Magnolia Grove Monastery

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Batesville, MS
Magnolia Grove Monastery

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Magnolia Grove Monastery is a residential monastery and is a Mindfulness Practice Meditation Center A place to sit and relax. "Breathe!

We openly and warmly welcome the diversity of your experience to this place of refuge and healing - wherever you come from, however you look or identify, whomever you love. Magnolia Grove Monastery is a residential monastery and is simultaneously, Magnolia Grove Meditation Practice Center, a Mindfulness Practice Meditation Center in the tradition of Plum Village, founded by Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh, who was nominated for a Noble Peace Prize by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.. Magnolia Grove Monastery in Batesville, Mississippi is the realization of a dream held by a compassionate community intent on establishing a center for mindfulness in the tradition of Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh. Deer Park Monastery in California and Blue Cliff Monastery in New York uphold his tradition. Now, his teaching and methods of practice are taking root in Mississippi. Ten years ago Magnolia Grove was little more than 120 acres purchased by a group of committed individuals and families. With hard work, dedication and coordinated effort they created a large meditation hall with an adjoining commercial kitchen to feed participants, and they built by hand a guesthouse to host 120 laypeople. The vision of the community that built this beautiful practice center was more fully realized when Thich Nhat Hanh accepted Magnolia Grove Monastery as a mindfulness practice center in October 2005. Today, more than thirty monastics from Thich Nhat Hanh’s monasteries are in residence. Magnolia Grove Monastery is a place to practice meditation and mindfulness. It is where every breath we take reminds us of the wonders of life. A place to walk and kiss the earth beneath our feet. A place to rest under a willow tree on an island in a lotus pond. A place to eat together and savor every bite. A place to listen deeply to the sounds of life and the sound of our hearts. A place to work together to build a community of love and understanding. Magnolia Grove is a place where we can stop running, and discover peace with every step we take. A place to remind each one of us that the present moment is a wonderful moment. You are alive"

Office Hours:

While you will continue to get the fastest and most efficient answers to your questions by contacting us by email through [email protected], the office staff will be taking phone calls on the following days:

Tuesday : 1:00 PM - 4:00 PM
Friday : 3:00 PM - 6:00 PM
Saturday : 9:00 AM - 11:30 AM

10/23/2026

Dear Friends,

We have Happy News! Mandy Thuong, who has been a novice aspirant at Magnolia Grove Monastery, will ordain as a novice nun on November 1st!

Many of you may know her as our Sushi Expert as she’s offered Vegetarian Sushi these past two years for our Open House. If you haven’t tried any yet, please do make sure you visit us for next year’s Open House! (Causes and Conditions plus Impermanence permitting.)
If you’re local, please join us in celebrating this continuation of our beloved teacher, Thay, especially for his 100th year, a most concrete way of keeping the fire of Bodhicitta, of love and understanding alive, generation after generation.

The program for this day is as follows:

8:30 am Walking Meditation
9:45 am Novice Ordination Ceremony
11:30 am Be-In Welcoming our new novice
12:45 pm Lunch

While this is a free event, we ask you to kindly register to best support our chefs du jour and our meditation hall team in being well prepared to welcome everyone. To register, please visit our website or Eventbrite page.

We hope to see you and your family and friends!

–Magnolia Grove Monastery Monastics

10/20/2026

Dear Friends,

Have you ever attended a Buddhist Novice Ceremony before?
Well, if you haven’t, here’s your chance!

It is with great joy that we announce Magnolia Grove Monastery will offer a Novice Ordination for Mandy Thuong, on November 1, 2026.

Please save the date and check our website at www.magnoliagrovemonastery.org in a week or two for a detailed program or simply register for that weekend or that Sunday to not miss out!

10/11/2026

Dear Friends,

This morning, on Thầy’s 100th Continuation Day, our monks, nuns, and lay friends of Magnolia Grove Monastery gathered to honor and celebrate our dearest beloved teacher, Thầy.

Here is a glimpse of our morning together in the Rising Tide Meditation Hall.

We hope that you will continue Thầy’s legacy of Love and Understanding, building mindful communities, and investing in our youth.

May you be free as a white cloud and solid as mountains.

We hope to see you in Magnolia Grove in the near future!

A lotus for you,

Magnolia Grove Monastery

10/10/2026

Dear Friends,

This year, how will you choose to honor Thầy for his 100th Continuation Day?
Thầy often reminded us:
“…I can see very clearly that wherever you are, you are my continuation, and in one way or another, you are carrying me into the future. We, teacher and student, will continue to climb the hill of the century, offering our love, understanding, freedom and solidity to the world, today and ever after. And, do you know? When our mahasangha climbs the hill of the century, the scenery is truly spectacular…”

“…Thầy prays that the Buddha watch over you all so that you can be protected in body and mind, and be able to nourish your joy and be a refuge for the Sangha and for all who come. Thầy sees clearly that you are the continuation of the Buddha, the ancestral teachers and of Thầy. Through you, Thầy is immortal. Thầy has faith in you, and this faith is so solid and unshakable. Thầy holds you all in his heart, with all his love and trust. May the Buddha and Ancestral Teachers offer you great strength and energy…”
– “Climbing Together the Hill of the Century”

We cordially invite you to honor our Beloved Teacher’s 100th Continuation day on October 11, 2026!

