Plum Village Tradition

The Plum Village tradition grew out of the teachings and community building of Thích Nhất Hạnh (born Nguyễn Xuân Bảo) and Chân Không (born Cao Ngoc Phuong), and other members of the Order of Interbeing. The tradition is rooted in traditional Vietnamese monasticism but was also influenced by the reform movements happening in Vietnam during the 20th century. Members of the SYSS would later form the Order of Interbeing, named after the concept of interbeing and the Brahmavihara, to bring Buddhist principles into modern practice. This version of the Brahmavihara is grounded in what Plum Village calls the Four Spirits including "the spirit of non-attachment from views, the spirit of direct experimentation on the nature of interdependent origination through meditation, the spirit of appropriateness, and the spirit of skillful means. All four are to be found in all Buddhist traditions". Nhất Hạnh ordained six social workers into this new order, including Nhất Chi Mai, and provided them with fourteen precepts of Engaged Buddhism, now known as "mindfulness trainings". The Unified Buddhist Church would go on to assist refugees, assist children through Pour les Enfants du Vietnam and Partage avec les Enfants du Monde, and address disaster relief, technical training, schools, meals, and salaries for teachers and childcare workers. Exiled from Vietnam for refusing to take a side in the war, Nhất Hạnh and Không worked to help boat people in the Gulf of Siam then established the Sweet Potatoes Meditation Centre at Fontvannes near Troyes. Outgrowing the Sweet Potatoes Meditation Centre, Nhất Hạnh, Chân Không, and other community members established Plum Village as a practice center in the Dordogne region of France and opened up the Order of Interbeing to the growing Vietnamese diaspora in France and Westerners. The tradition is named after this monastery which was named for the one thousand plum trees of Agen (prune d’Agen) planted there. The group formalized as a tradition while emphasizing the equality of laypeople and monastics and a nondenominational approach to Buddhism. Analysis The tradition includes an emphasis on adaptation, typical of Buddhism, as it is said that the Buddha taught 84,000 versions of the Dharma, each one adapted to the needs of a different audience. The traditional includes a "post-merit model" approach for sustaining the organization that focuses on monastics working without financial gain, in an effort to improve the world, thus not relying solely on dana from lay people. Lê also notes that "Engaged Buddhism" in English is a translation of a concept that already existing in 20th century Vietnamese Buddhism and reforms in Asian Buddhism such as those introduced by Taixu. == Core tenets ==

Plum Village Dharma Seals The four dharma seals of Plum Village were proposed by Thich Nhất Hanh to determine whether a teaching is in line with that of the Plum Village tradition. "I have arrived, I am at home" "Go as a river" "The times* and the truths** inter-are". "Ripening, moment-by-moment" Noting *the three times are the past, present and future **the truths are the four Noble truths and also conventional and ultimate truthThe statement "I am at home" involves finding happiness in the present moment and that mindful breathing, walking, eating, and working are practices that help us arrive fully in each moment, no matter the situation. Even in times of suffering, staying "at home" with that suffering can bring freedom. To "go as a river" emphasizes living harmoniously within the sangha. This requires learning to function as a part of the "sangha body," both nourishing and being nourished by it. The Buddha devoted his life to building the sangha because it is through the collective strength of the sangha that their teachings can endure and thrive into the future. When challenges arise, we stay with our sangha, embrace the difficulty, and work together to transform it, continuing to flow as one unified river. 40 Tenets of Plum Village The 40 Tenets of Plum Village are an attempt by Nhất Hạnh to summarize the teachings that are maintained, taught, and transmitted in the Plum Village Tradition. In this tradition, Nirvāṇa is viewed not as a phenomenon but as the true nature of all phenomena. It is the absence of ignorance and afflictions, yet not the absence of existence, aggregates. The roots of discrimination, conflict, and war lie not in the external world but within our own mindset and perspective. The true adversary is our ignorance, our clinging to beliefs, complexes and our misguided perceptions. As such, behavior is not viewed as good or evil but as skillful or unskillful. With right mindfulness, one can achieve right concentration and right view leading to right thinking rooted in compassion, interbeing, and understanding. Karma, being all actions, includes thinking, speaking, and bodily actions. Ethical choices should be made on the criteria of beneficial vs. un-beneficial, happiness vs. suffering, and delusion vs. awakening. Rooted