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.
Articles
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.
Video / 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.
Updates / An invitation and an ask for help
We share an important message from the Plum Village fundraising team and an invitation to join us on Christmas Eve.
How To / Cultivate presence, stability, and clarity
We hope you will enjoy this synopsis of a teaching offered by Brother Pháp Dung during an online retreat in October of 2020.
Moments of Joy
The first full-length collection of poems from contemplative Buddhist nun Sister Jina van Hengel (also known as Sr Dieu Ngheim), each short verse radiates the energy of a single moment of awareness. Living simply and practicing deeply for many years in the French countryside, Sister Jina is one of...
Looking Deeply / Love Letter To The Earth, “Can Mother Earth Count on Us?”
“Love Letter To The Earth” is Zen Master and Peace activist Thich Nhat Hanh’s passionate and personal call to develop an intimate relationship with the source of all life. He shares why our personal happiness is intricately tied to the happiness of our planet and offers clear and concrete...
The Passing of Sister Lan Nghiem
With great regret we announce that our dear Dutch sister, Sister Lan Nghiem passed away peacefully at age 69, at 7:15am, December 1st, 2020 at Lower hamlet, Plum Village, France.
Plum Village Lineage / Celebrating the Life of Master Nhat Dinh
Plum Village is rooted in a deep spiritual tradition, in this post we celebrate the life Master Nhat Dinh, one of Plum Village's spiritual ancestors.
Share your photos of Thich Nhat Hanh’s calligraphies
A special request for people who own a calligraphy by Thich Nhat Hanh.
Songs / The Rain
“The Rain” is composed and sung by Sister Chân Đức (“True Virtue”), or Sister Annabel, as she is known to many. We hope you enjoy this tender and gentle song. For those of us with some worry or trouble in this moment, may the rain of compassionate understanding soak...
Online Retreats to start 2021 with Plum Village Monastics
Join us to reflect over the past year and start the next year mindfully with joy and hope. Plum Village, France and Magnolia Grove Monastery, USA will host online retreats at the end of the year.
Photos / Zen Autumn
“Flames of Prayer” is a song of freedom and love for life. Thich Nhat Hanh wrote it in 1966 after he heard that Nhat Chi Mai, one of the first six people ordained as a core member of the Order of Interbeing, had immolated herself to call for peace...
Engaged Buddhism / What can we do about the Climate Crisis?
Recently Brothers Phap Luu and Phap Linh and other representatives of the PIum Village community interviewed Bill McKibben about the current climate crisis.
How To / Enjoy Sitting Meditation
Sitting meditation is one of the basic Plum Village mindfulness practices. Brother Phap Luu offers guidance on how we can get started.
Thich Nhat Hanh on... / The Art of Leadership: how to restore harmony to ourselves and our nation
In this extract from a talk just after the inauguration of Barak Obama, Thich Nhat Hanh draws parallels between a president's task of uniting a nation and a meditator's task of bringing their different elements into harmony. He invites us to rely on each other, both in our mindfulness...
Plum Village Lineage / Commemorating Zen Master Khuong Tang Hoi
Zen Master Tang Hoi is known as the earliest Buddhist meditation master of Vietnam. Please enjoy getting to know a spiritual ancestor of Plum Village with some photos and extracts from Thich Nhat Hanh’s book, Master Tang Hoi.
Monastic Life / Chestnuts to warm up the sangha – an interview with new monastics
Soon after their ordination ceremony, the Plum Village website team interviewed our new "baby" brothers and sisters of the Chestnut Ordination Family.
Songs / The 16 Exercises of Mindful Breathing
The 16 Exercises of Mindful Breathing are at the heart of the teachings offered by Thich Nhat Hanh and the Plum Village community. They have now been offered in the form a song by the Plum Village monastic sisters.
Thich Nhat Hanh on... / Understanding our Father
Many of us have painful relationships with our parents. Thich Nhat Hanh shows us how can use meditation to understand and accept our own suffering, and then look deeply into the suffering of our father.
Songs / Arrived
“Arrived, arrived. At home, I am at home. “ There may be a time when you feel lost, empty inside, suffering in a chaotic world or don’t know what to do, where to go. This song may help you to find a place in which you can restore your...
Monastic Life / A Life Change
As we welcome the new novices of the Chestnut family into the Plum Village monastic sangha, elder brother, Brother Ngo Khong (Brother Freedom), abbot of Deer Park Monastery, recounts how he found his way to becoming a monk in the Plum Village tradition nearly ten years ago.
Chanting / Discourse on Love
Just as a mother loves and protects her only child at the risk of her own life, we should cultivate boundless love to offer to all living beings in the entire cosmos. This translation of the Discourse on Love has been prepared by Thich Nhat Hanh from the Metta Sutta, Sutta Nipata...
Together we continue Thay
In this post, we share more stories from our monastic brothers and sisters as well as stories of transformation selected from our friends who have offered their stories as a gift to Thich Nhat Hanh (Thay) as we continue to celebrate Thay's 94th continuation day.
Photos / The fortunate mendicant
In the Buddha’s time, the monks and nuns had in their possession only three robes and a begging bowl. The vow of poverty helps monks and nuns to focus on the spiritual practice. They go on alms-round (to beg for food) to practice humility and have a chance to...
Thầy breathes, you breathe
On the 11th of October, 2020, the sangha at Plum Village gathered to celebrate Thay’s continuation day in a spirit of peace and being together as big spiritual family. There were stories recounting beautiful memories with Thay, and how the practices of mindfulness are helping to transform people’s lives...
Bamboo Shoots and Tea
As monastics, being invited to drink tea or spend time with our teacher, (affectionately called Thay) are precious occasions. Two sisters, Sr Thuan Nghiem and Sr Thao Nghiem, share memories of what it was like to drink tea and travel with Thay and how they would like to be...
Happy Contination Day Thay – Thank You!
Students of our teacher Thich Nhat Hanh were invited to express their gratitude to him on his 94th continuation day (birthday). Many, many thanks to you to all who wrote in and offered their gift to Thay. Below is a selection of heartfelt sharings that we have received in...
Photos / Chestnut Tree Family Novice Ordination
Last Saturday, the 3rd of October, we once again experienced the beautiful novice ordination ceremony. Nine men and women were ordained as young monks and nuns. After nine months of training and practicing as aspirants, the had time arrived for their ordination into the Sangha of monks and nuns.It...