Thich Nhat Hanh was born Nguyen Xuan Bao in central Vietnam in 1926. At the age of 16 he entered the monastery at Tu Hieu Temple near Hue, Vietnam, where his primary teacher was Dhyana (Meditation) Master Thanh Quy Chan That [1] [2]. Thich Nhat Hanh underwent a thorough training in Zen and the Mahayana school of Buddhism and received full ordination as a monk in 1949. Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh is now recognized as the spiritual head of that same Tu Hieu Temple [3] as Elder of the Tu Hieu branch of the 8th generation of the Lieu Quan lineage in the 42nd generation of the Lam Te Dhyana school (Lin Chi Chan in Chinese or Rinzai Zen in Japanese)[4]. Thầy ("teacher" in Vietnamese) Thich Nhat Hanh has combined his deep knowledge of a variety of traditional Zen teaching methods with methods from Theravada Buddhism and ideas from Western psychology to form his approach to modern Zen practice. Thich Nhat Hanh has become an important influence in the development of a western Zen.
In 1956 he was named Editor-in-Chief of Vietnamese Buddhism, the periodical of the All Vietnam Buddhist Association. In following years he founded La Boi Press, Van Hanh Buddhist University in Saigon, and the "School of Youth for Social Service," a corps of Buddhist peaceworkers aiding peasants who were caught between warring groups in Vietnam.
In 1960, Thich Nhat Hanh came to the U.S. to study comparative religion at Princeton University, and he was subsequently appointed lecturer in Buddhism at Columbia University. By then, he had gained strong proficiency in French, Chinese, Sanskrit, Pali, Japanese, and English, apart from his native Vietnamese. In 1963 he returned to Vietnam to aid his fellow monks in their non-violent peace efforts.
On May 1st, 1966 at Tu Hieu Temple Thich Nhat Hanh received Dharma transmission, permission to teach as a Zen master, from his old teacher, Thay Chan That [5]. Ten days later Thich Nhat Hanh returned to the US to lead a symposium in Vietnamese Buddhism at Cornell University.
The Unified Buddhist Church was established by Thich Nhat Hanh and others in Vietnam in the 1960's and in the United States in 1997. The Unified Buddhist Church is the legally recognized governance body for Plum Village in France; for Maple Forest Monastery and Green Mountain Dharma Center in Vermont; and, since March, 1999, for the Community of Mindful Living, Parallax Press, and Deer Park Monastery in California. [6]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thich_Nhat_Hanh