in interbeing, and seeing others as also us, violence against others or the environment becomes impossible. Views are not rigid and should be practiced with non-attachment, for example, the five mindfulness trainings may not be understandable to people in the future or appropriate to the situation of the world and may need to be revised. Nhat Hanh emphasized that mindfulness practice is essential for transforming unwholesome seeds and nurturing wholesome ones, thereby overcoming obstacles to enlightenment. Teachings are also rooted in interbeing as the tradition states “Whether from our family or friends, from our society or education, all seeds are, by nature, both individual and collective". Plum Village also acknowledges the individual consciousness is affected by the collective consciousness causing people to absorb and reflect the world around them. The tradition is working to reduce gender disparities, address climate change, and other forms of engaged Buddhism in an effort to reduce suffering and support collective awakening. While vegetarianism isn't mandated, Plum Village practice centers and retreats have always been vegetarian, in line with Mahāyāna teachings and environmental consciousness, and are now vegan. Monastics make decisions based on deep listening and nonattachment of view. Ancestry The tradition recognizes three forms of ancestry, including blood ancestry, land ancestry, and spiritual ancestry, that root people and recognize their commonality. Blood ancestry results from conditions arising at birth, grounding us in a lineage. As such, when you meet someone, you are also meeting their entire lineage. The tradition acknowledges that not all people had supportive childhoods. Love and Loving-Kindness Plum Village emphasizes loving-kindness (mettā) which is to be practiced within mindfulness practices,“Let our boundless love pervade the whole universe, above, below, and across. Our love will know no obstacles. Our heart will be absolutely free from hatred and enmity. Whether standing or walking, sitting or lying, as long as we are awake, we should maintain this mindfulness of love in our own heart. This is the noblest way of living. “Free from wrong views, greed, and sensual desires, living in beauty and realizing Perfect Understanding, those who practice boundless love will certainly transcend birth and death.”Plum Village includes traditional definition of love as Metta (loving friendliness), karuna (compassion), Mudita (appreciative joy) and upekkha (equanimity) but views equanimity as also inclusiveness. Plum Village also related love back to insight created through mindfulness stating,"Insight and love, they are the same. Insight brings love, and love is not possible without insight, understanding. If you do not understand, you cannot love. This insight is direct understanding, and not just a few notions and ideas. In meditation we allow ourselves to be shined on by the light of that insight." Three Doors of Liberation The three marks of existence (impermanence, suffering, and the absence of a separate self) form the Buddha’s fundamental insight into the nature of reality. Plum Village's teaching on the Three Doors of Liberation (emptiness, signlessness, aimlessness) provides a path to rise above duality, the source of all suffering, by aligning our lives with these truths. Per Plum Village, emptiness refers to being "empty of a separate self." Nothing exists independently; all things interconnect and depend on one another for existence. Signlessness challenges the attachment to appearances or forms. Just as water takes the shape of its container, perceptions are shaped by circumstances and are not the ultimate truth. Aimlessness emphasizes contentment in simply being. There is no need to strive for external validation or transformation; one’s purpose is to fully embody and appreciate their true nature. == Key concepts ==

Interbeing Nhất Hạnh developed the English term "interbeing" by combining the prefix "inter-" with the verb "to be" to denote the interconnection of all phenomena. This was inspired by the Chinese word 相即 in Master Fa Zang's "Golden Lion Chapter", a Huayan summary of the Avatamsaka Sutra. Interbeing is an understanding that there is a deep interconnection between all people, all species, and all things based on non-duality, emptiness, and dependent co-arising (all phenomena arise in dependence upon other phenomena). As such, there is no independent separate self. As such, everything is empty of self-being and everything is full of everything. In short, everything depends for its existence on everything else. For example, a flower is composed entirely of elements that are not flowers, like chlorophyll, sunlight, and water. If all these non-flower elements were removed, there would be no flower left. A flower cannot exist independently but it can only exist in relationship with everything else. In this view a person is composed of many elements beyond just themselves, such as their parents, ancestors from