Planting Seeds Mindfulness Practice Center

Planting Seeds Mindfulness Practice Center Cultivating a Compassionate Mindfulness Community in the Plum Village Tradition

Vision:
To build and grow beloved communities that reflect the united vision of our Teacher, Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh, and his great friend, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., as Dr. King stated in his letter nominating Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh for the Nobel Peace Prize in 1967: “(Thich Nhat Hanh’s) ideas for peace, if applied, would build a monument to ecumenism, to world brotherhood, to humanity.

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Missions:
1. To directly promote the teachings and practices of Mindfulness in the Plum Village Tradition, founded by Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh by:
• Supporting the practices of mindfulness in the Plum Village tradition of lay practitioners in Houston
• Educating children and young adults on the practices of mindfulness in the Plum Village tradition
2. To support monastic members of The Plum Village Global Monastic Community so that they could deepen their practices to continue the mindful teachings and practices of Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh
3. To embody the spirit of Sangha (community) building in order to foster peace and transform suffering in all people, animals, plants, and our planet by providing food, healthcare, scholarship, and other necessities to the elders, the poor, and the sick.

Dear Sangha and Community Friends,We warmly invite you and your loved ones to join us for our Vesak Ceremony (Bathing th...
05/31/2026

Dear Sangha and Community Friends,

We warmly invite you and your loved ones to join us for our Vesak Ceremony (Bathing the Baby Buddha Ceremony) on Sunday, June 7, 2026, at 10:30 AM at Planting Seeds Mindfulness Practice Center.

Vesak is a sacred celebration in the Buddhist tradition, honoring the birth and enlightenment of the Buddha. The Bathing the Baby Buddha Ceremony symbolizes cleansing the mind and heart, and returning to mindfulness, compassion, and peace within ourselves.

This gathering marks the closing of our non-resident retreat – Solid as A Mountain, Free as a White Cloud – guided by Plum Village monastics from Deer Park Monastery, California and offers a special opportunity for the wider community to come together in celebration of the Buddha’s birthday.

Ceremony Schedule:
• 10:15 AM: Arrival and Settling in. We gently ask that you arrive by this time so we may sit together and prepare our collective energy.
• 10:30 AM: Vesak Ceremony Begins.
• 12:00 noon: Circle Lunch.

Venue: Planting Seeds Mindfulness Practice Center - 21425 FM 2920, Hockley, TX 77447
(When using Google Maps, please make sure the city is listed as Hockley. Sometimes it auto-fills Tomball and may lead to the wrong location, 16 miles away.)

Important Notes:
• The ceremony will be both English and Vietnamese, with translation provided.
• Áo dài is lovingly encouraged.
• The Vesak Ceremony is open to the public, and registration is not required. The 3-day mindfulness practice program (June 5–6, 2026) is for registered participants only.

We look forward to practicing and celebrating together in mindfulness, peace, and joy.
With peace, joy, and gratitude,
Planting Seeds MPC

Photo shared by: plumvillage.org

Free as a White CloudYou feel that you don’t have freedom, but freedom from what? Freedom to do what you want to do? Fre...
05/09/2026

Free as a White Cloud

You feel that you don’t have freedom, but freedom from what? Freedom to do what you want to do? Freedom is first of all freedom from your anger, from your sorrow, from your confusion, from your attachment. Because all these things bring ill being, all these things bring suffering.

Freedom is our practice, because every minute the practice can help bring freedom to us - freedom from forgetfulness. We forget that life is a wonder. To be alive, to be present on this planet - full of life, full of wonders - is happiness. Knowing that the Kingdom of God, the Pure Land of the Buddha is available in the here and now. Sometimes our intellect recognizes that the wonders of life, the kingdom, is here and now and yet we cannot get in touch with them because of our anger, our depression, our uncertainty, our despair. And that is what freedom is: first of all, freedom from our afflictions. We practice right mindfulness in order to come home to the here and the now, so that we can touch the Kingdom of God, the Pure Land of the Buddha, the wonders of life.

~ Thich Nhat Hanh (Excerpt from Thay's Dharma talk on 13 May 2004)
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Join us for a three-day non-resident retreat to practice the art of being free as a white cloud: learn to release the internal afflictions of anger and sorrow, allowing you to drift back home to the wonders of the here and now.

