Buddhist Monk as Teacher, Coach

The crowd filing into New York’s historic Beacon Theater on Manhattan’s Upper West Side was a colorful mix: students, celebrities, academics, politicians, and bald-headed monks dressed in saffron robes.

When I got to my seat in the elegant theater, I found former New York Knick and presidential candidate Bill Bradley sitting in my seat. “Is this your seat?” he asked, and then kindly inquired about swapping seats so the six-foot-five Bradley could stretch his legs in my aisle seat.

The sell-out crowd of nearly 3,000 had not come to see a show–at least not in any conventional sense–but came instead to hear a dharma talk, a kind of commentary delivered by an esteemed Buddhist teacher. In this case, the man who attracted the crowd was 83-year-old Zen master Thich Nhat Hahn, a Vietnamese monk who fled his home country during the Vietnam War, persuaded Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. to publically oppose the War, and was ultimately nominated by Dr. King for the Nobel Peace Prize.

Thich Nhat Hahn is no stranger, though, to coaches. His books, and there are many, are often included in coaches’ lists of recommended books. Coach Jeanine Cogan has four of Thich Nhat Hahn’s books on her list of “books that inspire.” Communications Coach Preston Ni has three of Nhat Hahn’s books on his recommended reading list.

I sat down for Thich Nhat Hahn’s New York talk, “Building a Peaceful and Compassionate Society,” with that in mind–wondering what it was about this man that seemed to connect with so many coaches.

One thing is certain, this celebrated spiritual leader does not speak in lofty abstracts, but rather, real-world lessons that wouldn’t sound entirely out of place in a coaching conversation. Comparing the world to a garden, Thich Nhat Hahn said, “As an organic gardener, you are not afraid of the garbage. It can always be transformed to make a beautiful flower.”

Doug Silsbee is an author and coach and he considers Thich Nhat Hahn a guide in his life and work. I asked him if the Zen master, often referred to as a “teacher,” could also be considered a coach.

“Intriguing question,” said Silsbee. “Thich Nhat Hahn certainly holds a presence that invites us into greater awareness and choicefulness in our lives, an essential component of coaching. While much of what he does doesn’t really fit with our usual definition of coaching, he embodies an ideal as a teacher that has coach-like qualities.”

And others who were in the audience in New York agreed, including a coach. Thich Nhat Hahn is a “teacher, coach, philosopher, all in one,” said Mark Staley, a university professor and acting coach from Pittsburgh, who uses Thich Nhat Hahn’s teachings when he coaches students. “I listen to a lot of his tapes and read a lot of his books, and there’s a common theme through it all–you’ll find success if you can be grounded in what you’re doing.”

“His teachings are really very, very practical. Mindfulness is something that every person can use in their life. It’s about being able to appreciate the things that we take for granted in life,” said Valerie Brown, a Buddhist from Pennsylvania, who believes Buddhist practice has obvious translation into both therapy and coaching. “I would imagine that in coaching, part of it is about being in the world, and that’s what mindfulness does. It’s a tool for being in the world.”

Alan Ashley, a UK leadership coach, calls himself the “Buddhist Coach,” and says “you don’t have to be Buddhist to want a Buddhist coach. You might just be looking for a fresh perspective on an issue in your life.”

Coach Caitriona Reed believes the worlds of coaching and Buddhism flow so well together, and the teachings of Thich Nhat Hahn connect to coaching, because “coaching is an entirely fluid process,” she says. “It is informed by an idea that is central to Buddhist teaching, to General Semantics, to NLP, and clinical hypnosis practice, which Alfred Korzybski sums up so famously; ‘the map is not the territory.’”

Do you bring the work of a favorite teacher or thinker into your work as a coach? Do you encourage your coaching clients to read inspiring works beyond the books in the “coaching” section of the bookstore? Who are your favorites and how do their lessons empower your work?