We Are Part of Thây’s Continuation

We practice in the tradition of Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh (also known Thây which means Teacher, in Vietnamese) a global spiritual leader, poet, and peace activist, revered throughout the world for his powerful teachings and bestselling writings on mindfulness and peace. His key teaching is that, through mindfulness, we can learn to live happily in the present moment—the only way to truly develop peace, both in one’s self and in the world.

Thich Nhat Hanh has been a pioneer in bringing Buddhism to the West, founding six monasteries and dozens of practice centers in the United States, Asia, and Europe, as well as over 1,000 local mindfulness practice communities, known as ‘sanghas.’ He has built a thriving community of over 600 monks and nuns worldwide, who, together with his tens of thousands of lay students, apply his teachings on mindfulness, peace-making, and community-building in schools, workplaces, businesses – and even prisons – throughout the world.

Thich Nhat Hanh is a gentle, humble monk – the man Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. called “an Apostle of peace and nonviolence” when nominating him for the Nobel Peace Prize. In the media he has also been called “The Father of Mindfulness,” “The Other Dalai Lama” and “The Zen Master Who Fills Stadiums.”

Thich Nhat Hanh has published over 100 titles on meditation, mindfulness, and Engaged Buddhism, as well as poems, children’s stories, and commentaries on ancient Buddhist texts. He has sold over three million books in the United States alone. Although Thich Nhat Hanh passed away in 2022 we can enjoy his interbeing anytime.

Plum Village

Plum Village is where Thây realized his dream of building a Beloved Community: creating a healthy, nourishing environment where people can learn the art of living in harmony with one another and with the Earth.

Plum Village began in 1982 as a small, rustic farmstead, and has today grown into Europe’s largest Buddhist monastery, with over 200 resident monks and nuns, living and practicing in four different hamlets spread out across the French countryside. It is a continuation of the original “Sweet Potato Community” that Thây first founded near Paris in the 1970s, soon after he was exiled from Vietnam.

Plum Village, near Bordeaux in southwest France, is the largest international practice center in the Plum Village tradition.

Magnolia Grove

There are eleven practice centers and monasteries open throughout the year, for short or long stays. One of them is just hours from St. Louis, Magnolia Grove Monastery. Many Midwest Moon Mindfulness practitioners visit for days of mindfulness, retreats and special events.

Magnolia Grove Monastery is a both a residential monastery and Mindfulness Practice Meditation Center in Batesville, Mississippi. Today, more than thirty monastics disciples of Thich Nhat Hanh are in residence.

Magnolia Grove Monastery is a place to practice meditation and mindfulness. It is where every breath we take reminds us of the wonders of life. A place to sit and relax. A place to walk and kiss the earth beneath our feet. It is a place to rest under a willow tree on an island in a lotus pond. A place to eat together and savor every bite. A place to listen deeply to the sounds of life and the sound of our hearts. A place to work together to build a community of love and understanding.

Magnolia Grove is a place where we can stop running, and discover peace with every step we take. A place to remind each one of us that the present moment is a wonderful moment.

Visit the Magnolia Grove website

Happy Farms & Earth Holder Community

Sangha members from Midwest Moon and Rooted River actively participate in Happy Farms and Earth Holder Community. Both groups actively promote mindfulness, community-building and sustainability.

Those working on the farms (the “Happy Farmers”!) cultivate the land mindfully, and together with Plum Village monks and nuns, host retreats, experience weeks, guided tours, and workshops. We are honored to be fulfilling Thich Nhat Hanh’s dream of establishing the farms, and turning the land into a beautiful sanctuary for farmers, retreatants, volunteers and other local natural inhabitants. The Happy Farms offer nurturing environments in which to practice, heal and reconnect with Mother Earth through mindful agriculture. They are a concrete expression of meditation engaged with action, in the area of ethical and sustainable vegetable farming.

Practitioners work to bring mindfulness, compassion, healing and nonviolence to protecting the Earth, ourselves, and all beings.

The Earth is not just the environment we live in. We are the earth and we are always carrying her within us. ~ Thich Nhat Hanh, Love Letter to the Earth