Metabolizing Climate Grief, with Brother Spirit and Brother Embrace

Hosted by Kosha Joubert. Produced by J’aime Rothbard.

In the run-up to the Climate Consciousness Summit 2025, we ask: How can we live with the knowledge that humanity is rapidly destroying the foundations of the ecosystems that support all life on Earth? And how can we learn from suffering without falling into overwhelm or despair?

In this inspiring dialogue, Kosha Joubert speaks with Brother Phap Dung (pronounced “Yung”), also known as Brother Embrace, and Brother Phap Linh, also known as Brother Spirit, who are both leading teachers in the monastic movement of Thich Nhat Hanh. 

Brother Embrace and Brother Spirit speak about the very different paths that led them to become students of the late Vietnamese Zen master, and their shared understanding of how Buddhist mindfulness practice can help us find equanimity in the face of the climate crisis – and respond more effectively..

“I choose to accept, I choose to say yes to this present moment because I know that saying no to it is already not helpful. It's already adding to the tension. ” says Brother Spirit. 

“But the crucial thing is not to misunderstand and not to think that by saying yes to this, it means inaction or passivity. It's the opposite: It's the yes that allows us to engage, but engage in a different way. Engage in a peaceful way. Engage in a way  which brings joy and solace rather than struggle.”

This nourishing conversation transmits the essence of the timeless wisdom cultivated by Thich Nhat Hanh’s Plum Village community at its centre in southwestern France, and applies it directly to today’s global challenges.  

For more dialogues at the intersection of inner transformation and outer action, register for the free Climate Consciousness Summit 2025, brought to you by the Pocket Project, which runs online from November 14-20, 2025. 

This dialogue was first published during the Climate Consciousness Summit 2023. 

Further Resources: 

Plum Village

Climate Consciousness Summit 2025

About Brother Phap Dung:

Brother Phap Dung (pronounced “Yung”), also known as Brother Embrace, is a senior teacher in the late Thich Nhat Hanh’s movement. Born in Vietnam in 1969, he escaped with his family aged 10 and became a refugee in the United States. He has helped bring a spiritual dimension to ecological activism and the climate movement. Brother Phap Dung is passionate about bringing mindfulness practice and well-being into educational settings, offering young people an alternative and sustainable way to engage themselves with the social, racial, and environmental challenges of our times.

About Brother Phap Linh:

Brother Phap Linh, also known as Brother Spirit, is a Zen Buddhist monk, musician and seeker. He began his monastic training with Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh in Plum Village in February 2008, and has since composed many of the community’s beloved chants. Before ordaining, he studied mathematics at the University of Cambridge and worked professionally as a composer. A co-founder of the Wake Up Movement for young people, today Brother Phap Linh is actively engaged in teaching applied mindfulness to climate activists, business leaders, artists, and scientists.

As a leading voice in the new generation of Buddhist monastics in the West, he is passionate about exploring how meditators and scientists can learn from each other and open new paths of healing and discovery.