The monastics from Deer Park are in Vietnam until the middle of April, and I plan to be back there before then. My plan to return hasn't changed, nor has my intent to sincerely pursue monastic aspirancy in the Plum Village system. It doesn't help, however, that at the time I left, I was grappling with my negativity issues that extended to encompass the place and what I was doing there.

And I'm not sure what to make of articles regarding Thich Nhat Hanh's visit to Vietnam that aren't exactly glowing. Thich Nhat Hanh is held in pretty high esteem in Western Buddhist circles, and from my experience, the teachings and the community are pretty good, if not incredible. So why the chilly reception in the media? Are they biased against him and why? Why aren't there positive reports from parties biased for him?

(links removed because I have been able to verify that the sources are biased and the facts were misrepresented)
+ Thich Nhat Hanh seeks to meet UBCV dignitaries Thich Quang Do and Thich Tue Sy
+ Thich Nhat Hanh’s visit to Vietnam causes deep concern to UBCV Buddhists
+ Buddhist monk Thich Vien Dinh writes to Thich Nhat Hanh
+ Buddhist monk returns from exile to political storm in Vietnam

This, I shouldn't wonder, is more of my negative impulses manifesting. I shouldn't reflect on the negative aspect these articles bring until I wait and hear the positive accounts. Maybe it's not fair of me to be linking these articles without finding more balanced reports. But I'm already in the Plum Village system. That's where I'm pursuing aspirancy and they already get any benefit of my doubts. So while I need to be watchful of my negativity, I need to keep up a skeptical review and stay on guard for any mindless, cult-like behavior.

By "cult-like behavior", I just mean an atmosphere where critical thinking and open inquiry is supressed. So if the Deer Park monks express unhappiness over my linking these negative articles about Thich Nhat Hahn without proving that: A) they are inaccurate or one-sided, and B) providing a credible motivation by the writers/publishers to publish negative reports about Thich Nhat Hahn, that might be considered cult-like behavior.

I don't feel like these articles are helping me and my negativity personally, but they might be helping me in my quest. When I walk back up the mountain to Deer Park, I will be walking very carefully, balancing the positive and negative to keep an objective viewpoint, open to both sides to find my truth about the place and what I'm doing.

addendum: one of the articles states that Thich Nhat Hanh's "sect" allows monks and nuns to marry, which is against the Buddhist monastic tradition and is simply false. That blatant falsehood, which I can personally verify for myself, is a prima facie indicator that the article is biased, and puts the motivation behind the article in question. There are no two sides of some objective fact, that's a libelous falsehood.