Sister Chân Không
“If we just worry about the big picture, we are powerless. So my secret is to start right away doing whatever little work I can do. I try to give joy to one person in the morning, and remove the suffering of one person in the afternoon… That is the secret. Start right now.”
Sister Chân Không (meaning True Emptiness) was born in a small Vietnamese village on the Mekong River Delta in 1938. Her family name is Cao Ngoc Phuong and many still affectionately know her as Sister Phuong – pronounced “Fong”. As a teenager she was driven by her compassion and Buddhist practice to help the poor and campaign for social change. In 1958 she enrolled in the University of Saigon to study biology but she spent much of her time helping the poor and sick in the slums of the city. She was also involved in political action, becoming the student leader at the University.
Sister Chân Không
She first met Thich Nhat Hanh in 1959 and in subsequent years trained in the Dharma under his supervision. In 1963 she left for Paris to finish her degree in biology which was awarded in 1964. But her heart was in Vietnam, and that year she returned home and joined Thây in founding the School for Youth and Social Service (SYSS). She was central in many of the activities of the SYSS which organised medical, educational and agricultural facilities in rural Vietnam during the war. At one stage the SYSS involved over 10,000 young peaceworkers who rebuilt many villages ravaged by the fighting.
In 1966 Sister Chân Không was ordained as one of the first six members of the Order of Interbeing, embracing the Fourteen Tiep Hien Precepts newly formulated by Thây. She joined him in Hong Kong in 1968 and accepted his invitation to become his assistant in his international peacework.
From 1969 to 1982 she worked with Thây in Paris organising the Buddhist Peace Delegation which campaigned for peace in Vietnam. Since then she has worked with Thây establishing first the Sweet Potato community near Paris and then Plum Village in 1982. She accompanies and assists Thây when he travels. In addition, she has continued to organise relief work for those in need in Vietnam, coordinating relief food parcels for poor children and medicine for the sick.
Sister Chân Không ordained as a nun by Thây in 1988 on Vultures Peak, in India, receiving the name Chân Không. She is central to the organisation of the activities of Plum Village and continues to be an inspiration to many in the Sangha.
Click here for an mp3 file ofSister Chân Không singing: “Please call me by my true names”
“I smile to the star that still shines in the sky,
To the sun that slowly rises out of the night
To the day that begins, to the enchanting birds,
I smile to world, and the world smiles to me.I smile to the child that crosses my way,
I remember also all those who are hungry,
Those who live in misery, all over the planet,
Who have to face a war, who lost their mother.If sometimes my smile is moistened by tears,
When I see the great pain that spreads over the world,
I shall still be smiling with tears in my eyes,
Smiling to life, smiling to death.And one day when it is bitterly cold,
When even my footsteps will not leave any mark,
The never ending current of life’s energy,
Will carry me along and I will not look back.The fear will no longer block my way,
My heart finally opens very wide,
Then I will become the smile of the earth,
Of the flowers, of the rain, and the sun, and the wind.Then one day perhaps in a very small child,
I will open my eyes to the wonders of life,
And let them all loving, and let them all smiling,
I will continue this wonderful way.And one day when it is bitterly cold,
When even my footsteps will not leave any mark,
The never ending current of life’s energy,
Will carry me along and I will not look back.The fear will no longer block my way,
My heart finally opens very wide,
Then I will become the smile of the earth,
Of the flowers, of the rain, and the sun, and the wind.Then one day perhaps in a very small child,
I will open my eyes to the wonders of life,
And let them all loving, and let them all smiling,
I will continue this wonderful way.”As sung by Sister Chân Không