Zaltho Foundation

Claude AnShin Thomas Biography

Claude Age 12

Claude AnShin Thomas was born in rural, Northwestern Pennsylvania in November of 1947. He began the practice of Zen through his study of Martial Arts (Hop Ki Do) in 1961. He graduated from High School in 1965. Upon graduation he enlisted in the United States Army, completed his training and volunteered for duty in Vietnam where he served as a helicopter Crew Chief from September of 1966 to November of 1967.

During his service in Vietnam he was shot down on 5 separate occasions and wounded. He was honorably discharged from the US Army in August of 1968.

Claude Army

During the next several years he was to complete a Bachelor of Science degree in English Education and complete the majority of course work towards a Master of Fine Arts in English (concentrating on creative writing). All of this education was at Slippery Rock University, Slippery Rock, Pennsylvania.

He then wandered about Europe, Asia, and the Far East before returning back to the United States to pursue a musical career that spanned 11 years, yielding 4 independent albums of what has been defined as Socially Conscious Rock and Roll.

Throughout this period of his life he was also very politically and socially active working to end the war in Vietnam, for student rights and later to address the plight of many of his fellow veterans who were being socially ostracized suffering homelessness, drug addiction, unemployability, social isolation, and abnormally high rates of suicide, divorce, and imprisonment. All conditions with which he was intimately aware and personally familiar.

He also began the study of another Martial Art, Shaolin Kung Fu. He became a Master in this tradition as well as Hop Ki Do, teaching (at one point) as many as 500 students. During this time Claude also attended and graduated from Lesley College in Cambridge, MA with a Masters Degree in Management (MSM).

Walking Meditation

In 1991 he came in contact with the Venerable Thich Nhat Hanh. In this process Claude became a member of the Vietnamese monastery and retreat center, Plum Village in southern France founded and guided by the Venerable Thich Nhat Hanh becoming awake to the devastating and lasting effects of war and how to make peace with this unpeacefulness (healing).

Claude speaks and leads retreats internationally on mindfulness practice, transformation, and reconciliation. He has worked for Peace in the Balkans and participated in a Pilgrimage for Peace with the Venerable Brother Sasamori Shonin of the Nippozan Myohoji lineage of the Japanese Nichiren Order. This pilgrimage began in Auschwitz, Poland in December 1994 and ended in Japan(Hiroshima/Nagasaki) in August of 1995.

Claude was ordained a Zen Priest, AnShin AnGyo, in August of 1995 by Roshi Bernie Glassman, founder of the Greyston Foundation, NYC. Claude is active in creating and working for socially engaged projects serving the disenfranchised, speaks publicly on the subjects of peace, non-violence, and the waking up to and healing of suffering, both personal and collective, and leads Mindfulness Retreats throughout the world.

On March 1, 1998, Claude began a New York to California cross-country journey, which was completed July 29, 1998. This Pilgrimage is known as the American Zen Pilgrimage (see "The Practice"). The pilgrims practiced the ancient Buddhist tradition of takahatsu, or alms-begging, with the main focus of the journey being the Three Core Tenets of the Zen Peacemaker Order: penetrating the unknown, bearing witness, and healing.

He is also founder of the ZALTHO FOUNDATION, a non-profit organization whose purpose is to promote peace and nonviolence in and among individuals, families, societies, and countries supporting all efforts to attain this goal through whatever peaceful and nonviolent means available.

Claude AnShin is currently finishing writing a book with the title 'At Hell's Gate', release date 12 September 2004, Shambhala Publications, Inc.

Claude AnShin Thomas Biography

Claude Age 12

Claude AnShin Thomas was born in rural, Northwestern Pennsylvania in November of 1947. He began the practice of Zen through his study of Martial Arts (Hop Ki Do) in 1961. He graduated from High School in 1965. Upon graduation he enlisted in the United States Army, completed his training and volunteered for duty in Vietnam where he served as a helicopter Crew Chief from September of 1966 to November of 1967.

During his service in Vietnam he was shot down on 5 separate occasions and wounded. He was honorably discharged from the US Army in August of 1968.

Claude Army

During the next several years he was to complete a Bachelor of Science degree in English Education and complete the majority of course work towards a Master of Fine Arts in English (concentrating on creative writing). All of this education was at Slippery Rock University, Slippery Rock, Pennsylvania.

He then wandered about Europe, Asia, and the Far East before returning back to the United States to pursue a musical career that spanned 11 years, yielding 4 independent albums of what has been defined as Socially Conscious Rock and Roll.

Throughout this period of his life he was also very politically and socially active working to end the war in Vietnam, for student rights and later to address the plight of many of his fellow veterans who were being socially ostracized suffering homelessness, drug addiction, unemployability, social isolation, and abnormally high rates of suicide, divorce, and imprisonment. All conditions with which he was intimately aware and personally familiar.

He also began the study of another Martial Art, Shaolin Kung Fu. He became a Master in this tradition as well as Hop Ki Do, teaching (at one point) as many as 500 students. During this time Claude also attended and graduated from Lesley College in Cambridge, MA with a Masters Degree in Management (MSM).

Walking Meditation

In 1991 he came in contact with the Venerable Thich Nhat Hanh. In this process Claude became a member of the Vietnamese monastery and retreat center, Plum Village in southern France founded and guided by the Venerable Thich Nhat Hanh becoming awake to the devastating and lasting effects of war and how to make peace with this unpeacefulness (healing).

Claude speaks and leads retreats internationally on mindfulness practice, transformation, and reconciliation. He has worked for Peace in the Balkans and participated in a Pilgrimage for Peace with the Venerable Brother Sasamori Shonin of the Nippozan Myohoji lineage of the Japanese Nichiren Order. This pilgrimage began in Auschwitz, Poland in December 1994 and ended in Japan(Hiroshima/Nagasaki) in August of 1995.

Claude was ordained a Zen Priest, AnShin AnGyo, in August of 1995 by Roshi Bernie Glassman, founder of the Greyston Foundation, NYC. Claude is active in creating and working for socially engaged projects serving the disenfranchised, speaks publicly on the subjects of peace, non-violence, and the waking up to and healing of suffering, both personal and collective, and leads Mindfulness Retreats throughout the world.

On March 1, 1998, Claude began a New York to California cross-country journey, which was completed July 29, 1998. This Pilgrimage is known as the American Zen Pilgrimage (see "The Practice"). The pilgrims practiced the ancient Buddhist tradition of takahatsu, or alms-begging, with the main focus of the journey being the Three Core Tenets of the Zen Peacemaker Order: penetrating the unknown, bearing witness, and healing.

He is also founder of the ZALTHO FOUNDATION, a non-profit organization whose purpose is to promote peace and nonviolence in and among individuals, families, societies, and countries supporting all efforts to attain this goal through whatever peaceful and nonviolent means available.

Claude AnShin is currently finishing writing a book with the title 'At Hell's Gate', release date 12 September 2004, Shambhala Publications, Inc.