Order Zen Location Dordogne, France Opened 1982 | Established 1982 Website plumvillage.org Phone +33 5 53 94 75 40 | |
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Address Meyrac, 47120 Loubès-Bernac, France Founders Thich Nhat Hanh, Chân Không Similar Deer Park Monastery, Blue Cliff Monastery, Hoằng Pháp Temple, Ấn Quang Pagoda, Namgyal Monastery Profiles | ||
Plum Village (Vietnamese: Làng Mai, French: Village des pruniers) is a Buddhist meditation center of the Order of Interbeing in the Dordogne, southern France. It was founded by two Vietnamese monastics, Thích Nhất Hạnh (a Zen master and Buddhist monk) and Chân Không (a Buddhist nun), in 1982.
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History
After being refused the right to return to Vietnam, Thích Nhất Hạnh formed a small mindfulness community 100 miles southeast of Paris at the village of Fontvannes called "the Sweet Potato" after the food that poor Vietnamese people eat. Following Thích Nhất Hạnh's expulsion from Singapore following illegal attempts to rescue Vietnamese boat people, he settled in France and began to lead mindfulness retreats.
In 1981, the Sweet Potato community held its first summer retreat, which attracted more people than it could accommodate. Thích Nhất Hạnh then traveled south with his Chân Không to find a larger site. They found a piece of land in Thénac, Dordogne, which seemed ideal. The landowner, Mr. Dézon, didn't want to sell, so they continued looking. A few days later, on September 28, 1982, Thích Nhất Hạnh purchased a tract of land about 6 kilometres (3.7 mi) away, which is now known as the Lower Hamlet (Vietnamese: Xóm Hạ). Later that year, a hailstorm destroyed the vineyards on Mr. Dézon's property and he was forced to put his land on the market. Nhất Hạnh bought the land and called it Upper Hamlet (Vietnamese: Xóm Thượng). Initially, these two hamlets were named Persimmon Village (Vietnamese: Làng Hồng), but it soon became clear that plums fared much better on the rocky soil, so it became Plum Village (Vietnamese: Làng Mai).
Every year the community hosts a four-week summer retreat, which has grown increasingly popular in recent years. Attendance has grown from 232 people in total in 1983 to over 800 guests at a time in 2015.
Practice
The following is the schedule for an average day at Plum Village (Làng Mai):
Hamlets
Today, Plum Village is made up of four major residential hamlets. Upper Hamlet houses approximately 65 monks and laymen, as well as being Thích Nhất Hạnh's residence. Lower Hamlet houses over 40 nuns and laywomen. Son Ha Temple houses approximately 20 monks and the New Hamlet, 20 minutes away by bus, houses approximately 40 nuns and laywomen.
Plum Village has branches in the United States: Blue Cliff Monastery in Pine Bush, New York, and Deer Park Monastery (Tu Viện Lộc Uyển) in Escondido, California.