Order of Interbeing | Tiep Hien

Students of Thich Nhat Hanh and practicing the Plum Village Tradition

  • A New OI Aspirant

    As I walked with the Sangha through the Oak Grove at Deer Park last summer I heard myself say, “I am a good wife.”  I was startled and happy to hear that spontaneous belief.  For years, when I became irritated, impatient, or outright angry with my husband, I would say to myself, “What a lousy […]

  • Replanting A “Forest of Interbeing”: Spiritual Community As Food

    Several months ago, four young friends living in three different countries embarked on a journey together to replant a deforested rainforest in the south of Mexico. The “Forest of Interbeing” project includes the purchasing of 9 hectres of land, roughly 900 acres, in Los Tuxtlas region, in the Mexican state of Veracruz. Formerly home to […]

  • The End of Suffering

    Happiness, the End of Suffering, and Recovery Forty-six. That’s not so old – young in fact. He and I are both 46, with young children, and in a long term relationship. We both got sober very young and then maintained that sobriety for many years. Mr. Hoffman made it 23-years, and I’m about to reach […]

  • Shifting Weight

    Leave the tender moment alone. -Billy Joel. The way to use life is to do nothing through acting. The way to use life is to do everything through being. -Lao Tzu I had noticed her as I walked by the room on the way to see my patient. Jeans, sneakers and flannel shirt curled up […]

  • Conflict Resolution Guide

    The Harmony Committee for the North American Dharma Teachers Sangha has created this Conflict Resolution Guide. This document was prepared by the Harmony Committee of the Plum Village North American Dharma Teachers Sangha over three years beginning in 2010. The committee included both lay and monastic Dharma Teachers. The document provides resources for using conflicts for […]

  • Ethical Concerns Regarding Dharma Teachers

    The Harmony Committee for the North American Dharma Teachers Sangha has created this Policy and Procedures for Ethical Concerns regarding Dharma Teachers. This policy establishes a process for addressing perceived ethical lapses by ordained Order of Interbeing Dharma teachers in North America who are members of the Plum Village Lineage North American Dharma Teachers Council (“Dharma […]

  • When Next I Spill My Tea

    The morning in June, 2002, that I was going to be ordained in the Order of Interbeing, I was doing walking meditation after breakfast. I was staying at Upper Hamlet of Plum Village, in France, where the ceremony was going to be held. Because people who were staying in the other hamlets had to travel, […]

  • North American Ordination (2013 Only)

    Dear Dharma Teachers, Dear Order Members, Dear Aspirants, In 2013 there will be three opportunities for aspirants from North America to be ordained into the Order of Interbeing. In order to facilitate the process, the Care-taking Council of the Dharma Teachers Sangha of North America (including both monastics and lay) have clarified the requirements, criteria, […]

  • Movies and the Trainings

    I became a member of the Order of Interbeing in 1991.  At first, I was intimidated with some of the Mindfulness Trainings because I thought some of them seemed dogmatic.  But the longer I have been a member and study the trainings, the more I have learned their wisdom and depth. One example is in […]

  • Stepping into Freedom: Savoring Life

    I really had no expectations of this retreat (October 2011 at Blue Cliff Monastery), except to participate in the OI ordination ceremony, and to spend five days with Thay and 1000 of his brothers and sisters.  But of course, I found that they were my brothers and sisters too, my sangha also.  It was wonderful […]