Vietnam veteran Claude Anshin Thomas teaches his fellow veterans how to confront the trauma they got from their war experiences. What he tries to do is to create a 'safe space' for others who also suffered from the horrors of war like him, he says. He explains that it is through meditation and spiritual practices in general that combat veterans can achieve a state of normalcy.
Upon returning from Vietnam in 1967, memories of horror still haunted Thomas. He suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder which made him turn to drugs and alcohol, and eventually led him to leave his wife and son. After attending Zen retreats, he realized that Zen practices are the only way to adjust to life after war.
During his teachings, Thomas acts as a facilitator so that his fellow veterans engage to their own experiences. " We are forever attached. We have to learn to adjust to our life," Thomas says. One of his participants relates that the practices they do is all about meditation and mindful living which do help him deal with the anger and sadness he feels about war.
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in Dutch
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