humans, plants, and animals, as well as water, sunlight, food, education, and life experiences. A person's body is constantly changing, and thoughts and emotions are always shifting. Plum Village does not try to prove the truth of interbeing, but instead emphasizes the importance of recognizing its truth through meditation (generating mindfulness, insight, and concentration). Understanding interbeing is essential for overcoming suffering and reaching enlightenment, which is the ultimate goal in Buddhism. It has been an influence on many environmentalists. Mindfulness Rooted in Buddhist psychology, Plum Village states mindfulness is an energy and awareness one can create by bringing attention back to the body and connecting with the present moment, both inside and around each person and looking deeply into the nature of things. It involves being aware of our breath and returning to the body, allowing ourselves to be fully present for ourselves and whatever activity we are engaged in. Along with mindfulness comes mindful consumption, relationships, and livelihood. Mindfulness cannot be separated from how we speak, act, work, and interact with the world. Plum Village emphasizes that right mindfulness does not pursue ego, status, and pride but is linked to the eight-fold path, awareness, love, community, and addressing suffering. Nhat Hanh stated “Our most important task is to develop correct insight. If we see deeply into the nature of interbeing, that all things ‘inter-are,’ we will stop blaming, arguing, and killing, and we will become friends with everyone. To practice nonviolence, we must first of all learn ways to deal peacefully with ourselves.” As such people are not just “making peace” but “being peace” Plum Village's mindfulness teachings influenced mindfulness-based cognitive therapy, Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT), and Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction. Engaged Buddhism Engaged Buddhism is a movement to apply Buddhist ethics including the bodhisattva path, giving (dana) and loving-kindness (metta or maitri), and Noble Eightfold Path to the world. Thich Nhat Hanh coined the term "engaged Buddhism" in his 1967 book Vietnam: Lotus in a Sea of Fire. Nhat Hanh did not feel it was a new concept but was rooted in early Buddhist doctrine.'''' Plum Village's teachings on engaged Buddhism are related to Nhat Hanh's experiences in war-torn Vietnam and "When I was a novice in Vietnam, we young monks witnessed the suffering caused by the war and were very eager to practice Buddhism in such a way that we could bring it into society. That was not easy because the tradition did not directly offer Engaged Buddhism, so we had to do it by ourselves. That was the birth of Engaged Buddhism." Engaged Buddhism has since become a core part of the Plum Village Tradition, and the term has spread and influenced traditions across the world. == Five mindfulness trainings ==

The Five Mindfulness Trainings are Nhat Hanh's formulation of the traditional Buddhist Five Precepts, ethical guidelines developed during the time of the Buddha to be the foundation of practice for both the entire lay Buddhist community and the secular world, grounded in the Four Noble Truths and the Eightfold Path. The mindfulness trainings address: • Reverence for Life: Awareness for cultivating the insight of interbeing and compassion, protecting lives of people, animals, plants, and minerals and seeing the harm from anger, fear, greed, and intolerance. • True Happiness: Awareness for seeing that the happiness and suffering of others are not separate from one's own happiness and suffering, true happiness is not possible without understanding and compassion, and that wealth, fame, power and sensual pleasures can bring suffering. • Nourishment and Healing: Awareness for cultivating good mental and physical health and consuming in a way that preserves peace, joy, and well-being. In some other traditions these precepts are expressed as undertakings to refrain from harm - not to kill, not to steal, not to lie, not to manifest inappropriate sexual behavior, and not to consume intoxicants. Nhat Hanh's effort was to express these precepts with an emphasis on the cultivation of virtues on the one hand and as a practice of mindfulness on the other. Fourteen mindfulness trainings The fourteen mindfulness trainings apply to members of the Order of Interbeing and including openness, non-attachment to views, freedom of thought, awareness of suffering, compassionate healthy living, taking care of anger, dwelling happily in the present moment, true community and communication, thoughtful and loving speech, protecting and nourishing the sangha, right livelihood, reverence for life, generosity, and true love. == Mindfulness practices ==

