Venerable Thích Thông Pháp




Original Name is Peter William Hawkins. Born in Port Adelaide on March 2nd, 1952. My family began to arrive in Adelaide in 1836 with the first British colonists.

I was educated at Pennington Primary School and Woodville High school.

I trained as a school teacher at Flinders University and the University of Canberra and completed a Master's degree in Counselling at the University of South Australia. I have worked as a teacher, a counsellor, a human rights advocate, a support worker with people who have an intellectual disability and a pastoral care worker.

I grew up in the Christian church and decided that I wanted to be a priest at age 5 and a monk at age 16. I had to wait 36 years until I became a monk after discovering Buddhism in 1978 and Vietnamese Buddhism in 1998.

On January 4th 2004 I was ordained a Sa Di at Thien Vien Thuong Chieu by HT Thich Nhat Quang and in September 2005 I was ordained Ty Kheo at Nhu Lai temple in San Diego, USA. While I have been a monk I cared for my mother who had Alzheimer's Disease, I have worked as the Buddhist chaplain at Flinders University and the University of Tasmania, I have worked as a Buddhist chaplain with people who are dying and then work in the community with whatever I am asked to do. All of my work in Hobart is with westerners, Buddhist and non-Buddhist.

I live by myself in a one bedroom flat in the Hobart suburb of Claremont and received Centrelink benefits in repayment for my volunteer work.

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