photograph by Mehn Tala Norm
A view of the monastery's temple bell, with the dining hall in the background.
Editor’s Note: Mehn Tala Norm is a student in Professor Rebecca Finlayson’s Introduction to Journalism course at Rhodes College. The students taking the course spent time this spring researching and writing about Memphis. They are learning the core principles and techniques of journalistic writing while also learning about their local community. Memphis will share examples of a few of the students’ work over the coming days and weeks.
On a Sunday morning in November 2021, I headed south towards the Magnolia Grove Monastery in Batesville, Mississippi, in a small car crowded with friends from Rhodes College. When our Buddhism professor suggested the class join “A Day of Mindfulness” at the monastery, we agreed to go: We would observe the monastic life and learn more about the Plum Village tradition founded by Thich Nhat Hanh, the Vietnamese Zen Buddhist monk known to his followers worldwide as "Thay" or teacher, a global peace advocate, and a friend of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. We did not know that it would be a unique opportunity for us to heal from the grief and anxiety surrounding the Rhodes community at that time.
Fall 2021 had been particularly difficult for the Rhodes family, beginning with an on-campus racist incident in September and then the October homicide of a Rhodes senior near the campus. Although the hour-and-15-minute car ride down I-55 was marked by chitchatting and occasional yawns, there was an unspoken agreement that all of us were much in need of a break from increasingly demanding coursework and a cure to heal the wounds inflicted by these recent events.
Practicing mindfulness and bringing the mind back home to the present, we spent the rest of our day off from busy school life liberating ourselves from fears and anxieties about the past and the future.
Only one of us in the car had a clear idea of what the day ahead would look like. My friend Justin had completed a week-long retreat at the Deer Park monastery of the same Plum Village tradition near his hometown of San Diego, California. This is a collection of monasteries and meditation centers, first established in France by Thich Nhat Hanh, with eight others throughout Europe and the United States.
“The day of mindfulness is very well-suited for college students like us. It gives me a break from the endless planning ahead, worrying, and being stressed for tomorrow and coming days,” Justin told me. Before we got to the monastery, he advised us to turn off our phones, not to check emails, and not to think about any homework or the paper that was due tomorrow or even next week. I readily agreed as the advice reminded me of the wonderful 10-day meditation retreat I had at a secluded rural Buddhist monastery back home in Myanmar when all my electronics were kept away by monks.
photograph by Mehn Tala Norm
A beautifully carved statue of Guanyin greets visitors at the entrance.
After a few minutes of driving on a narrow, unmarked road shaded with tall trees, we realized we had arrived upon seeing a ten-foot-tall statue of Guanyin, a revered female enlightened being, a few cars, and a collection of one-story buildings nestled beneath the trees. A middle-aged monk in a faded dark brown robe greeted us with a smile, and, after checking our vaccination cards, directed us to join an already-formed circle of around 20 people in front of the main meditation hall.
I was a little nervous to enter a group of strangers, but the nerves disappeared as soon as I saw the monastic brother — the monks and nuns are addressed as brothers and sisters — giving instructions for the day. He spoke slowly, with occasional pauses for smiling. His not-too-loud but not quite soft voice radiated a warm welcome and a sense of joy and reflected the calm state of his mind. We were witnessing mindfulness.
The first activity of the day was walking meditation. The brother instructed us to simply focus on the natural rhythm of inflow and outflow of breath and our steps. The purpose of mindful meditation, as he explained, is to be fully present in the moment.
photograph by Mehn Tala Norm
Visitors are encouraged to practice "mindfulness walking" and paths wind through the complex.
“There is no need to make an effort. The rhythm should come to you naturally. Simply be mindful that you are walking,” he said. We walked first on a small concrete path, then on the green and lush carpet of grass, and then on a little dirt path leading into woods of tall trees with fallen leaves. In the silent background, all I could hear was the tiny chirpings of little birds and, more distinctly, the crackling sounds as the meditators’ steps crunched on the brownish yellow leaves that covered the ground. With every step, I felt the gentle upward press on the sole of my shoes as they touched the ground. I felt my chest inflating and deflating as my lungs breathed. I smelled the cold, moist, and woody fresh air. My mind was calm. My head was clear of thoughts. I remembered Thich Nhat Hanh, who had written, “As we become aware of our five senses, we will know we have arrived in the present moment.” I felt fully present. I started to feel happy.
