Denis Wallez turned buddhist at 15. Various philosophies seemed inapplicable to him until he discovered a book by Alan Watts introducing Zen buddhism (禅); when he read that the Buddha started from the observation "life is unsatisfactory", Denis knew he had finally found a philosophy with a language of truth and concerned with our lived experiences, our struggles. At 18, he participated in his first formal group meditations.
Although he graduated (M.Sc.) from one of the top French schools, Denis attributes part of his success during his international career to buddhist principles rather than to his scientific skills: taking care of one's teams, one's peers and one's clients, "naturally" leads to a few positive results!
Complementarily, there is nothing like rubbing shoulders with VIPs in multinational corporations or governments to see for oneself that money, envy, aversion, comparison and competition do not make people happy.
Denis is traditionally "autorised to teach the Dharma" since 2012, by a former nun of the korean Sŏn (선) tradition.
After further studies (M.A.) in buddhist philosophy at a Thai university (with a final report on Japanese buddhism!), Denis also trained in mental health and trauma management.
He studied Pāḷi as well, so that he could read the texts of the early Theravāda school directly.
He still trains extensively (in relation to buddhism or not —e.g. on the law of laïcité/secularism in France, or on chaplaincy in healthcare), to deepen his skills and better respond to the people who contact him.
He is sufficiently trained to provide professional supervision (case study, positioning, etc.) to psychologists.
Denis is now ordained "ngakpa" (སྔགས་པ་) in the old Nyingma (རྙིང་མ་) tradition, by a renowned lama. His Dharma name is Mikyö Dorje (མི་བསྐྱོད་རྡོ་རྗེ་).
With a broad intellectual foundation, a long personal practice of the Dharma, and with more than a decade of experience as a teacher (in French and English, in France and abroad, in person or remotely, in groups or individually), Mikyö Dorje offers philosophical, psychological and spiritual support, based on buddhist wisdom as well as recent Western knowledge (scientific and philosophical).
His approach combines modern knowledge, rigor, tradition, and creativity. Like a master drawn from a gong'an (공안) in Korean Sŏn (선), or a Tibetan nyönpa (སྨྱོན་པ་), Mikyö Dorje is not afraid of originality —when it might prove useful and beneficial to others.
In 2025–2026, Mikyö Dorje will teach remotely to individuals, as well as in a local "buddhist philosophy and meditation" group in Aix-les-Bains, every other Friday, 18h30–19h30. His next major project is the opening of the buddhist center in Aix-les-Bains at the end of 2026.
Furthermore, Mikyö Dorje tries to meet the specific needs of each couple, ranging from premarital consultations (to write modern, realistic and useful vows rather than beautiful empty promises) to long-term support for couples who wish to integrate buddhist practices into their daily and romantic lives… with some crisis management if necessary. How can we live in harmony with the world if we're unable to cultivate harmony within our homes? Real practice always begins where we are, rather than "later" or "elsewhere".
Contact : denis @ this site, or via this page.