About The Plum Village Tradition

Redit Thread regarding Thich Nhat Hanh plum village tradition

animuseternal

• 2y ago

duy thức tông

Plum Village is the modernist revision by Thich Nhat Hanh of the dual-practice Pure Land-Thien tradition stemming from the Tu Hieu monastery in Hue, Vietnam. It is within the Lieu Quan lineage of Thien.

One of the major differences he employed was--believing that westerners would not connect with Pure Land recitation--shift the primary practice of his tradition from Buddha-mindfulness to a more general mindfulness. He also updated the liturgies to be comprehensible to laity. Otherwise, it is mostly a traditional form of Vietnamese Thien, with some Pure Land aspects cleverly hidden in there, couched in modernist/Romantic language.

alanpeto

• 2y ago

Mahāyāna - Humanistic Buddhism (FGS)

As u/animuseternal explained, it is dual-practice, and Ven. Thich Nhat Hanh used a bit of skillful means to make it more appealing to westerners with his own style. Pure Land and Thien practice/tradition is very much part of it, but it can be hard to see if it's something you're not aware of. In some of his non-western books and talks, he explains more (sometimes in-depth) about Pure Land.

According to Sister Annabel Laity, in the preface for one of Ven. Thich Nhat Hanh's books on Pure Land Buddhism, she states that it is Pure Land practice that he teaches: "In Plum Village in France, where Thich Nhat Hanh lives, many young people come and practice Pure Land Buddhism, although it is not given that name and they may not even know that they are doing so. The Pure Land practice at Plum Village consists of dwelling in the present moment and appreciating all the wonderful and delightful things which life has to offer right now." 

blahblahcat7

• 2y ago • Edited 2y ago

Plum Village School of Thich Nhat Hanh

Plum Village is first of all a living tradition, stressing mindfulness and ethical thinking, speaking, and acting in daily life. Meditation is important, but combined with mindful action in all things. The triple training in Plum Village is mindfulness, concentration and insight.

Some background may help. Beginning in the 1950s Thich Nhat Hanh started to veer away from the traditional Buddhist hierarchy in Vietnam, partially over his desire to be more engaged with helping people in the time of wars, and not remaining in the monasteries. He studied widely many traditions of Buddhism and also western philosophy, including two years in the US teaching and taking classes at Princeton, Columbia and the Union Theological Seminary. Returning to Vietnam in 1964 he founded a publishing company (La Boi Press), a group to help people in villages ravaged by war (The School of Youth for Social Services), Van Hahn Buddhist University, and ultimately in 1966 the Tiep Hien (later translated as Order of Interbeing) a four-fold community of nuns, monks, lay men and lay women. He was exiled in 1966 which continued after the so-called Communist takeover in 1975, settling in France where he ultimately founded Plum Village in the early 80s. His early book "The Miracle of Mindfulness" helped kindle the great interest we see today in mindfulness practice. Constant cultivation of mindfulness in all activities is stressed at Plum Village.

The Charter of the Order of Interbeing outlines many of the ideas embodied in the Plum Village tradition, particularly this one: "The Order of Interbeing does not consider any sutra or group of sutras as its basic scripture(s). It draws inspiration from the essence of the Buddhadharma in all sutras. It does not accept the systematic arrangements of the Buddhist teachings proposed by any school. The Order of Interbeing seeks to realize the spirit of the Dharma in early Buddhism, as well as in the development of that spirit through the history of the Sangha, and its life and teachings in all Buddhist traditions."

Although the lineage goes back to Lin Chi (Rinzai in Japanese), as suggested in this quote, Thich Nhat Hanh brought in many elements of varied Buddhist traditions, including Early Buddhist (Nikaya or Agama) teachings, Chan, Yogachara, Madyamaka, Prajna Paramita, Pure Land, and the Mahayana teachings in the Diamond, Lotus and Avatamsaka sutras. There is a strong emphasis in ethical behavior, with an updated and expanded version of the Five Mindfulness Trainings (Sila or precepts.) https://plumvillage.org/mindfulness-practice/the-5-mindfulness-trainings/

So, the Plum Village tradition cannot be easily categorized, but we might say that there is an emphasis on mindfulness, ethical behavior, and cultivating the insight of the interconnection of all that is with the term 'interbeing.' There is also a particular emphasis on sangha-building and harmony in sanghas. There are lay sanghas practicing in this tradition throughout the world.