The sangha is built around a common set of practices to be performed with mindfulness applied to sensory experiences (like listening to the sound of a bell) or activities, such as walking or eating in community. There are also formal ceremonial practices normally performed by the monastics (prostrations, recitations, chanting). Community practices are aimed at facilitating the release from suffering, increasing joy, and experiencing fully the present moment. The mindfulness practices of the Plum Village Tradition including daily practices include breathing (focusing the attention on the breathing sensory experience), waking up (a daily vow to live fully the awake cycle of consciousness), sitting meditation, walking meditation, and a bell of mindfulness (stopping to focus on the breathing sensory experience upon hearing a sound, normally of a bell). Physical practices include resting (recognizing the natural needs of the body and take the necessary steps to attain rest), mindful movement (body movements practiced with conscious breathing to unite mind and body) and deep relaxation a practice of lying down and totally letting go, using the breath as an anchor. Additional mindfulness practices include living together (sharing the same living space), taking care of anger, going home (uncovering unconscious factors that evoke the feeling of being home, and expand that awareness), solitude (training inner stability in the subjective experience), touching the earth (performing prostrations to evoke a sense of connection with the biological and spiritual line), and taking refuge (Taking refuge: setting excellence goals for oneself, the relevant body of knowledge, and the community). Mind consciousness, similar to the Western "conscious mind," represents our active awareness and is engaged through mindfulness practices like breathing, walking, or eating with intention. Store consciousness, akin to the unconscious mind, is the foundation where all past experiences are stored. There are many types of seeds from samsara, illusion, nirvana, suffering, and delusion to enlightenment and joy. Within store consciousness some seeds are innate, some handed down by, ancestors, some sown in the womb, and others sown when we were children. Plum Village teaches seeds are sown within the mind. Mindfulness allows us to meet these mental formations like anger with gentle awareness. Through mindfulness, we develop awareness of these seeds, allowing us to identify and water the positive seeds so they may grow. Mindfulness and emotions With mindfulness, one is more than their emotions but is also form, feelings, perceptions, mental formations, and consciousness. Perceptions are impermanent, and one can feel an emotion, recognize it, meet it, and feel the actual sensation rather than the expectation of what the sensation should be. The goal is to not identify or attach to emotions such as suffering or happiness or be caught in stories about one's happiness or suffering.Through life and even through meditation, one can feel emotions and sensations that are not always positive. With an understanding of suffering it is natural that one develops the energy of compassion. Thich Nhat Hanh’s How to Love explores love as a transformative practice rooted in mindfulness, compassion, understanding, and non-attachment rooted in physical, emotional, and spiritual intimacy and focused on shared aspirations. The text emphasizes the interconnectedness of individuals and stresses that love begins with self-acceptance and healing, not trying to fill a void. A significant teaching in the book is that understanding is the essence of love. “Understanding someone’s suffering is the best gift you can give another person. Understanding is love’s other name.” These practices help individuals create harmony within themselves and their relationships, transforming everyday interactions into opportunities for joy and connection. Boundless love and a mind attuned to interconnection are vital, but mindfulness is needed to set limits. Without boundaries, negativity can infiltrate, much like bacteria infecting a wound. In Peace is Every Step, Nhất Hạnh states "when another person makes you suffer, it is because he suffers deeply within himself, and his suffering is spilling over. He does not need punishment; he needs help." Plum Village views compassion as the most effective form of protection. Everyone has faced hardship in some form, as society is filled with discrimination, violence, and greed. From there, Plum Village continued focusing on environmental issues based in Buddhist teachings. Plum Village’s environmental teachings draw heavily from the Diamond Sutra, a text noted for dispelling illusions and, per Nhất Hanh, supporting deep ecology. Per Plum Village our perceptions are often shaped by language, culture, and a tendency to categorize reality into neat boxes that rarely fit. Buddhism distinguishes between “conventional truth”—the labels and appearances we rely on—and “ultimate truth,” the deeper, interconnected reality. The Diamond Sutra is said to guide us to experience this deeper truth by revealing interbeing. But humans also need not despair as, with insight, one can learn that the Earth’s future relies on our mindful actions including mindful consumption and simple living and we can make real progress in protecting the earth. While we must first cultivate mindfulness in ourselves, this is not enough but we need a collective awakening to truly protect the earth. Efforts can benefit all living beings on Earth and, ultimately, on other planets and through time as an expression of love for future generations and all beings. == Texts and Dharma transmission ==

