Engaged Buddhism / A Message to our 3.5 billion neighbours on Planet Earth
In the lead up to Earth Day we are happy to republish "The Menton Statement" from 1971. It is an early and powerful contribution to raising awareness about climate change.
Articles
Engaged Buddhism / At the Forefront of Environmental Activism
During “Action from the Heart” online retreat in February, Br Phap Linh had the unique opportunity to interview two special women in the environmental activism field – Christiana Figueres and Dr. Gail Bradbrook.
Interview with Sister Đào Nghiêm
Sister Đào Nghiêm recounts experiences of learning from Thich Nhat Hanh as a member of his monastic community.
Songs / Moments of Joy
In celebration of Women’s History Month, we would like to offer you a few poems, ‘Moments of Joy’ read by Sr Dieu Nghiem (also known as Sr Jina), a senior disciple of Thay, and a much loved Dutch-Irish nun of the Plum Village tradition. Those who have encountered her...
Photos / Monastic Retreat 2021
Every year all the brothers and sisters from the Plum Village centers in Europe look forward to a monastic retreat together. This is a chance for us to build brotherhood and sisterhood, and deepen our practice after a full year of offering retreats to people all around the world....
Celebrating Women’s History Month
In celebration of Women’s History Month, The Mindfulness Bell magazine has shared a selection of articles by women teachers in the Plum Village tradition from their archives.
Racial Justice / Waking up to Whiteness
In February 2020, [the White Awareness Sangha] organized a small retreat for ourselves. Our group was welcomed by the Healing Spring Monastery near Paris, allowing us to ground ourselves in the collective energy of mindfulness throughout the training.
Survival Kits / Handling our strong emotions
All of us encounter despair and loneliness at some time in our lives. How do we weather these emotions when they threaten to overwhelm us?
Photos / “Action from the Heart” Retreat
Photos from our latest online retreat, you can join the next one here. From February 24 to 28, 2021 Plum Village hosted the online retreat “Action from the Heart”. It was especially curated for activists in all fields with almost 1,000 retreatants from over 65 countries joining. We received...
Ask a Zen Master / How do I forgive myself and others?
In this answer from a live question and answer session, Thich Nhat Hanh addresses how we can heal from the mistakes of the past.
Photos / Daffodil Season
“Waking up this morning, I see the blue sky.I join my hands in thanksfor the many wonders of life;for having twenty-four brand-new hours before me.The sun is rising.The forest becomes my awarenessbathed in the sunshine. – “Twenty-Four Brand-New Hours” poetry, (Thich Nhat Hanh)Our Teacher, Thich Nhat Hanh embodies and...
Photos / Lunar New Year 2021
One week ago Plum Village community celebrated the Lunar New Year according to the Vietnamese tradition. This is a way to keep the beauty of Vietnamese culture as we come together and enjoy being in a big extended spiritual family. We would like to invite you to enjoy the...
“New Year, New Me” – Tết in Plum Village (Part 2)
Tết is the Vietnamese word for the Lunar New Year. In the second part of this two part article (Visiting Rooms and Wrapping Earth Cakes) we continue to explain the ways that we find mindful and meaningful ways to celebrate this time of the year.
Monastic Life / “New Year, New Me” – Tết in Plum Village (Part 1)
Plum Village is in the middle of celebrating Tet at this moment, in this two-part series, we explain some of the ways that we celebrate Tết or Lunar New Year in Plum Village. We see this occasion as a chance to deeply recognise our beloved one's presence.
Encounters with a Zen Master / “I Have a Thousand Years for You”
A Gift of True Love Br Phap Ung talks about how he remembers our teacher, Thich Nhat Hanh, once offering a disciple the gift of true love. To explain the story, Br Phap Ung talks first about how impermanence can offer us freedom and the patience to embrace our...
2021 Lunar New Year “Parallel Verses”
We are very happy to announce the new Plum Village parallel verses to celebrate the upcoming Lunar New Year.