This is a special day where we will celebrate both our Teacher’s 100th Continuation day and our Opening Ceremony of the 90-day Rains Retreat.
To celebrate his legacy as his continuation in the Dharma, we invite you to join us in honoring him not on this day alone but also in our everyday lives.

One of Thầy’s greatest joys in life was walking meditation.

Together, let us walk with Thầy’s mindful steps. Let us breathe with Thầy’s mindful breaths.
Let us walk and breathe mindfully in such a way that there is no longer any divide between Thầy and ourselves.

The student has long since become the teacher and they really are just one, without any separation or difference.

Together, we will embody Interbeing at its finest as we immerse ourselves fully in this wonderful art called walking meditation, together, as a community.

The program for this day is as follows:

5:30 Be-In Sharing memories about Thầy
8:30 Walking Meditation
9:45 Live Dharma Talk
11:30 Opening Ceremony for the Rains Retreat
12:45 Lunch

We look forward to seeing you!

09/26/2026

Dear Friends,

It’s that time of the year again! The long awaited annual Open House at Magnolia Grove Monastery, nestled in Batesville, MS!

On Saturday, October 3rd, we warmly invite you, your family, and friends to visit our monastery from 4:30 pm — 7:30 pm.

We will offer a guided tour and include a complimentary Asian, plant-based buffet-style dinner with non-alcoholic beverages.

Don’t miss this chance to meet Zen Buddhist monks and nuns up close!

Please visit our website at magnoliagrovemonastery.org for more info and register soon for this free event on Eventbrite.

We look forward to welcoming you!

—your favorite monks and nuns at Magnolia Grove Monastery.

P.S. Despite the weather forecast, fear not as this event will go on, rain or shine! We will simply move indoors as needed. (Please bring an umbrella just in case.) See you soon!

07/14/2026

Dear Friends,

We hope you are keeping cool with the summer heat!

We wanted to share a glimpse of one of our annual summer highlights: picking corn from our neighbors’ field!

It’s truly such a delight and treat to pick corn and share with everyone in our Family Retreat.

We hope you all have enjoyed corn this summer and if you haven’t already, please try fresh, corn milk! It’s such a refreshing beverage on a hot, sweltering day.

(Come visit us next year at the beginning of the corn season and maaaaybe you can try some with us at Magnolia Grove! 😆🫶)

Have you tried fresh, corn milk?

07/12/2026

Dear Friends,

Instead of honoring Father’s Day or Mother’s Day respectively, in Buddhism, we honor a joint Parents’ Day.

Here at Magnolia Grove Monastery, we cordially invite you to celebrate our parents in our Rose Ceremony on Aug. 23rd.

The program for our Rose Ceremony is as follows:

8:30 am Walking meditation
9:45 am Dharma Talk
11:30 am Rose Ceremony
12:45 pm Picnic Lunch

Please pre-register on our website (see link in bio).
We look forward to seeing you!
magnoliagrove

06/10/2026

Dear Friends,

Each year, monastics dedicate themselves to what is traditionally known as "peaceful dwelling" for 90-days and during this time, they remain in one place in order to deepen their monastic studies and training. During the Buddha's time, monastics travelled by foot to teach and during the monsoon and rainy seasons, both newly planted crops and small critters were inadvertently stepped on. In order to protect life and crops, this became a tradition to avoid unnecessary harm.

The 90-day Rains Retreat is an annual requisite for all Buddhist monastics. It is a time for monastics to deepen their studies, practice, healing, and transformation. Each Rains Retreat also adds a year in monastic dharma age as evidently seen in ceremonies when they sit in accordance of their dharma age. In the Plum Village tradition, we also welcome lay practitioners to join us and participate in the 90-days of practice alongside the monastics. Some may like to experience the entire 90-days and some may prefer a shorter week or two stay. If you are interested in the full 90-day experience, please fill out this form. If you are interested in a shorter stay, please register on our website. Together, monastics and layfriends, we can create a joyful, community experience, and a time for collective healing and transformation.

If you are interested in sangha building, staying as a long-term practitioner, or in exploring monastic life, this retreat is for you!

For more info, visit magnoliagrovemonastery.org and sign up soon!

*There is a trial period from Oct.2. If you prefer a shorter visit, a weekend, week, or two, please register under "personal retreats" for a glimpse of this Rains Retreat.

**If you’ve wondered what being a monk or nun is like, this retreat offers a taste of what community life as a Plum Village monastic is. Come see for yourself!

06/07/2026

“Noble Silence gives us a chance to recognize how our habit energy manifests in the ways we react to people and situations around us. This silence is called noble because it has the power to heal.”
–Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh

Dear Friends,

This year’s theme for our Silent Retreat is: Thundering Silence, Healing Silence.

Registration is now open so mindfully sign up soon!

Visit magnoliagrovemonastery.org
for more info.

(P.S. If you’ve attended a 5-day retreat at Magnolia Grove before and are interested lending a helping hand, we are looking for 10 Volunteers!)

05/28/2026

Dear Friends,

Today is the final online session from 5-6 pm CT, but fret not! We invite you to keep connected with fellow friends on plumline.org
Come see our sisters in person and discover more lovely monastics!

We are grateful that you are there and hope to see you soon!

Address

123 Towles Road
Batesville, MS
38606

Website

http://magnoliagrovemonastery.org/

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