Register at https://events.plantingseedsmpc.org/register/retreat/solid-as-a-mountain---free-as-a-white-cloud%3A-a-3-day-retreat-guided-by-deer-park-monastics

Solid as a Mountain"Breathing in, I see myself as a mountain.Breathing out, I feel solid.""Whenever we feel despair, anx...
05/05/2026

Solid as a Mountain

"Breathing in, I see myself as a mountain.
Breathing out, I feel solid."

"Whenever we feel despair, anxiety, fear, or anger, we are carried right into the heart of a whirlwind. We are like a tree standing in a gale. If we look up, we shall see our branches bending as if they are about to break and be carried away by the storm. But if we look down at the trunk and the roots, we should know that the roots of the tree are held firmly in the earth, and we shall feel more stable and relaxed.

Body and mind are like that. When there is a hurricane of emotions in us, if we know how to withdraw from the storm—that is, if we know how to withdraw from the turmoil in our brain—we shall not be swept away. We must transfer our attention to a place in our abdomen called the tantien acupoint (about four fingers’ width below the navel) and breathe deeply and slowly according to the formula “mountain, solid.”

- Thich Nhat Hanh (The Blooming of a Lotus: Essential Guided Meditations for Mindfulness, Healing, and Transformation)

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Join us for a three day non-resident retreat to learn the Plum Village practice of remaining solid as a mountain: be aware of your breath and find unshakable stability in the face of any emotional storm.

Register at https://events.plantingseedsmpc.org/register/retreat/solid-as-a-mountain---free-as-a-white-cloud%3A-a-3-day-retreat-guided-by-deer-park-monastics

Dear friends,With joy in our hearts, we would love to invite you to join our three-day non-resident mindfulness retreat ...
04/29/2026

Dear friends,
With joy in our hearts, we would love to invite you to join our three-day non-resident mindfulness retreat in the Plum Village Tradition.
Guided by monastics from Deer Park Monastery (California), we will come together to practice under the theme: “Solid as a Mountain, Free as a White Cloud.” We will practice mindful breathing, walking meditation, sitting meditation, and mindful eating - learning how to be still when emotions are strong, and how to touch freedom in each present moment.
Retreat details:
• Dates: June 5 - June 7, 2026
• Venue: Planting Seeds Mindfulness Practice Center (21425 FM 2920, Hockley, Texas 77447)
• Registration fee: $75/person
• Important: This is a non-resident retreat. There is no overnight accommodation, and participants will return home each evening.
Register at: events.plantingseedsmpc.org.

If you have any questions, or if there is anything we can do to support your participation, please feel free to contact us at [email protected].
Let us practice as a sangha - breathe, and come home to ourselves - solid, free, and deeply present.
With peace, joy, and gratitude,
Planting Seeds MPC

“If we are peaceful, if we are happy, we can blossom like a flower, and everyone in our family, our entire society, will...
03/01/2026

“If we are peaceful, if we are happy, we can blossom like a flower, and everyone in our family, our entire society, will benefit from our peace.”
— Thích Nhất Hạnh, Being Peace

Dear Beloved Friends,
With joy in our hearts, we warmly invite you and your loved ones to gather with us for our first mindfulness retreat at Planting Seeds Mindfulness Practice Center.

Guided by Plum Village monastics from Magnolia Grove Monastery (Mississippi), we will come together to explore the practice of Creating True Peace. In the spirit of the teachings of Thầy, we will learn how to come home to ourselves - touching the peace and happiness that are already present in each breath and every mindful step.

Throughout the day, we will practice walking meditation, sitting meditation, mindful eating, and other gentle, guided exercises. Together, we will cultivate stillness, joy, and understanding, learning practical ways to nurture peace within ourselves and to carry that peace into our families, our communities, and the wider world.

When: 8:30 AM - Saturday, April 11, 2026
Where: Planting Seeds Mindfulness Practice Center
21425 FM-2920 Hockley, TX 77447
(Our address is new and may not show up accurately on Maps. Please use the GPS coordinates 30.071200, -95.755000 or navigate to the neighboring address: 21411 FM 2920, Hockley, TX 77447)

Register at: https://events.plantingseedsmpc.org/register/retreat/creating-true-peace---a-one-day-retreat-guided-by-magnolia-grove-monastics
(or using the QR code)

If you have any questions, or if there is anything we can do to support your participation, please feel free to reach out to us at [email protected].
We look forward to practicing together, breathing together, and sharing this day of mindful living with you.

