived notion of what peace is, I might never be able to participate in it. Peace is not an idea, peace is not a political movement, not a theory or a dogma. Peace is a way of life: living mindfully in the present moment, breathing, enjoying each breath. Peace becomes. It is fresh and new with every moment.
New York–California
In 1998, Thomas and an international group of Zen Buddhists walked 3000 miles from New York to California in the tradition of mendicant monks, carrying no money or supplies, and relying only on the generosity of strangers they met along the way. When the group arrived in a new town they would visit local religious organizations and ask them for a place to sleep and eat. If the answer was no, they would sleep outside and go hungry. The group averaged about 15–30 miles a day, walking about 16 miles in 4 hours and 20 minutes, or 17 minutes a mile with large packs on their backs. The group encountered few problems except in the Eastern United StatesEastern United States
The Eastern United States, the American East, or simply the East is traditionally defined as the states east of the Mississippi River. The first two tiers of states west of the Mississippi have traditionally been considered part of the West, but can be included in the East today; usually in...
, particularly in the state of Ohio
Ohio
Ohio is a Midwestern state in the United States. The 34th largest state by area in the U.S.,it is the 7th‑most populous with over 11.5 million residents, containing several major American cities and seven metropolitan areas with populations of 500,000 or more.The state's capital is Columbus...
where they were stopped more often by the police. Nevertheless, the group was helped by strangers throughout the country. Some invited them into their homes in an act of "selfless giving". In Boulder, Colorado
Boulder, Colorado
Boulder is the county seat and most populous city of Boulder County and the 11th most populous city in the U.S. state of Colorado. Boulder is located at the base of the foothills of the Rocky Mountains at an elevation of...
, the group began relying on a truck to carry their water through the desert.
Germany
Thomas and six core participants walked more than 1000 km across Germany, with dozens more joining them for part of the trip from August to October 1999. Buddhist retreats and services were held at different sites of "terror, abuse, degradation, torture and killing" throughout the country, with hundreds of people participating in the events.Hungary–Germany
From August to October 2002, Thomas made a pilgrimage from Budapest, Hungary to the Mauthausen-Gusen concentration campMauthausen-Gusen concentration camp
Mauthausen Concentration Camp grew to become a large group of Nazi concentration camps that was built around the villages of Mauthausen and Gusen in Upper Austria, roughly east of the city of Linz.Initially a single camp at Mauthausen, it expanded over time and by the summer of 1940, the...
and then finally to the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp
Bergen-Belsen concentration camp
Bergen-Belsen was a Nazi concentration camp in Lower Saxony in northwestern Germany, southwest of the town of Bergen near Celle...
. This pilgrimage retraced the death marches made by Jews during the Holocaust.
Massachusetts–Washington, D.C.
From September to October 2004, Thomas and a small group walked from Concord, MassachusettsConcord, Massachusetts
Concord is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, in the United States. As of the 2010 census, the town population was 17,668. Although a small town, Concord is noted for its leading roles in American history and literature.-History:...
, through Connecticut
Connecticut
Connecticut is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, and the state of New York to the west and the south .Connecticut is named for the Connecticut River, the major U.S. river that approximately...
, New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
, New Jersey
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
, and Delaware
Delaware
Delaware is a U.S. state located on the Atlantic Coast in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It is bordered to the south and west by Maryland, and to the north by Pennsylvania...
, until they reached their final destination, Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
Texas–California
From March to June 2007, Thomas was accompanied by eight Zen Buddhists on a 1650-mile walking pilgrimage on the border between Brownsville, TexasBrownsville, Texas
Brownsville is a city in the southernmost tip of the state of Texas, in the United States. It is located on the northern bank of the Rio Grande, directly north and across the border from Matamoros, Tamaulipas, Mexico. Brownsville is the 16th largest city in the state of Texas with a population of...
and Border Field State Park, Imperial Beach, California
Imperial Beach, California
Imperial Beach is a residential beach city in San Diego County, California, with a population of 26,324 at the 2010 census. The city is the most southern beach city in Southern California and the West Coast of the United States...
. Support was provided by the All Souls Unitarian Universalist Church in Brownsville. It took a month to walk from Brownsville to El Paso. During this time, the group (with Thomas leading them in front) was often stopped by law enforcement several times a day, sometimes by the Country Sheriff, the National Guard, or even the Border Patrol. Each time they were stopped, the officers would often approach the group with loaded firearms, expressing concern for the group. Thomas would use these incidents as an opportunity to practice nonviolence. When asked if there was anything law enforcement could do for the Zen Buddhists, Thomas would answer, "We're ok, we have plenty of water, but could you take your hands off your sidearm?" According to Thomas, 87% would remove their hands from the gun. He would then ask them if he could share information about their pilgrimage with them. While passing through West Texas, the group encountered a dust storm; 68 days later, they arrived at the Pacific Ocean.
Veteran outreach
For more than a decade, Thomas has participated in meditation retreats with veterans and their families in the United States and Europe. He is often asked "what can we do to support those who are coming home?" Thomas responds:Wake up to the roots of war in you. And, allow them to be your teacher. Because we can't do anything for them, not really, unless they ask us, unless they want that. But, we can't hear what they're saying, we can't hear what people are saying, unless we're willing to wake up to our conditioning. Because it was my conditioning, it was the karma that I inherited, and then the karma that I was creating that kept me deaf. I couldn't hear. I did not have the gift of Avalokiteśvara, of kanzeon, bodhisattva. I didn't have the gift of hearing. I couldn't hear the sounds of the world.
Zaltho Foundation
Thomas started the Zaltho Foundation in 1993. As a non-profit organization, Zaltho is "committed to ending violence by supporting socially engaged projects in schools, communities, organizations, and families, with an emphasis on the most important ingredient, the individual." Programs include pilgrimages, talks and retreats, and outreach to veterans, prisoners, substance abusers, the homeless, and refugees. The foundation operates two Buddhist teaching centers: the Magnolia Zen Center in Mary Esther, FloridaMary Esther, Florida
Mary Esther is a city in Okaloosa County, Florida, United States. The population was 4,055 at the 2000 census. As of 2004, the population recorded by the U.S. Census Bureau is 4,115...
and the Clock Tower Practice Center in Maynard, Massachusetts
Maynard, Massachusetts
Maynard is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. As of the 2010 census, the town population was 10,106.- History :Maynard, located on the Assabet River, was incorporated as an independent municipality in 1871. Prior to that it was known as 'Assabet Village' but was legally...
.