Dear Friends of Plum Village, I am writing to you as I return from my most recent visit to Plum Village. Just before Thay left for his trip to Italy, on March 14, he gave a talk about the importance of the extended Sangha to Plum Village. Later that day in an unrelated way, he spoke about the local French authorities' demand that buildings in the Lower Hamlet undergo extensive renovations to meet building and sanitary codes. It occurred to me that this is a good time to bring more awareness to the extended Sangha of their importance to Plum Village. Since I was one of the few extended Sangha members present at this talk, I have taken the initiative to share my reaction to Thay's message. In his talk, Thay mentioned the importance of leadership within the Plum Village Sangha. It seems that it is also important to cultivate leadership in the extended Sangha.

It would be very helpful to have a list of the people who have visited Plum Village. The registration forms and guest books need to be computerized, to make mailings with updates from Plum Village, notices of retreats and schedules, as well as to hear when needs emerge for financial assistance. It seems that many people who have been at Plum Village do not even know about The Mindfulness Bettor that there are practice groups throughout the world. Since I can't support Plum Village by living nearby, I would like to help in other ways. I would like to help activate those people who have been touched by Plum Village to form some kind of association which could support the work of Plum Village.

Plum Village is a unique Buddhist community. The monks, nuns, and lay residents open their doors to people from around the world who wish to deepen their practice of mindfulness in retreats of a week or longer. In addition to the residential community, at least three other communities constitute the extended Sangha of Plum Village. One is the practitioners who live near Plum Village and regularly participate in the community's life. The second consists of all those whose lives have been enriched by directly touching Plum Village during the summer or winter retreats or other programs. The third and widest community includes all those who enjoy Thay's wonderful books, since the Sangha of Plum Village offers important support for Thay to be able to continue his teaching. This wide community includes all the individuals and Sanghas throughout the world who benefit from the monks, nuns, and lay teachers that Plum Village has helped to nurture.

In his teaching on community, Thay described the extended Sangha as the water that makes it possible for the fish, the residents of Plum Village, to live. In turn, the monks, nuns, and long-term lay residents offer the greater community the many benefits that arise from a community of mindfulness that is open for retreats. Plum Village offers us a place of practice so we can return to our true home, and so that when we go back to our everyday home, we can truly arrive. In many ways, Thay and Plum Village are the heart of Our mindfulness practice: Those who come for retreats at Plum Village are the arteries and veins, carrying nourishment to the mindfulness communities around the world. We need to insure that nourishment in this circulatory system flows back to the heart itself.

To start strengthening the Sangha, we need to share information. At present there is a difficult sitvation at Plum Village, and they need our support. To be open to receiving guests this summer, they will need to upgrade their facilities considerably in order to meet the health and safety standards required by the local government. They need to do a major renovation on several buildings and extensive work in the kitchens. This work will be costly—around $ 120,000 for the work on the Plum Hill dormitory; and $200,000 for the work on the kitchens.

If you can help at this time, please keep Plum Village in your mindfulness practice, and if you can, send financial support as well. This will also help us build our extended Sangha, through networking with our local Sanghas or staying in touch with each other about our efforts.

Many of us wish when we are not at Plum Village that there would be a way we could arrange our lives so that we could be of more support to the Plum Village community. Most of us cannot do that, but we can increase our presence at Plum Village by helping in the ways we can. Money is a form of energy and by making a contribution, we transfer some of our energy to support the community that supports our practice of mindful living. Your contribution now can help support the framework of Plum Village which supports the mindfulness of us all.

Donations can be made directly to Plum Village, Meyrac, 47120, Loubes-Bernac, 47120 France. In the U.S., tax-deductible donations can be made to Plum Village through the Community of Mindful Living, P.O. Box 7355, Berkeley, CA, 94707. All donations received by the Community of Mindful Living for Plum Village are passed on in full to Plum Village. Contributions to help cover the operating expenses of the Community of Mindful Living are also greatly appreciated.

A contribution of any size will let the Plum Village community know that you value their  continuation.

A lotus for you,

Tom Holmes