Below you can meet some of the key monastics and lay friends behind the Wake Up movement. This page cannot hope to capture every person who has put time and energy into the Wake Up movement.
Wake Up Monastics
Brother Phap Ho
Brother Protection (Brother Phap Ho) was born and raised in Sweden, where he graduated from the University of Lund in 1997 with a Master’s in Law. He started to meditate during his second year of university and discovered Thich Nhat Hanh’s teachings while traveling in India in 2001. He came to Plum Village in 2002 and enjoyed practice, life, and service there a lot; he felt like he had arrived back home. He ordained as a novice monk in 2003. Since 2006, he is living and practicing with the Sangha at Deer Park Monastery.
At Deer Park Monastery, in addition to following the daily schedule, he enjoys having tea with his brothers and hiking the beautiful chaparral-covered hills and valleys. He helps with organizing retreats and tours, and he is active in the Wake Up movement and in the Thich Nhat Hanh Foundation. In 2010, he received the lamp transmission from Thay and started serving as the acting abbot at Deer Park in the fall of that year. He likes sitting under a tree to enjoy the sunset, and his favorite practice song is “Mother Earth is a Great Big Ship.” When he came to Plum Village, he got to practice with other young adults and that helped his practice take deep root in him—a kind of empowerment of having peers to walk the path with. This is one of his inspirations in participating and supporting the Wake Up Movement.
Quote from Thich Nhat Hanh that inspires him:
“We have to take up the practice of Earth Holder Bodhisattva and make protecting and preserving the Earth a top priority. The president, prime minister, or head of state of every nation must be made aware of the dire situation of the planet. We must work to increase awareness of the situation because only mindfulness, awareness of what is happening, can save us from the path of certain disaster we are currently on.” From the book Peaceful Action, Open Heart
Brother Phap Luu
Brother Stream (Pháp Lưu) is from the US and ordained in 2003. He graduated from Dartmouth College with a B.A. in English Literature in 1997, taught English as a foreign language in Spain, and worked as a teacher in inner-city schools in New Haven, CT before becoming a monk. He received the transmission from Thay as a Dharma teacher in 2011 and has been working with the Wake Up Schools initiative to bring mindfulness into schools.
He has a deep aspiration to make the simple practice of mindful breathing and embracing strong emotions available at all levels of education.
Phap Man
Brother Fulfillment (Brother Phap Man) is a native of California and is currently a resident at Blue Cliff Monastery in New York. He was ordained in 2007 at Plum Village, where he lived for five years, and received his monastic training. He received the lamp transmission in 2016. Brother Fulfillment celebrates his Christian roots and enjoys spending time in the forest around Blue Cliff, and is engaged in the Earth Holder Sangha, helping to raise awareness of our connection to the Earth. He has been active in supporting Wake Up since 2009 and attended his first retreat, a young adults retreat at Deer Park, in 2004.
Brother Fulfillment has degrees in applied mathematics and computer science from the University of California. He was a Peace Corps Volunteer in Nepal from 1996 to 1998, where he taught math in a rural school and at a regional teacher training center. He taught math, physics, renewable energy, and outdoor education at Sierra Nevada College and has worked as a test engineer on experimental air traffic control software at NASA Ames Research Center in Mountain View, CA.
Phap Linh
Brother Phap Linh ordained in 2008 and received the lamp transmission in 2016. He currently practices with the Sangha at Upper Hamlet, Plum Village.
Hien Nghiem
Sister True Dedication (Sister Hien Nghiem) ordained in 2008 and received the lamp transmission in 2016. She currently practices with the Sangha at Lower Hamlet, Plum Village.
Mai Nghiem
Sister Mai Nghiem is a member of the North American Wake Up Care-Taking Council and currently practices with the Sangha at Deer Park Monastery.
The North American Wake Up Care-Taking Council
The idea to create a North American Wake Up CTC in order to support Wake Up communities in North America arose during the Wake Up Ambassador retreat at Deer Park Monastery in November 2015. At that time, the Wake Up Ambassadors present agreed by consensus to form a CTC, and volunteers were invited to join the new CTC. Since then, we have been in the experimental stages of exploring the role of the CTC. As a CTC, our intention is to serve as a supporting body for Wake Up Sanghas in Canada, Mexico, and the United States. Read more >>