Super Soul Special: Thich Nhat Hanh: How to Listen with Compassion

Oprah's Super Soul

Oprah

Society & Culture

4.6 • 33.1K Ratings

🗓️ 11 March 2026

⏱️ 34 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Originally aired May 7, 2018. Thich Nhat Hanh, the Buddhist monk, author and Nobel Peace Prize nominee, sits down with Oprah to discuss his dedication to mindful meditation and his legacy of nonviolent opposition to the Vietnam War. In 1966, the spiritual leader met with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and urged him to publicly denounce the Vietnam War. After the meeting, Dr. King nominated Nhat Hanh for the Nobel Peace Prize, saying, "His ideas for peace, if applied, would build a monument to ecumenism, to world brotherhood, to humanity." Nhat Hanh also explains how to practice "compassionate listening," which he believes will help ease suffering, end wars and change the world for the better.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	I'm Oprah Winfrey. Welcome to Super Soul Conversations, the podcast. I believe that one of the most
0:07.8	valuable gifts you can give yourself is time, taking time to be more fully present. Your journey
0:16.6	to become more inspired and connected to the deeper world around us starts right now.
0:23.6	Born in 1926, the Vietnamese Buddhist monk Ticknacht Han is one of the most influential spiritual leaders of our time.
0:32.6	Ticknhat Han, or Thai, as his students call him, Thai means teacher, is author of more than 100 books. A copy of
0:41.1	his Living Buddha, Living Christ, never leaves my bedside. His spiritual journey began at the early
0:47.3	age of seven when he felt the calling to become a monk. But this monastic has always been active
0:53.5	on the world stage. In the early
0:55.6	60s, horrified by the escalating civil war in Vietnam, Thai spearheaded one of the great
1:02.2	nonviolent resistance movements of the 20th century. Martin Luther King Jr. took notice and spoke
1:09.1	out against the Vietnam War for the first time at
1:12.3	Nathand's urging and later nominated Ticknath Han for the Nobel Peace Prize. In 1982,
1:19.9	Tai established a monastery and retreat center in France, where thousands of followers still flock every
1:26.2	year. He lives there today, devoting his life to mindful meditation,
1:31.3	helping people to be passionately present in the here and now.
1:35.2	What a treat it was to finally meet Ticknacht Han on one of his trips to New York City.
1:41.0	Well, thank you for the honor of talking to me today.
1:43.1	Thank you for that.
1:50.0	Already, just being in your presence for a short time, I feel less stressed than I did when I started out the day, less stressed because you have such a peaceful aura that follows you
1:56.0	and that you carry with yourself.
1:58.0	Are you always this content and peaceful?
2:03.5	This is my training.
	...

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