How to Suffer Well – So You Can Suffer Less | Brother Pháp Dung

Brother Pháp Dung discusses the life and teachings of Vietnamese Zen master, peace activist, poet, and author Thich Nhat Hanh.

In January 2022, Thich Nhat Hanh, the Vietnamese Zen master, peace activist, poet, and author passed away. He was the founder of the International Plum Village Community of Engaged Buddhism. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. called him “an Apostle of peace and nonviolence” when nominating him for the Nobel Peace Prize. Thousands of people came out for his funeral.   

Brother Pháp Dung is making his second appearance on the show to talk about Thich Nhat Hanh. If you missed it last time he was on, Brother Pháp Dung has an incredible personal story. He was born in Vietnam in 1969 and came to the US at the age of nine. He worked as an architect/designer for four years before becoming a monk. He was very close personally with Thich Nhat Hanh, who he refers to as “Thây,” or teacher, and is now a Dharma teacher himself in Thich Nhat Hanh’s Plum Village tradition.

This episode was first published in March 2022.

This episode explores:

• The life of Thich Nhat Hanh: his path to Buddhism in the 1960’s and his exile from Vietnam for opposing the war.

• The meaning of “wrong view” or wrong perception. 

• What non-separation and inter-being is. 

• Thich Nhat Hanh’s view that birth and death are only notions.

• Grief, and why learning how to suffer will help you suffer less.