--- Welcome letter
--- Sample schedule
--- Calendar of Festivals
--- Housing
--- Registration information (very helpful)
--- download this information under Microsoft document
--- download registration form under Microsoft document

Dear Friends,
You are warmly invited to visit Plum Village and practice with our growing international Sangha (community of practice) and to enjoy the wonderful energy of mindfulness. The Summer Retreat is for us to enjoy simple and peaceful living, and thereby nurture our own inner growth.  We take time to look deeply in order to transform both our individual difficulties and the difficulties in our society.
Our practice at Plum Village helps us weave mindfulness into all of our daily activities. In this way we can practice meditation throughout the day, while eating, walking, working mindfully, sitting in meditation, or enjoying a cup of tea together. All visitors participate in communal activities such as arranging the meditation halls, preparing meals, cleaning bathrooms, emptying garbage, watering plants, washing pots, cleaning the kitchen and other tasks as part of the daily practice of mindfulness. Since the teachings emphasize the happiness and strength of communal practice, it is important for all visitors to fully participate in all scheduled activities. Visitors are requested to refrain from smoking, drinking, and sexual practice during their stay; this supports everyone’s practice, lay and monastic. Once a week there will be an opportunity to receive the 5 Mindfulness Trainings.  The Trainings are the foundation of the Plum Village community, bringing happiness and meaning to all that we do.

In order to deepen your practice and make mindful living a vital part of your daily life, we request you stay a minimum of one week.

Lectures will alternate between Vietnamese, French, and English and will be simultaneously translated into the other two languages as well as German, Dutch, Spanish and Italian. English and French are the languages spoken most often at Plum Village. Whenever possible, Dharma discussion groups in one's native language will be arranged.

Sample Schedule:

The summer session is also a time for everyone to water their cultural roots. A different festival is celebrated every week. You may want to bring your favorite recipes, stories, poems, musical instruments, etc. that carry a special meaning in your culture, or your life, so that you may share them with the community.

2008 Calendar of Festivals:
(dates may change – Lazy day is on Wednesday)

A family program is available for young people who are six years and older. Plum Village staff will help coordinate activities, together with the help of parents and other adults who are interested. Children under 6 are completely under the responsibility of their parents. In past retreats, many such parents were able to coordinate childcare among themselves in order to participate in the adults' activities.
What does one wear at Plum Village?  It is fine to wear casual clothes outside the meditation hall. But inside the meditation hall, please wear sleeved shirts, long pants or calf-length skirts. For all Dharma talks, formal lunches, tea meditations, and the other various festivals, remember to bring something nice to wear!
One day a week at Plum Village is Lazy Day. There are no scheduled activities and the bells will only be invited to announce meal times. Lazy Day is an opportunity to let the day unfold in a natural way while still maintaining mindfulness. We can enjoy being with friends, taking a walk, reading a book, or just relaxing and enjoying the day in mindfulness within the retreat boundaries. The meditation hall is open for those who enjoy sitting meditation.
Venerable Thich Nhat Hanh (Thầy) is not able to give personal interviews to students and guests who come to Plum Village. We are encouraged to offer written questions, which Thầy can answer in his talks or during Question and Answer Sessions. The Dharma teachers of Plum Village Sangha will be available for consultation.
Housing & What to bring for the retreat
When packing, please note that laundry is to be done by hand during the Summer Retreat. Remember to bring a towel, a flashlight, an alarm clock, a mosquito net, insect repellent, laundry detergent for hand-washing, a hat (for sunny or rainy afternoons), slip-on shoes (to be easily removed when entering meditation halls) and warm clothing for rainy or cool weather. Sunscreen and a small backpack (knapsack) are also useful. Also, please remember to bring your own earphones with a long extension cord for use with our translation system. All meals are vegetarian. Unfortunately, we cannot accommodate practitioners who have special dietary and/or medical needs. Do not bring your pets to Plum Village. Thank you.

Indoor housing: A covered foam pad and small pillow will be provided. Please bring your own sleeping bag and sheet to ensure sleeping comfort.

Tent / Camping Van: We have rustic camping sites with some unlevelled ground. Please bring your own tent, a camping foam pad, sleeping bag, pillow & case, sheet and whatever other items that will make your sleeping comfortable. Camping vans are welcome, but utility hook-ups are not available.
Transportation
Plum Village is about 85km east of Bordeaux (which has an airport) and four hours from Paris by train. The nearest train station is Sainte Foy La Grande, on the train route, which runs between Libourne and Bergerac. If you are coming from Paris, book your train Paris-Libourne, Libourne-Ste. Foy. Please arrive and depart only on the dates indicated on the registration form which will be on Mondays. On the specified dates [July 07, July 14, July 21, July 28 and August 04], we will arrange for your transportation between Plum Village and Sainte Foy la Grande train station, which may take up to 1 hour (luggage loading & driving time). If you use Plum Village transportation between Ste Foy La Grande train station and Plum Village, a transportation fee of 10 Euros per person will be added to your final contribution. Please specify your arrival time. We will do our best to be there as close as possible to that time. Please arrange to arrive at Plum Village before 7pm for registration.

