Thich Nhat Hanh and Cindy Sheehan in L.A.
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> From the San Jose Mercury News, October 9, 2005
> Peace advocate Thich Nhat Hanh leads 3,000 in silent LA march
>
> Associated Press
>
>
> LOS ANGELES - There was no cheering, no chanting and no sign waving.
> The march organized by Buddhist monk and peace activist Thich Nhat Hanh
> brought together 3,000 people to enjoy an unusual state in this city -
> silence.
>
> Activist mom Cindy Sheehan, who garnered national attention this summer
> with her anti-war vigil outside President Bush's Crawford ranch, was
> among those who attended the event at MacArthur Park west of downtown
> Los Angeles. She and Hanh embraced before the march began, but Hanh was
> not shy about expressing his view of Sheehan's tactics.
>
> "I don't think shouting angrily at government can help us end the war,"
> he said. "When we are able to change our own thinking, the government
> will have to change."
>
> Hanh later told the audience: "We don't think shouting in anger can
> help. If you make people angry and fearful, then you cannot reduce
> violence and fear.
>
> "When you speak to people, you should speak to them in a language they
> can understand. By doing that, we can turn our enemies into our
> friends."
>
> The 79-year-old Vietnamese Zen master was an early opponent of the
> Vietnam War in the 1960s and was forced into exile in France where he
> lives at a monastery. He returned to his native country for the first
> time in April. Martin Luther King Jr., whose own views on the war were
> influenced by Hanh, nominated the monk for a Nobel Peace Prize.
>
> Hanh organized the two-hour silent peace walk as a "gift to the people
> of Los Angeles."
>
> Michelle Thomas, a former actor from Westminster, said the walk was
> very different from other rallies she had attended.
>
> "I've been to anti-war rallies where we carry picket signs and march,
> and it's very aggressive," Thomas said, as she sat on a grassy hill
> after the stroll. "This wasn't one of those. I was actually able to
> feel in the present, something I've never been able to feel before. It
> just makes me feel that good things are possible."
>
> About a dozen counter-demonstrators greeted the marchers, but they too
> remained silent, merely waving "Down With Thich Nhat Hanh" signs.
>
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