Through guided meditations, writing reflections, books, and other mindfulness exercises, students gained a deep understanding of the practice and how to apply it in every day life.

Your generosity helped fund the 2018 “True Freedom, True Home” Wake Up Tour in Israel and Palestine, which helped water seeds of peace, understanding and compassion in the region.

How your support made possible the wonderful “Chanting as a River” monastic chanting CD.

Practices to honor our mothers and the Buddha this May

An interview with Carrie, a teacher at Mill’s College Children’s School in Oakland, CA, on how she integrates mindfulness into her elementary students’ curriculum and daily activities.

In celebration of Women’s History Month, the Thich Nhat Hanh Foundation has asked a few inspiring lay Plum Village women to share a little about their work and stories for our mahasangha.

Thầy, Sister Chan Khong and many other Plum Village monastics have made revolutionary changes for nuns in Plum Village, creating for them equal status, voice and influence to that of monks. Read about the major innovations for nuns in the Plum Village community.

“Martin, in Vietnam, we speak of you as a bodhisattva [...] an enlightened being trying to awaken other living beings and help them go in the direction of compassion and understanding.” Thich Nhat Hanh spoke these words to the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. at one of their last meetings. A few years earlier, in a letter nominating Thay for the Nobel Peace Prize, King said, “I know Thich Nhat Hanh, and am privileged to call him my friend.”

As the sangha prepares for Lunar New Year celebrations, Thay’s health remains remarkably stable. His mind is still very lucid, and he continues to receive Eastern treatment and acupuncture, go outside, and pay respect to ancestors.

Tết is the biggest celebration in Vietnam, the birthplace of our Plum Village tradition. It is an opportunity to enjoy being with family and friends, to share food, blessings, songs and poetry.

Our dear Teacher has been at Từ Hiếu Root Temple now for two months, with many of our elders, including Sister Chan Khong, Brother Phap An and a team of monastic attendants. Thay is doing well, his eyes as bright and lucid as ever. Even in the heavy rains, Thay visits the tomb of his teacher everyday, sometimes three times in the day.

A summary of the major themes we heard from your survey responses this spring and how we combined your responses, the monastics’ guidance, and a consensus planning approach to set the Foundation’s direction for the coming years.

Thay’s letter to his brothers, sisters and descendants, on dwelling in his Root Temple for the remainder of his days.

Thich Nhat Hanh has returned to Vietnam, and has expressed his wish to spend his remaining days in his home country.

An update on Thich Nhat Hanh’s health, as of his 92nd continuation day.

For me, there is no happiness without freedom, and freedom is not given to us by anyone; we have to cultivate it ourselves. I will share with you how we get greater freedom for ourselves. During the time that we sit, walk, eat, or work outside, we cultivate our freedom. Freedom is what we practice every day.

The Cedar Society is a path for practitioners to offer stable, long-term funding support for the Plum Village community through planned legacy gifts. When Thay was a young monk in Vietnam, he trained thirteen young people to help support and root the Buddha’s teachings during the war. He called them the “thirteen cedars,” choosing the cedar’s strength and solidity for inspiration. The Foundation’s bequest giving program is a legacy of the original thirteen cedars, whose deeply engaged practice continues to inspire our community.

Jeffrey Johnson, Fearless Surrender of the Heart, is a Cedar Society member who practices with the True Names Sangha in Baltimore, Maryland and the Mindfulness Practice Center of Fairfax in Virginia. He offers these reflections on his legacy gift.

If you are a single parent and if you think that you need to be married in order to have more stability, you have to reconsider that idea. Perhaps you have more stability right now by yourself than if you were with another person. Another person coming into your life could destroy the little stability you may already have. It is most important to take refuge in yourself, and to do that with your understanding, insight, and capacity of recognizing stability in the things inside you and around you. The things inside of you are just like the things around you. If they are stable, they are worth taking refuge in. By taking refuge in this way, you become more solid. You are taking refuge more and more in yourself. By doing so, you develop yourself into a ground for the refuge of your child and your friends. We need you also. The children need you; the trees and the birds also need you. You have to make yourself into someone stable, someone we can rely on. That is the practice of Buddhism.

Life patiently waits for true heroes. It is dangerous when those aspiring to be heroes cannot wait until they find themselves. When aspiring heroes have not found themselves, they are tempted to borrow the world’s weapons – money, fame, and power – to fight their battles. These weapons cannot protect the inner life of the hero. To cope with his fears and insecurities, the premature hero has to stay busy all the time. The destructive capacity of nonstop busyness rivals nuclear weapons and is as addictive as opium. It empties the life of the spirit. False heroes find it easier to make war than deal with the emptiness in their own souls. They may complain about never having time to rest, but the truth is, if they were given time to rest, they would not know what to do. People today do not know how to rest. They fill their free time with countless diversions. People cannot tolerate even a few minutes of unoccupied time. They have to turn on the TV or pick up a newspaper, reading anything at all, even the advertisements. They constantly need something to look at, listen to, or talk about, all to keep the emptiness inside from rearing its terrifying head.

Our parents play an important role in our lives. Whether they are still alive or have passed away, whether we have a good relationship with them, difficult relationship with them, or no relationship at all, strengthening our relationship with the people who gave us life can be a nourishing and healing practice. 

In order to help us cultivate our understanding, love, and gratitude for our mothers, our teacher Thich Nhat Hanh wrote A Rose for Your Pocket. In recognition of Mother's day, we hope this writing will lead you to a new and deeper appreciation of your mother whether she is still alive or has passed away. For those of us who have a challenging relationship with our mother, we may instead use this reflection to develop a deeper appreciation for our father, a teacher, or another loved one who has been a positive figure in our life.