Meet the Monastics

Brother Minh Luong: Building a Practice Space Within

Brother Minh Luong was raised in Laguna Beach, California, and went to NYU, where he read a book that changed his life.

"I realized recently that there really is no separation between the practice and everything we do in our daily life. Either we're creating conditions for a practice space, like an internal practice space, or we're taking conditions away. And so if I can live in a calm and peaceful and serene way and do things that contribute to mindfulness and peace in my daily life, then I'll have a lot of success in my spiritual practice."

2:03 Introduction to Buddhism 5:58 Moving Home 8:50 Ideas about Monastic Life 13:49 India Trip and Meeting the Sangha 19:29 Why Monastic Life? 25:12 Sacrifice and Aspiration 31:19 Bhikshu Ordination 34:22 Moving to Thailand 39:03 Being a Western Monastic and Advice for those Interested   You can support this podcast by leaving a comment or review in your podcast application and by sharing it with friends. Financial support can be offered through the Thich Nhat Hanh Foundation.

Explore Online Courses

From time to time we offer multi-week courses related to mindfulness, the teachings and life of Thich Nhat Hanh, and a variety of similar subjects. Please see our schedule of upcoming courses.

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Plum Village App

Take the Deer Park Monastery and Plum Village community with you wherever you go. The Plum Village app is designed to cultivate mindfulness, compassion, and joy through guided meditations, deep relaxations, practice poems, bells of mindfulness, and other practices — all through a mobile device.

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Donations are our main source of support, so every offering is greatly appreciated. Your contribution helps us to keep the monastery open to receive guests throughout the year.

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