Hello dear friends, It is my hope that you can assist me in writing a letter to a friend of mine. Today, I was upset with the way she reacted to a miscommunication we had. I felt angry and practiced mindful breathing until I could calm down. It is my wish to communicate in such a way that will not provoke any more misunderstanding or anger, but allow her to understand how she hurt me. Here is some background: we speak different languages, Haitian Creole and English. I plan on translating the letter through another subreddit. My friend and I live in a shelter. Today she asked if I could get her extra biscuits for dinner. She specifically asked that I don't bring her the chicken pot pie as well. I complied but brought her the chicken pot pie anyway as the plates were already made and I thought it wasn't too big a deal. She expressed her anger by telling me to sit down and eat it. I was taken aback, as our friendship has lasted a week and I've rarely seen her unhappy. I felt condescended and angry but did my best to maintain a smile. I walked away and practiced breathing. This is what I have written so far:

My dear friend, I want to understand why you were angry with me today. I suffered a lot because of it. Please help me understand where this anger came from so I can better support you.

Thank you all.

I was trying to read on the website if there are special days when this takes place, but haven’t been able to find any information.

Does this take place during special retreats or regular individual season retreats?

I messaged Plum Village India number on WhatsApp a few months ago, I found the number on their website. The center is not specifically set up like other larger centers but there are volunteers running and holding space. When we texted I was told about the current schedule and activities with the sangha and how to stay. Now the website is inactive and the messages from the number have disappeared. I don’t know if this is a lack of volunteer issue or if the center is not operating for some reason now. Does anyone know anything about the center in Karnataka, India?

Hi all, does a Sangha exist (online ideally) in which ASL is the language used to communicate? I did a quick search around (Google and plumline.org) and could not find one!

Are there any OI members here in this sub? I'm very interested in the process of joining. I've read through the steps of getting started on the website. I have no local sangha, but I found an online sangha and have considered starting my own in-person sangha here. I'm not sure how to go about finding an OI mentor, however. Also from the website it doesn't look like there are any ordination opportunities and haven't been since 2021.

Is there anything else I need to know about or should be doing if that's the path I want to take? Thank you for any insight!

I found the Plum Village app and have done about a month of meditation from there, and have been meditating on and off for about 10 years. From there found the Youtube channel Plum Village lectures/this sub, and the retreats seem to be a "one day." Have also leaned on "The Heart of the Buddha's Teaching" a couple of times, but I consider myself a beginner Buddhist. In Montreal early 30s in case there are others here, but just dropping in a hello all :)

Hi all, I'm reasonably new to the Plum Village tradition, having joined a local sangha early this year after some years practicing in the Sōtō Zen lineage. I've found Thay's blend of Mahayana teachings with mindfulness practice to be incredibly refreshing, but I do occasionally find myself stuck on some points of ambiguity which I'd like to ask about.

For example, teachings on practicing with interbeing might include the suggestion to "see" the cloud inside our cup of tea, while also guiding us away from fixating on a conceptual understanding of this. But what I have read so far does not delve into what the actual process of practicing this involves. So, I feel a little lost on how to actually apply these teachings. Is the intention here that we visualise or imagine the continuation of the cloud in the tea? Or is there something else being pointed to that I'm missing?

Thanks in advance for your help 🙏

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