With gratitude,
Planting Seeds MPC

New Year Prayer to Our AncestorsDear Beloved Ancestors, both Spiritual and Genetic,We present ourselves before you at th...
02/27/2026

New Year Prayer to Our Ancestors

Dear Beloved Ancestors, both Spiritual and Genetic,

We present ourselves before you at this solemn moment of the New Year to express our gratitude and deep aspiration as a spiritual family.

Though we are a young and imperfect community, we have all come with a heart to embody the practice, to generate compassion, and to serve.

Dear Ancestors, you have taught us not to forget ourselves, no matter how noble our goals, to come home to ourselves in each mindful breath and each mindful step, taking the time to enjoy the wonders of life—the moonrise, the stars, the murmuration of starlings surging and flowing across winter skies—to get the nourishment and relaxation we need for healing to take place in our body and mind. For this we are so grateful. Now we have a path, there is nothing more to fear.

Looking back at 2025 and all that we have gone through together as a planet, we see that our unhealed traumas, our fears and deep-rooted belief in our separateness continue to cause much personal and planetary harm. We vow to transform the roots of war, hatred and violence, by every day generating the energy of non-violence and non-discrimination in our thinking, speaking and acting. We shall continue to challenge the boundaries of our hearts by asking ourselves: Do we have enough wisdom and courage to forgive those who have hurt us? Knowing that only by releasing the grievances of the past can we move forward as a species.

Dear Ancestors, you have taught us that no amount of wealth and power can guarantee our happiness, security and peace. True security and agency lies in our power to love and to be happy, here and now, and no one can take that away from us. We vow to actively cultivate generosity and cooperation as a way to help build a new culture of simple living, sharing and mutual trust.

In the face of despair and division, we vow to always stick together, to be a refuge for each other, and to strengthen our spiritual family as a community of nonviolence, offering each other courage to turn the tide of collective consciousness toward a more peaceful and compassionate world.

Dear Ancestors, please accept our offerings of fruits, flowers, and the incense of our heart, as a sign of our deep aspiration, respect, and love.

With grateful hearts, we thank our dear friends for coming to help us prepare for Tết. 🌿🌸🧧Each flower arranged, each cor...
02/21/2026

With grateful hearts, we thank our dear friends for coming to help us prepare for Tết. 🌿🌸🧧

Each flower arranged, each corner cleaned, each moment of mindful work was a gift of togetherness.

Everything is almost ready now, and the space is calmly waiting for your presence to complete it.

Come and join us for Tết - Lunar New Year Celebration tomorrow, Feb 21.

́nhngọ

02/19/2026

Let’s start the year with a clear mind and a calm heart. Khai Bút (New Year's First Writing) is a beautiful Vietnamese tradition where we set our intentions for the months ahead. Historically, scholars used this practice to honor their teachers and invite wisdom and success.

Today, it remains a simple yet powerful act of mindfulness. By breathing deeply and writing slowly, we plant seeds of kindness, gratitude, and peace within ourselves. You don't need a masterpiece; a single word like "Happiness" or a simple goal is more than enough.

When we write with sincerity, we remember that true learning begins with a peaceful mind and a respectful heart.

We welcome you to join our Tết - Lunar New Year Celebration at Planting Seeds MPC on Feb 21st!

Dear friends,With joy and mindfulness, we warmly invite you to come together and celebrate Tết – the Lunar New Year at P...
02/10/2026

Dear friends,

With joy and mindfulness, we warmly invite you to come together and celebrate Tết – the Lunar New Year at Planting Seeds MPC on Saturday, Feb 21st, 2026.

Our official ceremony will begin at 9:00 AM, followed by simple and meaningful traditional Vietnamese activities.

You are also welcome to visit us any time on Saturday morning or Sunday morning, to enjoy the atmosphere of togetherness and beginning anew.

🌸 No registration is required.
🌸 Áo dài is lovingly encouraged.

With warmth,
Planting Seeds MPC

́nhngọ

Address

21425 FM 2920
Hockley, TX
77447

Telephone

+12815458899

Website

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