View source for Plum Village Monastery

{{short description|Buddhist monastery founded in France 1982}}
{{Infobox monastery
| image            = 
| caption          = 
| name             = Plum Village
| full             = 
| native_name      = Làng Mai
| native_name_lang = vn
| established      = 1982
| order            = [[Zen]]
| founder          = [[Thích Nhất Hạnh]], [[Chân Không]]
| abbot            = 
| location         = [[Thénac, Dordogne]], [[France]]
| coord            = 
| public_access    = 
| website          = {{url|http://plumvillage.org/}}
}}
{{Zen Buddhism}}
{{Western Buddhism}}
The '''Plum Village''' '''Monastery''' ({{langx|vi|Làng Mai}}; {{langx|fr|Village des pruniers}}) is a [[Buddhism|Buddhist]] [[monastery]] of the [[Plum Village Tradition]] in the [[Dordogne]], southern France near the city of [[Bordeaux]]. It was founded by two [[Vietnamese people|Vietnamese]] monastics, [[Thích Nhất Hạnh]] (a [[Zen master]] and [[bhikkhu|Buddhist monk]]) and [[Chân Không]] (a [[bhikkhuni|Buddhist nun]]), in 1982.<ref>Robert Harlen King ''[[Thomas Merton]] and Thich Nhat Hanh: Engaged Spirituality in an Age of Globalization'' 2001</ref><ref>Jean Baubérot, Franck Frégosi, Jean-Paul Willaime ''Le religieux dans la commune: régulations locales du pluralisme en France'' 2001 - p288 "On observe en effet, à Strasbourg, l'émergence d'un groupe encore informel qui se constitue autour de plusieurs personnes habituées à la fréquentation du « village des pruniers » de Thich Nhât Hanh dans le Périgord. Ce moine vietnamien ..." p289 "Bien que le maître réside en France, c'est paradoxalement aux Etats-Unis et au Canada que les centres sont les plus développés. Ce qui caractérise la voie préconisée par Thich Nhât Hanh, ce sont des méditations assises ainsi que la..."</ref>

==History==

After being refused the right to return to [[Vietnam]] due to the [[Vietnam War]], Thích Nhất Hạnh formed a small [[mindfulness]] community 100 miles southeast of Paris at the village of Fontvannes<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://interbeing.org.uk/manual_pages/5_2.html |title=5.2 Plum Village – www.plumvillage.org |access-date=2014-01-10 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101216060226/http://interbeing.org.uk/manual_pages/5_2.html |archive-date=2010-12-16 |url-status=dead }}</ref> 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 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,<ref name="thich">{{cite web|last1=Thích|first1=Nhất Hạnh|authorlink1=Thích Nhất Hạnh|title=I have arrived, I am home|url=http://plumvillage.org/about/plum-village/i-have-arrived-i-am-home/|website=Plum Village}}</ref> so they continued looking. A few days later, on September 28, 1982, [[Thích Nhất Hạnh]] purchased a tract of land about {{convert|6|km}} away, which is now known as the Lower Hamlet ({{langx|vi|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.<ref name="thich"/> Nhất Hạnh bought the land and called it Upper Hamlet ({{langx|vi|Xóm Thượng}}). Initially, these two hamlets were named Persimmon Village ({{langx|vi|Làng Hồng}}), but it soon became clear that [[plum]]s fared much better on the rocky soil, so it became Plum Village ({{langx|vi|Làng Mai}}).<ref name="thich"/>

Each year the community hosts a four-week Summer Opening 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.<ref>{{cite web|author=Plum Village|title=Summer Retreat Dharma Talks|url=http://plumvillage.org/retreats/info/summer-retreat-dharma-talks/|website=Plum Village}}</ref> In addition, the community hosts a variety of retreats year round, such as the Wake Up Retreat for young adults, the 21-Day Retreat for more experienced laypeople, and the 90-day Winter (Rains) Retreat.

