Plum Village Smiles

Plum Village is not a Vietnamese temple set on European land. In  Plum Village, we see the Indian culture, the Chinese culture, the Vietnamese culture, and the Western culture. When we look carefully, we see that non-Plum Village elements exist in Plum Village. Consequently, Plum Village is also an object of meditation. The deeper we look, the more clearly we see it…. If we look deeply, we see that Plum Village is also unborn and undying.

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Plum Village is not a Vietnamese temple set on European land. In  Plum Village, we see the Indian culture, the Chinese culture, the Vietnamese culture, and the Western culture. When we look carefully, we see that non-Plum Village elements exist in Plum Village. Consequently, Plum Village is also an object of meditation. The deeper we look, the more clearly we see it.... If we look deeply, we see that Plum Village is also unborn and undying.

- Thich Nhat Hanh

Room accommodation, 1984
Meditation Hall in Lower Hamlet, 1984
Sister Chan Khong serves dessert, 1985
Vietnamese children, 1985
Thay and lay friends under oak tree, 1985
Hoang Chappuis and a young girl in Lower Hamlet, 1985
Thay and lay friends in front of Red Candle Hall, Lower Hamlet, 1985
Thay in Lower Hamlet, 1986

Anh Thieu came from Vietnam by boat with his wife and two children. They were the first people to help us start Plum Village. From the winter of 1982 to the summer of 1983, we had to work a lot. In early 1983, we began to plant some trees in the Upper Hamlet. The first trees were six umbrella pine trees.

-- Thich Nhat Hanh

Anh Thieu (Bac Ca) and his family helped Thay to develop Lower Hamlet
Children in Lower Hamlet, 1986
Thay releasing animals with lay friends, 1987
Thay teaches children to play ping pong, 1987
Thay and lay practitioners singing and sharing, 1987
Sitting meditation, 1987
Singing before walking meditation, Lower Hamlet, 1987
Thay with sunflowers, 1988
Sister Chan Duc (Sister Annabel) and Sister Chan Khong, 1988
Thay Giac Thanh, 1992
Building the bell tower at Lower Hamlet, 1992

If you come to Plum Village, you have to take home with you no less than Plum Village in its entirety. Bringing Plum Village home, you will be able to survive longer. The teaching and practice of “I have arrived, I am home” always complements the teaching of “going as a river and not as a drop of water.” If you are a drop of water, then you will evaporate halfway; but if you go as a river, you will surely reach the ocean.

- Thich Nhat Hanh

PHOTOS COURTESY OF PLUM VILLAGE, LYN FINE, and EILEEN KIERA. QUOTES REPRINTED FROM I HAVE ARRIVED, I AM HOME (2003) BY THICH NHAT HANH WITH PERMISSION OF PARALLAX PRESS, BERKELEY, CALIFORNIA, www.parallax.org

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What is Mindfulness

Thich Nhat Hanh January 15, 2020

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