Brother Chân Pháp Dung

Dharma Embrace

Brother Chân Pháp Dung was ordained on February 4th 1998 as a member of the “Apple” family at Plum Village France. He received full bhikshu ordination on December 18th 2001, and received the Lamp Transmission from Thầy and became a Dharma Teacher in 2004. He is the former abbot of Deer Park Monastery in California from 2001 to 2010.

He was born in Vietnam in 1969, came to the US when he was nine years old. He received a professional BA in Architecture from the University of Southern California, and worked as an architect/designer for four years before becoming a monk. He enjoys playing, learning and sharing mindfulness with children of all ages. Br. Pháp Dung helped to establish Deer Park Monastery and other US centres, creating meditation programs and retreats for children, teens, families, and young adults, as well as planning its halls and infrastructures. He has led mindfulness retreats in North and South America, China, Hong Kong, India, Bhutan and Germany. He is most inspired by meditation as a method of examining and cultivating the mind, of the individual and of the collective; and by community building as a method to heal and develop society.

Given Br. Pháp Dung’s passion for restoring connection with mother earth, he is involved in the Happy Farm (combining organic farming, community living, and the mindfulness practice in Upper Hamlet), and represented Plum Village at the pivotal COP21 climate conference in Paris. Throughout the year, he is involved in supporting Wake Up Schools (bringing mindfulness practice and well-being into education), Wake Up Hubs (creating sustainable, ethical, healthy, alternative non-sectarian urban practice centers for young people), and Wake Up retreats around the world. In the US, Br. Pháp Dung has offered mindfulness workshops for organisations such as Google, Facebook, Salesforce, and the World Bank. Br. Pháp Dung is happiest when he is immersed in nature. He loves writing, drawing, singing, swimming, drinking tea, and performing rituals of the native American people.

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