Thay returns to France

Official Announcement

Plum Village, France
January 8, 2016

To all Plum Village Practice Centers,

To all Practice Centers and Sanghas world wide,

To our Dear Beloved Friends,

Since the dawn of the New Year, Thay has very clearly communicated to us a wish to return to his hermitage in Plum Village, France. Thay is satisfied with the progress he has made so far, thanks to the phenomenal care and attention of the doctors at UCSF, as well as all the many wonderful therapists treating him in the past six months. Thay would now like to return home to benefit from the healing collective energy there and to be with his Plum Village family. The doctors approved of Thay’s decision and assured us that Thay could make the journey without risk. The attendant team will continue to care for our teacher around the clock and to find the most appropriate therapies.

We are very happy to announce that Thay arrived safely at Bergerac airport in France this afternoon (Friday 8th January), and returned to his hermitage in Plum Village, to a warm welcome of songs and smiles from his monastic disciples.

We are profoundly grateful for all the support and loving donations that Thay and the attendants have received throughout their stay in San Francisco. The loving embrace of the global Sangha has allowed Thay to make great progress on his path of recovery, and he returns to Plum Village invigorated and full of joy. On the eve of the New Year, Thay joined in the joyful celebrations with his attendants, smiling and humming along as they sang. In the last few days, Thay has also enjoyed listening animatedly to recordings of his own voice reading some of his best-loved poems. We are all happy to trust in Thay’s new intuition to return to Plum Village. In the coming weeks we will celebrate the Lunar New Year, the Daffodil Festival, and the Great Ordination Ceremony at Plum Village, and are very happy to know that Thay will be able to enjoy these celebrations with us.

We continue to practice together to care for our teacher, to care for ourselves, and to care for the present moment; by doing so we can assure a bright future that contains the love of community, sisterhood and brotherhood. We are deeply grateful for the supportive energy that everyone is sending our teacher, and invite you to continue doing so as we turn this new page.

With love and trust,

The Monks and Nuns of Plum Village

Future official reports on Thay’s recovery will be posted from time to time at plumvillage.org, langmai.org, villagedespruniers.org, and www.facebook.com/thichnhathanh.

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