Core texts that influenced the tradition include The Anapanasati Sutra (Discourse on the Full Awareness of Breathing) and The Satipatthana Sutra (Discourse on the Four Establishments of Mindfulness). The tradition has produced texts including the books written by Thích Nhất Hạnh and Chân Không, through the practice of providing dharma talks and dharma education. The tradition practices Dharma transmission through a dharma lamp transmission. Nhat Hanh states the goal of transmission is "go with the sangha as a river, and not as a separate drop of water." as the sangha is meant to establish practice centers and teach the dharma as an endless stream. Nhất Hạnh completed a new English translation of the Heart Sutra in addition to more than one hundred books on mindfulness, meditation, interbeing, the life of the Buddha, ethics, Buddhist psychology, interreligious discourse, and Buddhist philosophy from the Plum Village tradition perspective. Notable books on include work on mindfulness including The Miracle of Mindfulness, and Peace is Every Step, a biography of the Buddha Drawn directly from Pali, Sanskrit, and Chinese sources known as Old Path White Clouds, introductions to Buddhism such as ''The Heart of the Buddha's Teachings and Awakening of the Heart, work on ecology notably Zen and the Art of Saving the Planet, interfaith dialogue notably Living Buddha Living Christ, poetry notably Call Me by My True Names, and books on ethics or practical life matters including How to Love, and No Mud No Lotus.'' Nhất Hạnh sold more than five million books in English, French, and Vietnamese, with translations into 30 other languages. The Miracle of Mindfulness was originally titled The Miracle of Being Awake. In 1975, 'mindfulness' was barely recognized in English until Nhất Hạnh's work popularized the concept. Online Presence Plum Village maintains a significant online presence to spread information on the sangha and offers the possibility of participating in specific activities through an online lay sangha, online retreats, video teachings, social media presence, practice manuals, The Way Out is In podcast, publishing arm via ParallaxPress, a newsletter, an app called Plum Village offering meditations, dharma talks, and online mindfulness exercises. The significant communications apparatus has been noted for solidifying its place in France and its influence worldwide. ==Plum Village locations==

Background Early in his time in France, Thích Nhất Hạnh established a center in Troyes to support refugees and boat people. However, the centre soon became overwhelmed by the growing number of people it served, prompting him to seek a larger location for the community. In 1982, amidst rural depopulation, the community acquired old farm buildings in France's Dordogne and Lot-et-Garonne regions. Initially spanning 29 hectares, Plum Village has since expanded to over 80 hectares across three main hamlets: the Lower Hamlet in Loubès-Bernac (Lot-et-Garonne), the Upper Hamlet in Thénac (Dordogne), and the New Hamlet in Dieulivol (Gironde). An important component of this tradition is the Order of Interbeing, which is a social network of monastics and lay people who have undertaken the Fourteen Mindfulness Trainings. There is also a community inspired by this tradition, aimed at young people between the ages of 18 and 35, called Wake Up. Other initiatives include Wake Up Schools and the Earth Holder Sangha. Monasteries As of November 2018, there are 11 monasteries and practice centers in the Plum Village Tradition. The tradition also operates three small farms. Europe • Plum Village Monastery (Le Village des Pruniers), France • Healing Spring Monastery (Monastère de la Source Guérissante), France • Maison de L'Inspir, France • European Institute of Applied Buddhism, Germany Asia • Thai Plum Village, Thailand • Asian Institute of Applied Buddhism, Hong Kong Oceania • Mountain Spring Monastery, near Sydney, Australia • Stream Entering Meditation Center, near Melbourne, Australia United States • Blue Cliff Monastery, New York • Deer Park Monastery, California • Magnolia Grove Monastery, Mississippi ==Culture and Influence==

Plum Village is the center of the film Walk with Me focuses on the Plum Village monastics' daily life and rites filmed over three years. Nhat Hanh and Plum Village teachings were influential in author and activist bell hooks' work including the book all about love. Christiana Figueres who led the Paris Agreement concerning climate change cites Nhat Hanh as influencing her work, environmental outlook, and as a support during the talks. ==See also==