I don’t usually write about my trips, but when I do, I really love it. I’ve just spent a week at Thai Plum Village for the Wake Up Retreat, where 350 international young people gathered together, shared their stories with the community and practiced mindfulness.
Plum Village is an organization founded by Master Thich Nhat Hanh — one of the most influential Buddhist monks in the world. Plum Village is a place where his followers can practice their monastic life, and where normal people can come and practice mindfulness, get disconnected from their busy life and then go back fully recharged. Nowadays, there are several Plum Villages in different countries, such as France, Germany, the US, Australia, Hong Kong and Thailand. As mindfulness is now more and more popular, Plum Village is getting lots of attention from people around the world.
My company promotes mindfulness a lot; my managers, my colleagues and my friends also practice mindfulness in their daily lives. I tried to do the sitting meditation a few times but gave up because I wasn’t good at sitting still. I knew about this Wake Up Retreat after the application for Vietnamese was closed. Luckily, I asked the organization team if I could join an international group and they accepted. This was one of the best decision in my life.
Well, the agenda of the retreat was quite a challenge for me. I had to wake up at 4 am to get ready for the morning chanting and meditations at 5 am. There were multiple types of meditations in the morning such as indoor sitting meditation, outdoor sitting meditation, and walking meditation. The outdoor sitting meditation was very memorable. When I arrived at the big garden, I was so surprised because there was a campfire there and the mats were placed neatly for all of us. I wondered what time the brothers and sisters woke up to get everything ready for almost 400 people; they are just so dedicated. Although the set up was very nice, I couldn’t fully enjoy the session because it was so cold and I didn’t have a jacket with me. I was told to bring some warm clothes as the temperature might be lower at night on the mountain, however, I forgot my jacket at home. In future, I need to be more careful when preparing for any long trip. A checklist is a necessity.
The walking meditation, which was totally opposite with my usual fast and unmindful walking, was very enjoyable. I practiced slow walking with 4 steps breathing in and 5 steps breathing out. I also had to be very mindful which meant I only focused on my steps and my breathing; I didn’t think about anything else. I am still amazed by the image of more than 300 people walking together around the village slowly but peacefully.
After the morning meditations, we had breakfast. Of course there was only vegetarian food, but it was not the most special part about eating at Plum Village. Firstly, we had to wait for a bell to sound before we could start eating, and we had to eat in silence, so that we could focus 100% on the meals to fully enjoy the food and appreciate what mother Earth gave us. So, after taking a bowl of rice, veggie and tofu, I sat down at a table, breathed in, breathed out, and waited for the bell to sound. I chewed the food so carefully that I could taste the sweetness of the rice. After making sure everything was chewed thoroughly, I swallowed it slowly. Then, I breathed in, breathed out and continued with another scoop. I think that was the reason why despite my chronic gastric issue, I didn’t have any pain during the retreat.
We got around 30 minutes to rest after breakfast, before the working meditation or the mindful working session. Each group was assigned different tasks — ours was gardening. The morning continued with a Dharma talk, which was a presentation about mindfulness and Buddhism. The topics presented at Wake Up retreat were not complex but easy to understand for normal people, such as: How to overcome our fears, The four kinds of nutriments we consume in our daily lives, etc. They are not totally new or profound to me, but listening to them mindfully did trigger many thoughts.
I was struck really hard when they mentioned the current situation of Buddhism. These days, Buddhism is mainly about devotion with lots of people seeing the Buddha as someone who has the ability to give them everything, from power to prosperity. They forget that Buddha left everything behind — including his family, his palace, and his throne — to go on a journey to look for a way that can help people get out of misery and sorrow. Therefore, it’s really ironic that they are turning to Buddha and asking for all of those things.
One more thing I really like about Plum Village is they really promote lifelong learning. At Thai Plum Village, each brother or sister can speak at least 3 languages, including English, Vietnamese and Thai, plus French, German or Chinese. This is because Master Thich Nhat Hanh set a rule that when any monk or nun chooses to be his follower at Plum Village, that person is considered an international citizen. Every five years, every monk and nun has to move to another Plum Village to avoid emotional attachment to the place. That’s why they have to study languages very hard, to the extent that they can give a Dharma talk in that language.
After lunch was my favorite part of the retreat, it was called Total Relaxation, or … a nap. All of us went to the meditation hall, laid down on the mats, closed our eyes and listened to the guidelines from a brother or a sister. We were supposed to do the laying meditation, breathe in and breathe out, focus on several parts of our body. But I think we all slept, because when the brother finished his guidelines, he asked us to slowly open our eyes and sit up, but only a few of us did so, the others remained laying down. He laughed and said: “Thank you, friends, for practicing the total relaxation wholeheartedly.” I have to admit that I had my best naps at Plum Village. The meditation hall was breezy and we could also look out to the trees outside then slowly fall asleep.
In the afternoon, we had a Dharma sharing session, where members in 16 pre-assigned groups sat together and shared about themselves, what brought them there, what they wanted to achieve after the retreat, etc. I felt very lucky after hearing other members’ stories. I don’t have conflicts with my family, my work sometimes is stressful but still manageable, and I’m not in any relationship so there’s no drama. I started to feel more grateful for everything I have and to better appreciate even the smallest things in my life.
At 9:30 pm, after the evening presentations, Noble Silence began. This is the period of deep silence that started from the end of the evening sitting meditation and lasted until we cleaned our bowls after the next morning breakfast. According to Plum Village: “This is very healing. We allow the silence and the calmness to penetrate our flesh and bones.” You can read more about Noble Silence practice at Plum Village here.
I came here without any expectation, but I actually learned and received a lot. I learned how to be mindful in everything I do, to be aware of my breathing and to know that being able to breathe in and breathe out is enough for happiness. I also learned how to slow down my fast-paced life, to leave my phone in the tent to realize how free and joyful it was during the day. Moreover, I received a lot of love from the brothers and sisters at Plum Village, as well as other members in my group. We lived together, we walked together and practiced together. Our bond was so strong that when the retreat finished and we had to leave the village, almost all of us burst into tears.
I only stayed there for a week, but the impact Plum Village had on me is really significant. I think I will go back for the winter retreat to recharge and remind myself that mindfulness is not something we can achieve quickly, it is a long journey of self-understanding and persistent practice.
More information about Wake Up retreat:
Vietnamese: http://langmaithailan.org/vi/khoa-tu/dang-ky-khoa-tu-wake-thang-52018/
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More photos from the retreat