A Webmaster’s Tips for Staying Sane Online
All of us who spend time in front of the computer screen know how easy it is to get lost online. The English Website team, (with countless combined hours spent online!) would like to offer you some of our collective practice for staying sane and mindful.
Flowers in the Dark – Healing Trauma with Compassionate Mindfulness
Plum Village is please to announce the publication of "Flowers in the Dark" a book by Sr Dang Nghiem, on healing trauma through compassionate mindfulness and body-based practices. Sr Dang Nghiem offers practical approaches to healing one of life's most difficult and painful experiences.
Looking Deeply / “As a Dandelion” – Guiding words by Thich Nhat Hanh for sitting meditation
In the Rains Retreat of 2004, Thich Nhat Hanh offered some guiding words before every morning sitting meditation to help us go deeper in this practice. This is one of those sessions, and you are invited to listen to it before your own sitting meditation. Let’s enjoy his voice in...
Photos / Sister Lan Nghiem’s 49 days memorial
On the 21st of January 2021, the Plum Village fourfold community gathered and practiced together for a day of mindfulness. We also had a ceremony for sister Lan Nghiem’s 49-day memorial. In the Buddhist tradition, on the 49th day after the passing away of a person, there is a ceremony to...
Meeting My Master – an Interview with Sr Giac Nghiem
Sister Giac Nghiêm, is a much loved elder sister in Plum Village. Sister Giac Nghiêm is a French nun, she took her monastic vows at the age of 56 after having been married and working as a physiotherapist. In 1997, she joined the community of Plum Village as a...
Songs / Creative Fruits Of The Practice
Inspired by the Plum Village practice and the willingness to spread the practice of love and understanding, our friends compose songs as a mindfulness bell to remind them to practice in daily life. We would like to introduce some of them and hope you enjoy it. Breathe, my dear...
Encounters with a Zen Master / Infinite Space and Infinite Time
There are times a Zen master can transmit the ineffable simply by their way of being. On occasion, the tables can also turn and a young child can challenge a Zen master with their innocence. Touching Infinity Sr Chan Duc, a much loved Plum Village elder, describes some of...
Photos / The spirit of Christmas and New Year celebration
Christmas and New Year are times when family members gather together. As a Plum Village tradition, we practice to create a warm and loving spiritual home for everyone to come back to. This year we also had an online New Year’s retreat with over 1,200 people joining our extended...
Join us for an online retreat in 2021
Plum Village is pleased to announce our calendar of online retreats for the first half of 2021. We will be offering general retreats as well as themed retreats. For the first half of 2021, we will offer retreats for the francophone and wakeup sanghas, activists and neuroscientists. Please join...
Thich Nhat Hanh on... / Our true home at Christmas
Please enjoy some excerpts on a teaching given by our teacher Thich Nhat Hanh on the Christmas eve of 2012, about finding our true home within.
Sangha Stories / Fruits from Coming Home
A collection of interviews of our monastic and lay brothers and sisters in Plum Village, France after the 3-month Rains Retreat in 2020.
Photos / Closing The Rains Retreat Ceremony
On the morning of December 15, 2020, the Plum Village fourfold sangha gathered at the Still Water Meditation Hall in the Upper Hamlet in France for the Pavarana ceremony to close the Rains Retreat. Following the tradition of the Buddha, each year the monastic community has three months when...
Christmas Celebration Dec 24th 2020
You are invited to join us for our Christmas celebrations on December 24th at 3:00 pm. Christmas is a precious opportunity to be together, to be touched by love, to see the beauty of the our interconnectedness, and to generate peace and joy together.
Retreats / Upper Hamlet in the Rains Retreat 2020
Our brothers in Upper Hamlet, harvest the fruits of deep practice during the rains retreat of 2020. Please enjoy this short video of a taste of their daily lives and of their practice during the 2020 rains retreat.