Founder
(b. 1969, d. March 8, 2016)
Brother ChiSing (Norman Eng) was an interfaith spiritual retreat facilitator, spiritual director, ritual artist, musician, composer, and founder of various meditation groups across the United States. His journey led him to an interfaith spirituality that combined beliefs and practices from both Buddhist and Christian faith backgrounds. His ultimate goal was to bring mindfulness and meditation practice to people of all faiths and non-faiths in an Earth-based way, with an emphasis on creativity, music, and the arts. He founded Awakening Heart, Dallas Meditation Center, and One Dharma in Dallas, Texas. He was born and raised in Texas, lived in California for ten years, and returned to Dallas for the last ten years of his life. On March 8, 2016, he peacefully passed away after living with nasopharyngeal carcinoma for two and a half years.
Brother ChiSing’s spirituality journey began with a solid Biblical upbringing in the Southern Baptist tradition. He received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Religion from a Protestant university, followed by a Master of Arts degree in Spirituality from a Catholic college. He then completed a Master of Divinity degree from a Unitarian Universalist seminary and was commissioned into ministry by a congregation of the United Church of Christ in 1995. During this time, he established several large mindfulness practice groups and served as a Youth Director, Children’s Director, and Religious Education Director at various churches.
Brother ChiSing’s primary meditation teacher was the Venerable Thich Nhat Hanh, and in 2003, he was ordained by Thich Nhat Hanh with the spiritual name of “True Wonderful Happiness” into the “Order of Interbeing” (Unified Buddhist Church). The inspiration he received from the practice of Buddhism enriched his Christian faith and strengthened his commitment to interfaith spirituality. He founded multiple meditation groups inspired by the teachings of Thich Nhat Hanh, which came together in 2006 as Awakening Heart (Community of Mindful Living). By 2010, the Dallas Meditation Center was founded with Brother ChiSing serving as the spiritual director. One Dharma Awakening Heart Dallas Meditation Center, a non-profit human services organization, was created in 2014 to provide cost-effective educational programs for the public.
Brother ChiSing was a musician and composer who released an album of new dharma songs called Buddha Is My Refuge: New Dharma Songs for the Contemporary Sangha in 2012. He also led and spoke at Interfaith, Buddhist, and Christian retreats, presenting at spiritual and environmental conferences. He collaborated on several events and retreats with San Francisco Bay Area spiritual teachers Matthew Fox and Christian de la Huerta, and facilitated meditation groups and retreats in the United Kingdom, France, Hong Kong, and South Korea. He also taught World Religions at the college level.
After Brother ChiSing’s passing in 2016, Awakening Heart’s Mindful Mondays group fulfilled his dream of creating a devotional book that compiled his dharma talks from 2006 to 2016. In fact, the result was two books, 108 Reflections for the Daily Practice of Mindfulness & Meditation which provides reflections that help readers grow and embrace their true selves, and I Am Home: 40 Selected DharmaTalks For Living Life With Clarity, Love, and Mindfulness, a collection of full talks given by Brother ChiSing over the last ten years of his life. His life was a deep and diverse spiritual journey, leaving him with an ever-present appreciation and love of interfaith spirituality.
Dear Mindful Meditator,
Awakening Heart, based in Dallas, Texas, was founded by Brother ChiSing, M.Div., M.A., in 2006 as a spiritual ministry inspired by the universal teachings and practices of the contemporary Buddhist teacher, Thich Nhat Hanh, and his “Order of Interbeing” composed of both lay and monastic members worldwide.
Spirituality, meditation, and “The Art of Mindful Living” are the basis of our classes, workshops, retreats, special events and communities. Buddhist spirituality, as it was originally intended by the Buddha, is not exclusively “Buddhist” but universally applicable and beneficial for people of all faiths. The word “Buddha” simply means to be “awake” or “enlightened,” which is the potential in every person. Mindfulness is not limited to one religion, it is an ecumenical spiritual practice and a non-sectarian way of life that can benefit anyone and everyone, whether Buddhist, Christian, Jewish, or those of other faiths as well as the non-religious.
We are intentionally very beginner-friendly, and we warmly welcome and affirm people of all ages, religions, genders, ethnicities, sexual orientations, abilities, classes and levels of meditation experience.
Whoever you are, and wherever you are on life’s journey, you are welcome here. “I have arrived, I am home.”
Brother ChiSing,
M.Div.,M.A.
(b. 1969, d. March 8, 2016)