Sister Chân Không of the Plum Village Sangha is a teacher and a friend. Her name means True Emptiness, and she is the absolute embodiment of Emptiness and Love.

As a teenager in Vietnam she was driven by her compassion and Buddhist practice to help the poor and campaign for social change. She met Thich Nhat Hanh in 1959 and in subsequent years trained in the Dharma under his supervision and joined Thây (Thich Nhat Hanh) in founding the School for Youth and Social Service (SYSS) in Vietnam.

She was central in many of the activities of the SYSS which organized medical, educational and agricultural facilities in rural Vietnam during the war. At one stage the SYSS involved over 10,000 young peace workers who rebuilt many villages ravaged by the fighting.

Sister Chân Không was ordained as one of the first six members of the Order of Interbeing. She has continued to organize relief work for those in need in Vietnam, coordinating relief food parcels for poor children and medicine for the sick.

Sister Chan Khong is one of the many power women I've met while circling the globe, a beautiful combination of fierce gentleness and fearless wonder. She radiates deep joy and compassion and is always quick to laugh, a sure sign of wisdom. She became our guide through the labyrinth of touring Vietnam with Tich Nhat Hahn.

~ Velcrow Ripper

WEB LINKS
Plum Village

BOOKS INCLUDE
Learning True Love: Practicing Buddhism in a Time of War
Learning True Love: How I Learned and Practiced Social Change in Vietnam
Be Free Where You Are (With Thich Nhat Nhan)