New Hamlet

New Hamlet is Plum Villages smallest practice center in the southwest of France. It has been a home for the monastic sisters since 1996. Every year over 2000 lay women and families come on retreat and find a spiritual home with our sisters. Many of us from all over the world have magical memories of walking up the New Hamlet hillside with Thich Nhat Hanh (Thay) and the monastics, breathing in views of the plum trees and the beautiful rural French landscape.

Thanks to the strong interest in the Thich Nhat Hanh/Plum Village tradition, New Hamlet is now bursting at the seams. Each year the number of retreatants continues to grow as more people recognize the benefits of mindful living. And each year, new aspirants and novices join the sisters on their monastic path.

The sisters open their homes and hearts to us so we can learn from their wisdom and daily mindfulness practice. For them to continue their path of service to others, it is important that they live in a harmonious environment that has the conditions for spiritual and physical wellbeing. A new monastic residence would create these conditions in New Hamlet. And it would create more space for the sisterhood of monastics, lay friends and interns as we practice, grow, heal and awaken together.

‘Living in close proximity amidst monastic and lay sisters, we are cradled by the collective energy of the community. We are fortunate that simply by being here and opening our home to the world, we can encounter many who share our aspiration and be of support to those in need. As our monastic and lay family grows, our home is also in need of expansion. We hope to have a new monastic residence, a quiet, calm space where we can retreat to take care of ourselves while we care for others.’
Sister Linh Di (New Hamlet, France)

Please help our sisters create a home that best supports the practice of the growing monastic community and the increasing number of retreatants.