Welcome to episode 69 of The Way Out Is In: The Zen Art of Living, a podcast series mirroring Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh’s deep teachings of Buddhist philosophy: a simple yet profound methodology for dealing with our suffering, and for creating more happiness and joy in our lives.

With Zen Buddhist monk Brother Phap Huu away, leadership coach/journalist Jo Confino holds the fort with a special episode about the art of land regeneration, happy farming, and reconnecting deeply to nature. This time, Jo is joined by special guests and happy farmers Mick McEvoy and Sister Trang Lam Hy (Sister Forest of Joy), two of the people behind the Happy Farms agroecology project in Plum Village.

The conversation touches upon many topics, from Zen philosophies, the Diamond Sutra, and deep ecology, to seasonal planting and practicing mindfulness while working the land; producing food AND caring for the Earth; collective awakening and beginning anew; empathy for our food; reclaiming the nobility of the farmer; the importance of growing (beautiful) vegetables in a time of polycrisis – even in small quantities; land regeneration and Zen Buddhism; Thich Nhat Hanh’s gardening metaphors; and more.

Enjoy and thank you for listening!

Co-produced by the Plum Village App:
https://plumvillage.app/  

And Global Optimism:
https://globaloptimism.com/ 

With support from the Thich Nhat Hanh Foundation:
https://thichnhathanhfoundation.org/

List of resources 

The Happy Harm
https://thehappyfarm.org/ 

Interbeing
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interbeing

‘The Five Earth Touchings’
https://plumvillage.org/key-practice-texts/the-five-earth-touchings

Happy Farms: ‘Reverence for the Land’
https://plumvillage.org/articles/reverence-for-the-land 

‘Happy Farm: Rewilding – Healing, Regeneration, and Transformation for the Land’
https://www.parallax.org/mindfulnessbell/article/happy-farm-rewilding/ 

Sutras: ‘The Diamond That Cuts through Illusion’
https://plumvillage.org/library/sutras/the-diamond-that-cuts-through-illusion

Dharma Talks: ‘Free from Notions: The Diamond Sutra’
https://plumvillage.org/library/dharma-talks/free-from-notions-the-diamond-sutra 

Deep ecology
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deep_ecology 

Vandana Shiva
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vandana_Shiva 

Grow It Yourself
https://giy.ie/ 

Eating Meditation
https://web.plumvillage.app/meditations/eating-meditation

Mary Oliver
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Oliver

The Bodhi Tree
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bodhi_Tree 

Global North and Global South
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_North_and_Global_South 

Braiding Sweetgrass
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Braiding_Sweetgrass

Quotes

“I can pivot 360 degrees, and I can see countless examples of what Thich Nhat Hanh refers to as interbeing, this interconnectedness of all life.” 

“Happy Farm literally grounds people in [mindfulness] practice.”

“We are the Earth that carries us.”

“Go home to nature and let nature heal you.”

“Thay was a revolutionary to bring the community of humans, the community of practice, out into the forest to practice walking meditation every day. And that is so unique and healing in and of itself.”

“We’re probably the first generation, at least in the Global North, that have been separated in our choices, and how our communities and cultures have evolved to be separate from the gifts and knowledge of how to grow some of our own food. And in rediscovering how to do that, we took a lot from and have a lot of reverence for the ancestors: our blood ancestors, our family, our spiritual ancestors, and our land ancestors, those who lived on these lands. And many people lived on these lands here, in Plum Village, going way back into historical times when people hunted in these valleys or farmed these lands. And all our neighbors around us still farm these lands, not just on the Happy Farm.” 

“Vandana Shiva says that the most important thing we can do at this time is start a food garden and be soil builders; that’s why, on the Happy Farm, we’re definitely soil builders.”

“We’re all flowers in the garden of life.”

“The weeds don’t take a lazy day, like we do” 

“It’s not about the carrots, it’s about the collective awakening.”

“There is no way to harvest; to harvest is the way.” 

“We can harvest insights and collective awareness and joy and happiness during every moment of being together as a farming family, living within the community. So it’s not just waiting until the endgame, until we bring the harvest home; every moment with consciousness and intention and awareness and choice is a moment to harvest.” 

“When conditions are sufficient, things will manifest. And when conditions are no longer sufficient, things will cease to manifest.”

“We take for granted our food, but by growing it, we can dissolve that sense of apathy and inherently create a sense of empathy for our food, which can then ripple out beyond the food we eat ourselves, into our global food systems, our global food economy.”