==Practice==
Aside from practicing Zen Buddhism, The Plum Village practices [[Engaged Buddhism]], an application of buddhist teaching to the current world to help solve social problems. <ref>{{Cite web |title=Buddhism and Social Action: Engaged Buddhism |url=https://pluralism.org/buddhism-and-social-action-engaged-buddhism |access-date=2022-12-06 |website=pluralism.org |language=en}}</ref>
 
The following is the schedule for an average day at Plum Village (Làng Mai):
*5:00 am: Rise
*6:00 am: [[Zazen|Sitting]] and [[kinhin|walking meditation]]
*7:00 am: Breakfast
*9:00 am: Dharma Talk / Class / Presentation / Mindful work period
*11:30 am: Walking meditation
*12:30 pm: Lunch
*1:30 pm: Rest
*3:00 pm: Service (working) meditation
*6:00 pm: Optional dinner
*8:00 pm: Personal study, Happiness Meeting, Beginning Anew
*9:30 pm: Noble silence begins
*10:00 pm: Lights out
Throughout the day, visitors and members of the Plum Village hear the sound of a gong ring through the Upper Hamlet. When this happens all members are expected to cease what they are doing and pause for a moment of mindful silence <ref>{{Cite journal |last=Knibbe |first=Guido |date=2020 |title=Meeting Life in Plum Village – Engaging With Precarity and Progress in a Meditation Center |url=https://studenttheses.universiteitleiden.nl/access/item%3A3188291/view |journal=Cultural Anthropology and Development Sociology}}</ref>

==Hamlets==
Today, Plum Village is made up of four major residential hamlets. Upper Hamlet houses approximately 65 monks and laymen. 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. <ref>{{Cite web |title=Our Hamlets |url=https://plumvillage.org/about/plum-village/hamlet/ |access-date=2022-12-06 |website=Plum Village |language=en-US}}</ref>

There are two additional hamlets that open up during the Summer Opening retreat, which are open for all guests.<ref>{{Cite web |title=A Visit to Thich Nhat Hanh |url=https://www.plough.com/en/topics/faith/witness/a-visit-to-thich-nhat-hanh |access-date=2022-12-06 |website=Plough |language=en}}</ref> 

Plum Village has one sister monastery in Europe, the European Institute of Applied Buddhism (EIAB) in [[Waldbröl]], Germany, 
and three in the [[United States]]: [[Blue Cliff Monastery]] in [[Pine Bush, New York]], [[Deer Park Monastery]] (Tu Viện Lộc Uyển) in [[Escondido, California]], and [[Magnolia Grove Monastery]] in [[Batesville, Mississippi]].

There are also branches in Thailand and Hong Kong.
<gallery mode="packed-hover">
File:New Hamlet - Plum Village3.jpg|alt=Image of New Hamlet|New Hamlet - one of the four settlements of Plum Village
File:New Hamlet - Plum Village4.jpg|alt=Another image of New Hamlet|New Hamlet - one of the four settlements of Plum Village
</gallery>

==Reports on sectarian aberrations==
Between 2018 and 2020, the [[MIVILUDES]] recorded 12 reports relating to the Plum Village and concerning sectarian aberrations.<ref>{{Cite web |author=MIVILUDES (Mission interministérielle de vigilance et de lutte contre les dérives sectaires)|author-link=MIVILUDES|title=Rapport annuel d'activité 2018-2020 |url=https://www.miviludes.interieur.gouv.fr/publications-de-la-miviludes/rapports-annuels/rapport-annuel-dactivit%C3%A9-2018-2020 |format=PDF |access-date=2024-02-20 |language=fr}}</ref>

==See also==
* [[Plum Village Tradition]]
* [[Plum Village Community of Engaged Buddhism]]
* [[Order of Interbeing]]
* [[Blue Cliff Monastery]]
* [[Deer Park Monastery]]
* [[Magnolia Grove Monastery]]
* [[Engaged Buddhism]]
* [[Mindfulness]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Plum Village}}
*[https://plumvillage.org/ Plum Village]
*[http://www.langmai.org/ Lang Mai - Plum Village site in Vietnamese]
*[http://www.villagedespruniers.org/ Plum Village site in French]
*[https://www.eiab.eu/index.php?index=88 European Institute of Applied Buddhism (EIAB)]
*[http://www.iamhome.org/ Community of Mindful Living] Community based on the practice of Plum Village
*[http://www.thaiplumvillage.org/ Thai Plum Village]

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{{Buddhism topics}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Zen Buddhist monasteries]]
[[Category:Buddhist monasteries in France]]
[[Category:Buddhist temples in France]]
[[Category:Buildings and structures in Dordogne]]
[[Category:Plum Village Tradition]]
[[Category:Overseas Vietnamese Buddhist temples]]
[[Category:Asian-French culture]]
[[Category:Vietnamese diaspora in France]]