Important information, updated regularly. Please read carefully!

You are warmly invited to visit Plum Village and practice with our growing international community of practice and to enjoy the wonderful energy of mindfulness. The Summer Retreat is for us to enjoy simple and peaceful living, and thereby nurture our own inner growth. We take time to look deeply in order to transform both our individual difficulties and the difficulties in our society.

Our practice at Plum Village helps us weave mindfulness into all of our daily activities. In this way we can practice meditation throughout the day, while eating, walking, working mindfully, sitting in meditation, or enjoying a cup of tea together. Visitors participate in community activities such walking and sitting meditation as well as community work such as arranging the meditation halls, cleaning bathrooms, washing pots and other simple tasks as part of the daily practice of mindfulness.

We emphasize community practice so that we can support each other, benefit from our collective energy, and learn to live together in harmony. We ask everyone to contribute to the collective energy of practice by joining in all the scheduled activities.

Plum Village observes a monastic way of life year round; we ask our guests to observe our way of mindful and ethical living as expressed in the Five Mindfulness Trainings. The Five Mindfulness Trainings are the foundation of the Plum Village community, bringing happiness and meaning to all that we do. Specific practices for Plum Village include, refraining from sexual activity, not smoking and not using alcohol or intoxicants. In addition to the five trainings, we are also practicing a vegan diet. Please do not bring non-vegan foods, alcohol, or other intoxicants to our practice center.

In order to deepen your practice and make mindful living a vital part of your daily life, we request you stay for a minimum of one week.

Lazy day: Plum Village has one Lazy Day each week (normally on Monday) when there are no scheduled activities except for meals. Lazy day is an opportunity to let the day unfold in a natural way while still maintaining mindfulness. We can enjoy being with friends, taking a walk, reading a book, or just relaxing and enjoying the day in mindfulness within the monastery boundaries. The meditation hall is open for those who enjoy sitting meditation

Teachings: Teaching will be given in French, English, or Vietnamese; simultaneous translations for these languages will normally be available. Translation into other languages (for example, German, Dutch, Spanish, or Italian) are available depending on the need.

Interviews: In general, our teacher is not able to give personal interviews to students and guests who come to Plum Village. We are encouraged to offer written questions, which Thầy can answer in his talks or during Question and Answer sessions. Monastic members of our community are also available for consultation.

What to bring for the retreat: When packing, please remember that all laundry must be done by hand during the Summer Retreat. Remember to bring a towel, a flashlight, an alarm clock, laundry detergent for hand-washing, a hat (for sunny or rainy afternoons), slip-on shoes (to be easily removed when entering meditation halls) and warm clothing for rainy or cool weather. A mosquito net, insect repellent, sunscreen, and a small backpack (knapsack) are also useful items to consider bringing. Also, please remember to bring your own earphones with a long extension cord for use with our translation system.

Housing: All housing is organized in community fashion, and most living areas and all rooms are shared, to encourage the aspect of community living and mutual support in our practice. If a room with two beds for a couple is too expensive, you may consider staying separately in the single-sex dormitories (for men at Upper Hamlet and for women in Lower Hamlet or New Hamlet).

Meals: All meals are vegan (vegetarian with no dairy and eggs). Unfortunately, we are unable to cater to individuals dietary and/or medical needs. Please bring your own medicines or supplements as necessary.

Pets:Please do not bring your pets to Plum Village.

Attire: We request that you wear non-revealing clothing at all times while staying at Plum Village. Long or short sleeve shirts covering the upper body, and pants, shorts, or dresses, that are roughly knee length, are appropriate. Simple, casual clothing, that is easy to wash, is best. Inside the meditation hall, please wear a proper shirt, long pants or a calf-length skirt. For all Dharma talks, formal lunches, tea meditations, and the other various festivals, you may like to bring something nice to wear.

Linen: We will provide a mattress and a pillow. We encourage you to bring your own warm sleeping bag and sheets to ensure comfort at night. This will also to help us to reduce our carbon footprint by using less energy to wash linens.

Tent / Camping Van: We do have space for tent camping. Please bring your own tent, a sleeping pad, sleeping bag, pillow and case and any other items that will make your camping comfortable. Camping vans are welcome, but utility hook-ups are not available. Tenting is not available during from November 1^st through March 15^th as the weather is too wet and cold.

Transportation: Plum Village is about 85km east of Bordeaux (the closest airport) and four hours from Paris by train. The nearest train station is Sainte Foy la Grande, which lies on the route between Bordeaux, Bergerac and Sarlat.

From Paris by train: Take the train from Paris Montparnasse station to Libourne and from Libourne transfer to a train traveling in the direction of Bergerac/Sarlat. Ste Foy la Grande is the sixth stop after Libourne (not all trains stop at all stations.)

From Bordeaux by train to Plum Village. You can take a train to Ste Foy la Grande (in the direction of Sarlat). Depending on your day of arrival, there may or may not be a train that can take you directly to Ste Foy la Grande. You may have to transfer trains.

Please check train information and schedules at www.voyages-sncf.com (Google translate may help you translate this page.) For friends who arrive at Bordeaux or Bergerac Airport, there will not be transpiration provided by Plum Village. You may call a taxi at (+33)05.53.23.32.32.

Please arrive and depart only on the dates indicated for the retreat. This helps to maintain the harmony of the community and to facilitate transportation. On the specified dates, we will arrange for your transportation between Plum Village and Sainte Foy la Grande train station, which may take up to 1 hour (luggage loading & driving time). If you use Plum Village transportation between Ste Foy La Grande train station and Plum Village, please add 20 Euros per person to your final contribution. Please specify your arrival time. We will do our best to be there as close as possible to that time. If possible, please arrange to arrive at Plum Village before 17:00 for registration. If you forgot to inform us about your arrival time, or you have arrived late in evening, you can contact a local taxi service at (+33) 05.57.46.05.65. When coming to Plum Village with your own transportation. Please use online maps for help of directions.

for directions to Upper Hamlet

for directions to Lower Hamlet

for directions to New Hamlet