You are required to attend an orientation on our practice and daily activities at 8:00 p.m on your arrival day in order to fully benefit from and enjoy your stay here. The orientation session will be given only on the arrival day of each week.
We hope you will come and share in the joyous celebration of life among blossoming sunflowers and fellow practitioners. We are looking forward to seeing you and to making steps of peace and joy with you at Plum Village this summer!
Plum Village Summer Registration Team


REGISTRATION INFORMATION

How to register

If you would like to attend the summer retreat, please carefully read the instructions below to properly complete the registration form on the back and send by postal mail to the address below with the appropriate deposit. Since Plum Village generally hosts about 600 participants per week (spread out over five hamlets), we strongly recommend you register before June 1st to ensure a space. The last date for all registration is June 30th. Arrival and departure day for the Summer Retreat 2007 is Monday of each week.
Retreatant(s). Print clearly your last name, first name, and gender (for housing purposes). If you have received the registration form electronically, please fill the form out on the computer, so we can read your information clearly. If you would like to share a room with someone, please register on the same form. For each person on the registration form, print the full name and gender. For the purpose of sending a confirmation letter and any other relevant information to the retreatant(s), please give us your email address. Please indicate the age of all participants less than 17 years of age to help us with housing assignments and to better coordinate the program for teenagers and children.

Means of Transport. Please mark the appropriate box. Please note that registration is from 9am till 7pm on the arrival day for each week at the hamlet indicated on your confirmation letter.

Weeks. Please enter the weeks you would like to stay with us. Orientation to the practice is scheduled only on Monday evening, the evening of our weekly arrival day. We will not process registration forms which indicate an arrival or departure on a date other than the dates listed above, even for those who provide their own transportation. Please make sure that your planned dates fit with our date codes.

Housing Code. Enter the corresponding codes of your first three choices in accommodation, in order of preference. We will try to assign housing as requested, but we reserve the right to make necessary modifications.

Emergency contact person/telephone. Please give us the name and telephone number of a close relative or friend who we can notify in case of an emergency.

Liability waiver. While we of the Plum Village Sangha will try our best to ensure your stay with us is incident-free, we cannot be held responsible for any injury or illness that may occur. For everyone over 16 years old please date and sign in the space provided. For those under 16 years of age, a parent or a legal guardian must sign and date.

Method of Contribution. All contributions should be made in Euros only. Do not send cash. Do not send EuroCheque or personal checks not issued by French banks. There will be a 15 Euros bank charge for all foreign cheques. Please make them payable to Eglise Bouddhique Unifiée. Please mark the appropriate box on the registration form. If you contribute by postal mandat or wire transfer, please attach a clear copy of the document confirming the transaction. If you contribute by travelers' cheques, please remember to sign, counter-sign, and date all cheques. Any omission of the above information will add much delay to the processing of your entire registration.

For postal mandats or wire transfers, please use the following accounts: La Poste, Eglise Bouddhique Unifiee, Compte Cheques Postaux  (CCP) Number:   9.010.59 F 022 CCP Bordeaux; or Credit Agricole Mutuel, Lot & Garonne, Bank Number:  13306, Account #: 00342 42901199011 96, International Banking Account No.: Fr 76 1330 6003 4242 9011 9901 196, Swift Code: AGRIFRPP 833.

Perhaps the easiest way to transfer money is via our online payment system. Please see our website for this at http://www.plumvillage.org

Total enclosed (Euros only). Please send the entire contribution with your registration if you plan to stay for one or two weeks. For those who wish to stay three weeks or more: please send in the entire amount, or the contribution for your first two weeks, with the registration form. The remainder will be processed upon your arrival.

Refunds. Please take note of the above timetable for cancellations if you wish to receive a refund.
Thank you in advance for taking the time to carefully read the information we have sent. If you still have questions, please do not hesitate to contact us before mailing in your registration form.

Address all inquiries to:

For single men of all languages and for Dutch, German, Italian and Spanish families, please contact:
Summer Retreat 2005, Upper Hamlet – Plum Village, Le Pey 24240 Thenac  FRANCE
E-mail: UH-office@plumvillage.org   Fax: +33.5.53.58.49.17, Tel : +33.5.53.58.48.58   

For single women and  French and Vietnamese families, please contact:
Summer Retreat 2005, Lower Hamlet-Plum Village, Meyrac  47120 Loubès-Bernac FRANCE
E-mail: LH-office@plumvillage.org, Fax: +33.5.53.94.75.90, Tel :+33.5.53.94.75.40 

         For single women and English families, please contact:
Summer Retreat 2005,New Hamlet-Plum Village, 13 Martineau  33580 Dieulivol  FRANCE
E-mail: NH-office@plumvillage.org, Fax:+33.5.56.61.61.51, Tel: +33.5.56.61.66.88   

Please check our Web Site at http://www.plumvillage.org for up-to-date information about Summer Retreat 2008. Please feel free to communicate with us through e-mail. Please do not send your registration form via facsimile, they are very often unreadable, which delays their processing.

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