Articles

Relax, Let Go

Dear friends, I wrote this poem in veneration of Thich Nhat Hanh, whose inspirational writing and poetry has helped me live more peacefully with mental health issues. I am very new to Buddhism, but I feel a deep connection. I hope this poem conveys the peace and calm within...

Thich Nhat Hanh in Hospital

For Immediate Release Global Buddhist Leader in Hospital Plum Village, France, November 12, 2014 – Thich Nhat Hanh, the world’s most famous Zen master, has been hospitalized in Bordeaux, France. With a deep mindful breath we announce that on Tuesday 11th of November 2014, Thay, Zen Master Thich Nhat...

Upgrading the Mindfulness Bell

Oct.15th, 2014 Bodh Gaya, India Dear Thầy, Dear Sangha of the Order of Interbeing, I write on behalf of our little magazine, the Mindfulness Bell, one of the communication channels for our Plum Village community throughout the world. At present, I am in India traveling with a beautiful Fourfold...

Becoming Buddha’s Disciple

We invite you to read this beautiful article by Sr Linh Di (Emyo Wang), our newest Australian monastic, who was ordained by Thay at Plum Village this Summer, together with her brothers and sisters in the Oriental Cypress Ordination Family. Dear ones, I will be asked to release personal email,...

A Wake Up Tour in Latin America

For the past twenty years the teachings of Thich Nhat Hanh (Thay) and Plum Village have been quietly spreading through the Spanish-speaking world, as Thay’s books were translated from English into Spanish. In the past six years this wave of material has been joined by subtitled video Dharma talks...

We Need Your Helping Hands

We are very happy that our teacher is coming to the EIAB in August. Together we will offer a Day of Mindfulness and two retreats. Before, during and after these events we will need staff to help us, so we invite you to apply to be a staff member....

Unconditional Acceptance

An Interview with Joanne Friday Joanne Friday is a Dharma Teacher in the Order of Interbeing. In 2003, she received authority to teach from Thich Nhat Hanh, her teacher for twenty years. Joanne leads meditation retreats for Sanghas and groups throughout the Northeastern U.S. She lives in Rhode Island,...

A Million Buddhas-to-be

  Don’t worry if you feel you can only do one tiny good thing in one small corner of the cosmos. Just be a Buddha body in that one place. This week Thay’s community of followers on Facebook reached ONE MILLION. To celebrate, we invited people to share how they are...

Much Love and Gratitude

Dear friends, The Happy Farm team would like to offer a warm thanks to everyone who supported our fundraising campaign. The campaign was a huge success and we raised a lot more money than we expected. This means we can do some wonderful work to establish the Happy Farm...

No Coming, No Going: Thay’s 2014 Spain Tour concludes

Thay’s first major Spain Tour concluded last Sunday afternoon May 11th, with the powerful collective energy of thousands meditating under Barcelona’s Arc de Triomf, Passeig Lluís Companys. An estimated 5,000 people participated in Sunday’s collective sitting meditation in the bright spring sunshine. Some of them had been waiting at the spot...

The Meaning of Mindfulness

A film clip taken from research interviews for our upcoming feature documentary “Walk With Me”. The film is an impressionistic portrait of a Zen Buddhist community who follow the teachings of Thich Nhat Hanh. In this short clip, Sister Chan Khong shares about the origins and meaning of mindfulness....

Hong Kong University honors Thay

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4wmhVrgZD04 The University of Hong Kong has formally awarded Thay an Honorary Doctorate in recognition of his contributions to world peace and humanity. Past Hong Kong University (HKU) Honorary Degrees have been awarded to Mother Theresa, Nelson Mandela, Aung San Suu Kyi, and Bill Clinton. Hong Kong comes to France...

The Campaign Is Still On!

Dear Friends, Thank you all so much for the donations and many words of support we have received. We have been deeply moved by the generosity of everyone who has contributed to this campaign. We are delighted to report that the response to the Happy Farm campaign was so...

I Don’t Run Away Anymore

Thay recently received this beautiful and moving letter from one of his students (a lay man) in Ireland. With permission from the author, Thay asked us to type it up and post it online for the whole community to read. We have transcribed it from the original handwritten letter,...

Happy Farmers Will Change the World

We would like to invite you to participate in growing and supporting Plum Village’s Happy Farm as it enters its second bountiful year. Your donation will help us introduce thousands of children and adults to the practice of mindfulness and organic farming. The Happy Farm is steadily transforming Plum...

In memory of Thay Phap Y

Dear Spiritual Family, With great regret we announce that our dear Italian brother Thay Phap Y passed away last Friday morning, February 7th, 2014. He was a teacher to all of us, our big brother, our “Venerable Thich Chan Phap Y”, and “Papi” to many. He was a colorful...

Interbeing, Service, and Our Little Wars

By: Ray Hemachandra In September I drove to Magnolia Grove Monastery in Batesville, Mississippi, to spend a day at a retreat with Thich Nhat Hanh and Zen Buddhist monks and nuns both from this monastery and mindfulness meditation practice center and from Plum Village in France. In many ways...

And a Mindful New Year

By Jessica Ardis If you had told the sixteen-year old version of myself that I would chose to spend New Year’s Eve sitting in silence with nuns, I would have asked what you were smoking. The nuns I had encountered in twelve years of Catholic school were mostly a...

New Contemplations Before Eating

Dear Spiritual Family, Thay has just announced a new version of the Five Contemplations before Eating, after receiving a letter from scientists recommending replacing “global warming” with the more appropriate term “climate change.” As a spiritual family and a human family, we can all help avert climate change with...

Love Letter to Vietnam

On behalf of the international fourfold sangha of Plum Village, and our friends on the path in Vietnam, we would like to ask for your help. As we start the New Year 2014, please offer to write to the leaders of Vietnam, asking them to allow Vietnam to have at least...

Plum Village Practice in Vietnam – some background

Ven. Thich Nhat Hanh’s return from exile Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh returned to Vietnam in 2005, after nearly 40 years of exile for having called for an end to the Vietnam War. His return attracted tens of thousands of people to his talks and retreats. His accessible teachings...

New Year’s Prayer 2014

This prayer was offered by the Plum Village fourfold sangha as part of the midnight ceremony to mark the dawn of the New Year 2014. Dear Beloved Father Sun – Bodhisattva Mahavairocana Tathagata, Dear Beloved Mother Earth – Bodhisattva Mahagaia, Dear Beloved Ancestors, both Spiritual and Genetic,   We...

Preventing the Sandy Hook Shooting

Neil Heslin, father of Sandy Hook victim, asks Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh: What could have prevented what happened that day? What changes could we all make to help try to prevent suffering like that in people in the future? From the Question & Answer Session at the Art...

Christmas in Plum Village

Yesterday was the arrival day for our Christmas week, as Plum Village welcomed people from around the world to join us for this deeply joyful and time of “coming home” together as a spiritual family. Every bed is full! The hamlets are already beautifully decked with greenery, berries and...

Learning to let go

Dear friends of the four fold Sangha, A deep bow to you all from Lower Hamlet, Plum Village. Here we have just started the first week of our Autumn retreat, the golden poplar leaves are floating down in the gusts of wind, rain is finally falling on our summer...

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What is Mindfulness

Thich Nhat Hanh January 15, 2020

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