About Our Practice
Plum Village teaches us the art of mindful living. We try to integrate mindfulness into our daily life by being present with whatever is happening in the moment. That is, we try not to let our thoughts distract us from reality in the moment. We practice conscious breathing while doing sitting meditation, walking meditation and also while doing our work and chores. But mindfulness isn’t just meditation. It means ethical living, engaging in communcal practice and learning how to listen. We do this in order to cultivate peace and joy in ourselves and others.
We aim to put peace and joy into the world by being peaceful and joyful. As our teacher says:
“There is no path to peace; peace is the path.” —Thich Nhat Hanh
Of course, this is not easy, and no one is expected to do it perfectly. That is why we practice.
Starting in March 2026, we are adding some pages to our website to help our members and non-members keep up with what our sangha is studying:
Five Mindfulness Trainings: We recite these trainings once a month at our potluck/sangha meeting. They are the core teachings that we focus on.
Dharma Notes: These are notes from our weekly dharma lessons, if available. Our sangha does not have an ordained teacher, so members volunteer and take turns leading the dharma lessons. Sometimes the leader has notes they read from or a video they share during the meeting. We will put these notes here.
Extra Resources: We have also compiled a list of other resources and books that may be helpful to those who want to learn more about Buddhism and Plum Village.