Thank you so much for all the peace, healing and transformation you are making possible.
Dear friend,
Thanks to the kindness, generosity, and love you have shown by making donations to the TNH Foundation, this past August fifteen young people from the Middle East were able to participate in the Wake Up Retreat at Plum Village. Because of your generosity, ten of those received financial aid without which they could not have been there.
Along with the other retreat participants, these young people explored how they could better respond to the intolerance and lack of understanding that seem to be dividing our world, particularly in the Middle East. By sharing insights, sitting together in meditation, listening to dharma talks, and working on the monastery farm, these young people got to touch beloved community, moments free from judgment and anger, and moments filled with peace and joy.
One of the people who benefitted from your help wrote to us:
“[We worked] very hard to meet all of the requirements to obtain visas and permits . . . to come to Wake Up Earth 2019, Plum Village. Your hand of loving kindness and generosity helped us immensely. Your assistance became our in-breath, and our out-breath when we lost our own. It reminded us we are not alone in the world; that we inter-are.
I felt inspired when 600 Wake Uppers from around the globe howled in a single language at a full moon rising over the Buddha hill in the pine forest of Upper Hamlet. The call of the bell united our 20 languages into one in-breath, one out-breath. We danced to each other’s music imagining a brighter future by experiencing a lovely present moment. It was a lovely worldwide moment. A moment with roots of hope and stems of peace. We are filled with radiant hope in our next mindful steps towards peace in ourselves, peace in the Middle East, peace in the world.”
Another participant shared:
“Plum Village has become a sanctuary, a place of refuge . . . away from politics and religious conflicts. Plum Village is my second home. I’ve been blessed to have this opportunity to return to my home and continue my spiritual journey. It has been a life changing experience, an ongoing change that will continue to radiate with love and joy.”
The brothers and sisters of Plum Village are especially grateful for your help. They felt a special joy in planting the seeds of mindfulness in eager young minds, and because of that success they are dedicated to continue this program annually. Thus, if you share their joy in this success and would like to help make the Plum Village Wake Up Retreat open to more young people from the Middle East, please consider donating to the program again next year.
With much love and gratitude,
The Thich Nhat Hanh Foundation & Plum Village Family