Practicing mindfulness and bringing the mind back home to the present, we spent the rest of our day off from busy school life liberating ourselves from fears and anxieties about the past and the future. We listened to a brother give the Dharma talk on a particular aspect of Buddhist teaching — on this day, the deep and active listening of others that prevents the formation of wrong perceptions, ignorance, and fear. Another brother rang a large temple bell to mark the beginning and the end of the talk, and we held our awareness on the resonating bell sound as it slowly fainted away.
Only a little over an hour’s drive from Memphis, the discovery of the monastery as a place to escape the troubles of life gave me the most reassuring feeling during my time at Rhodes. This refuge from burdens is there not just for me, but for all Memphians.
During the 15 minutes of sitting meditation that followed, we simply observed the colder and then warmer air touching the tip of the nostril as we inhaled and exhaled while acknowledging, without pursuing, the thoughts that were arising and disappearing in the mind. Then, we chanted the five mindfulness training verses with a rising and lowering, melodic tone following the lead of the monastics.
photograph by Mehn Tala Norm
The "Day of Mindfulness" includes a vegan meal.
Finally, a little after noon, both monastics and lay visitors gathered in the dining hall for the last activity for the day: mindful eating. Each of us served ourselves a warm, deliciously cooked vegan meal with a distinct Southeast Asian ingredient of bamboo shoots that reminded me of home. Before we ate, the community said out loud in unity a five-verse contemplation showing gratitude for nature, and everyone involved in producing and preparing the food.
The clock in the dining hall chimed every 15 minutes to remind us to bring the mind back to the present in case it had drifted away. Slowly chewing through the succulent leaves, bamboo shoots, tofu, and rice, our tastebuds seemed to be fully opened to the minimal but perfect mixture of spices. I rarely have a meal without meat, but this mindful vegan meal was one of the most appetizing ever. After lunch, my mind and body felt refreshed, ready to face the travails of college life again.
Only a little over an hour’s drive from Memphis, the discovery of the monastery as a place to escape the troubles of life gave me the most reassuring feeling during my time at Rhodes. This refuge from burdens is there not just for me, but for all Memphians. The proximity of Magnolia Grove to Memphis, a city with a deeply entrenched history involving the fight for civil rights and social justice, is not a coincidence but a result of the deep friendship and respect that Dr. Martin Luther King and Thich Nhat Hanh had for each other. It was a peace walk that Hanh led in Memphis’ Overton Park 20 years ago honoring the nonviolent teachings of Dr. King that inspired five Vietnamese families of Memphis to buy and donate the land that would become Magnolia Grove monastery.
On their first time meeting each other in 1966, these two pioneers of global peace and nonviolence agreed that, as Thich Nhat Hanh wrote, “the true enemy of man is the anger, hatred, and discrimination that is found in the hearts and minds of man.” Upon hearing of King’s assassination, Thay Hanh “made a deep vow to continue building what [Dr. King] called the Beloved Community.”
The monastic and lay community established at Magnolia Grove and other Plum Village monasteries around the world is inclusive and welcoming to members of the society from all backgrounds. The monasteries are communal spaces where anyone can take refuge from the stress and anxiety of ordinary life. They teach mindfulness as an ailment cure and as an antidote to the suffering caused by a violent and unjust world. They spread happiness, peace, and love with every mindful movement, word, and expression.
Thich Nhat Hanh passed away at the age of 95 on January 22, 2022, but the efforts of building the Beloved Community will continue with these monasteries.
Source: “Founding of Magnolia Grove,” by Brooke Schedneck, September 2020. Visitors are welcome. To schedule a “Day of Mindfulness,” visit the Magnolia Grove website.
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