Most respected and beloved Thầy,
Dear OI Siblings Worldwide,
Dear Local Sanghas Worldwide,
The 2026 Biennial Plum Village June Retreat will celebrate sixty years of the Order of Interbeing (OI), founded by Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh in 1966. The OI includes monastic and lay members whose lives and practice are inspired by our Fourteen Mindfulness Trainings.
This retreat will be a precious opportunity for our world-wide Order of Interbeing family to reunite at Plum Village, France, the oldest of the eleven Plum Village practice centers.
The retreat will span four weeks:
Week One: arrival day 1st June 2026, departure day 8th June 2026. This week of the retreat is open to anyone who is interested in the bodhisattva path of the OI. Teachings will focus on OI history and practice. There will be opportunities to receive the Five Mindfulness Trainings, which are closely connected to the Fourteen Trainings. Order members and aspirants who are able to attend this week are warmly welcome.
Weeks Two and Three: arrival day 9th June, departure day 23rd June 2026. These two weeks are reserved for Order members and those who have been accepted as OI aspirants. We will come together as a multi-fold Sangha and look deeply into the past, present, and future of our beloved OI community. The retreat will be a time of deep practice with teachings and Dharma sharing sessions exploring topics such as embodying our bodhisattva aspirations, ways to strengthen the Order, and the relevance of the OI Charter to the Order today. Retreatants are asked to stay for the full two weeks so as to nourish continuity of the teachings and practice.
Week Four: begins on 24th June, departure day 30th June 2026. To continue the energy of the retreat, a representative group of lay and monastic Order members will gather as an Assembly for an OI Council, as envisioned in the OI Charter. They will consider changes to the Order that were very strongly supported during weeks two and three of the retreat, as well as during the deep listening process that will occur in preparation for this retreat. They will also select members to serve on an Executive Council to organize and guide the work of the international order until the next Assembly.
Time flies and we feel the need to begin sharing our ideas and aspirations soon, in order to prepare ourselves for the 2026 retreats. If you belong to a local sangha or OI Sangha, or another branch of the Plum Village family, please consider organizing “fire-building sessions” which which will allow OI members, aspirants, and other committed practitioners to share their experiences and make recommendations concerning the future of the Order and the global Plum Village community.
For more information and fire-building prompts, email: fireplaces@plumvillage.org.
We encourage local and regional Sanghas to offer financial assistance to young Wake Uppers and others who practice wholeheartedly and may need support to participate in these retreats. We sincerely hope that you will be able to join us for this important Mahāsangha gathering of the Order of Interbeing.
With gratitude,
The Envisioning and Planning Team for the June 2026 OI Retreats (Anh-Huong Nguyen, Sr. Sister Chan Duc, Sr. Định Nghiêm, Shantum Seth, Mitchell Ratner, Michael Schwammberger, Gitu Seth, Sr. Hội Nghiêm, Bettina Romhardt, Kai Romhardt, Br. Pháp Lai, Br. Pháp Hữu, Vari McLuskie, Br. Pháp Khả, Valerie Brown, Sr. Hiến Nghiêm, Sr. Trai Nghiêm, and Br. Phương Cần.)
Registration
More information coming soon.
More information about coming to practice with us