Plum Village, France
2003
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| Just 80 kilometres from Bordeaux, Plum Village is a thriving Buddhist Monestary in the beautiful French countryside. Founded in 1982 by a humble Vietnamese Buddhist monk, Thich Nhat Hanh, also known as Thay, the monastic community has grown in size to include nearly 5 hamlets. With over 200 monastics who live there year-round, short and long-term retreats as well as the larger summer weekly retreats are enjoyed by thousands of lay people from all over the world. |  Thich Naht Hanh and a small boy on a walking meditation, Plum Village, summer 2003 |
 A peaceful Buddha in the garden |
Thich Nhat Hanh has been in exile from his homeland of Vietnam for decades.
His entire life has been spent advocating peace worldwide through compassionate
and deep listening, encouraging individuals to practice living in the
present moment and increasing their self-awareness, internal peace and
joy of life. He has written over 75 books and invests a great deal of
time creating bridges between Christianity and Buddhism, as well as spear-heading
deep listening workshops with troubled individuals from cultural conflicts
throughout the world. Last Autumn, he leaded several for Palestinians
and Israelis.
If you have never heard of him, I suggest picking up a copy of either Peace is Every Step, Innerbeing or Living Buddha, Living Christ. They are good introductory books that are easy to read. I encourage you to visit the Plum Village website to learn more about this wonderful man and his works: http://www.plumvillage.org. |