Photos

On the 17th of November the Sangha gathered at New Hamlet for community service. This time (like many other times) we were inspired to take care of our mother-earth by joyfully planting tree saplings that were nursed, nurtured and nourished by the monastic and lay siblings. There are many...

2021 The 90-day Rains Retreat is an annual retreat whose origins date back to the time of the Buddha. It is a time for Buddhist monastics to deepen their studies, practice, healing, and transformation. In Plum Village, we had the chance to practice as a Manyfold Sangha (monastic and...

Harvesting Apples While Cultivating Joy & Siblinghood On the 13th of November the Monastic Sangha gathered at a neighbor’s apple orchard. The community was kindly allowed to harvest the surplus of apples after the main harvest. Sometimes this can be called gleaning, (or glanage), and consists on the collecting...

Four Plum Village monastics were invited to participate in this year's Countdown Summit to COP26 organized by TED at Edinburgh, from October 12-15, 2021.

Born on October 11, 1926, Thay has made immeasurable contributions to help spread the Dharma, build Sangha, and care for our Earth. The Fourfold Sangha gathered at New Hamlet to practice together and to celebrate our teacher’s 95th Continuation (Birthday) day. Go to Photos Disclaimer: The images or video...

Great Precepts Transmission Ceremony 2021 “Go To The Other Shore” is the name (or theme) chosen for the Great Precepts Transmission Ceremony (Đại Giới Đàn in Vietnamese) that as taken place at Deer Park Monastery and broadcasted live. At Plum Village, France we have followed the lead and transmitted...

On September 9 we formally opened the Plum Village Monastery Rains Retreat with the Face-to-Face Ceremony at Upper Hamlet.

On 8 August 2021, the Rose Ceremony was organized at Plum Village in France. The tradition of wearing roses to remember the kindness and love of our parents started in Plum Village during the Summer Retreat in 1983.

Sangha life is very vivid with many activities. During the past week, there was a Sikshamana precept transmission, a path renovated by monastic brothers and an online mindfulness day for families of monastics. We would like to share with you some photos of these events.  Sikshamana Transmission Ceremony In Buddhist tradition,...

In May and June, Plum Village had three online retreats with a lot of joy, happiness and transformation.

In Plum Village, France, we have three hamlets – Upper Hamlet for brothers, Lower Hamlet and New Hamlet for sisters. Each hamlet is beautiful and spacious. In order to keep the hamlet beautiful and tidy, we gather once a month at a hamlet for a day community work where...

On 26 May, 2021 Plum Village community celebrated Vesak day with the various Plum Village sanghas in India and the Ahimsa Foundation (an organization founded to represent our teacher Thich Nhat Hanh and his practice communities in India). Due to the serious state of COVID-19 in India, people in India...

On the 26 of May, Plum Village centers around the world organized ceremonies to celebrate Vesak day. On this day we commemorate the birth of Prince Siddhartha, his enlightenment when he became known as Gautama Buddha, and his death known as parinirvana.

For the first time in Plum Village history the 14 Mindfulness Trainings Transmission ceremony was held online on the 2nd of May in the year 2021.

The francophone retreat, organized every year for over 20 years, has always been an opportunity to bring together the lay francophone community in a warm and joyful atmosphere.  Last year, for the first time in 20 years, Plum Village was unable to hold this annual “family reunion”.  At the end...

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....

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...

“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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

“Waking up early, my windows open to the pristine air, how I yearn to fly up in it, to be a little bird!” (From the poem “Flames of Prayer”, Thich Nhat Hanh) “Flames of Prayer” is a song of freedom and love for life. Thich Nhat Hanh wrote it...

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...

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...

Our aspirant family (Chestnut Tree) preparing for their monastic ordination, with our traditional Rose Ceremony. After a formal lunch, our aspirants come up before the Sangha to formally request to be ordained as novices. They each offer a rose to our teacher and the community as a symbol of...

Following a tradition that dates back to the Buddha’s time, each year the Plum Village fourfold Sangha has a 3-month Rains Retreat. The monastic brothers and sisters use this time to deepen their practice. This year, on the 17th of September we formally opened the Rains retreat with the...

Let us recall some memorable moments in the “Love is The Way” online retreat 7th-9th August. Here are various activities that we practiced during the three days. Both monastic and lay were nourished. Our teacher (Thay) dreamed about an online monastery a long time ago. Now it becomes true...

In this season, we harvest plum fruit from our garden every year. We make plum jam by ourselves. The lay friends can taste the handmade plum jam every breakfast while they are here with us. We also have dried plum, the profit from selling it will be offered to...

We would like to invite you to join us on the last day of our online retreat "The Art of Awakened Living".