Skip to content
PodcastsBuddhismThe Way Out Is In

The Way Out Is In

Plum Village
The Way Out Is In
Latest episode

115 episodes

  • The Way Out Is In

    Hiking Zen (Episode #110)

    16/07/2026 | 1h 29 mins.
    If you wish to support our podcast, please follow this link. Thank you!

    Welcome to a new episode 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.

    In this episode, Zen Buddhist monk Brother Phap Huu and leadership coach Jo Confino are joined by Zen Buddhist monk Brother Phap Xa to explore the revolutionary aspect of walking meditation – not just a physical activity but a spiritual practice that can help us ground ourselves and connect with the present moment.

    Brother Phap Xa – who co-authored the book Hiking Zen with Brother Phap Luu – shares practical tips for walking meditation, and personal experiences such as the way this type of meditation has helped him deal with strong emotions and transformed his perspective on life.

    The conversation also touches on the concept of aimlessness in walking meditation, the importance of walking for the sake of walking, the benefits of walking in silence, the idea of walking with ancestors, the practice of walking for others, and more.

    The episode concludes with a short meditation guided by Brother Phap Huu, to help listeners connect with the present moment when walking.

    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

    Brother Phap Xa
    https://www.parallax.org/authors/brother-phap-xa/

    Brother Phap Luu
    https://www.parallax.org/authors/brother-phap-luu/

    Stephan Harding
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephan_Harding

    Hiking Zen
    https://www.parallax.org/product/hiking-zen/

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

    Plum Village Tradition
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plum_Village_Tradition

    EIAB
    https://www.eiab.eu/

    ‘The Tortoise and the Hare’
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Tortoise_and_the_Hare

    Old Path White Clouds
    https://www.parallax.org/product/old-path-white-clouds/

    The Way Out Is In: ‘The Three Doors of Liberation (Episode #18)’
    https://plumvillage.org/podcast/the-three-doors-of-liberation-episode-18

    The Way Out Is In: ‘Guest Episode: Reconnecting with Gaia – A Deep Time Walk’
    https://plumvillage.org/podcast/guest-episode-reconnecting-with-gaia-a-deep-time-walk

    Quotes

    “Don’t take another step until you really believe that you can walk in freedom.”

    “When we speak about freedom in the practice, it’s freedom to be fully in the present moment, with every step that we take, with every action that we can accumulate.”

    “Whenever I am in fifth gear, I know I need to go down to first gear. And I don’t see it as a slowing down, as a bad thing – I see it as an upgrade to the presence, to the quality of freedom.”

    “Meditation is in every action. That’s the way we look at it in our tradition. Meditation is to be engaged in the way we stand, the way we sit, the way we move – even the way we lay down. There is an attention that comes from bringing our mindfulness to how we are in the present moment.”

    “I have arrived; I’m home wherever I go.”

    “When you walk, don’t talk; just walk. This is one of the most difficult practices.”

    “The miracle is not to walk on water, the miracle is to walk on this earth.”

    “Walking meditation is an important practice for coming back to the present moment, because then we can recognize that there are many wonders happening in the present moment, inside and around us. And it’s already a wonder to be able to breathe, and to be able to be in touch with the many forms and colors around us.”

    “Walk for the sake of walking.”
  • The Way Out Is In

    Father (Episode #109)

    02/07/2026 | 1h 58 mins.
    If you wish to support our podcast, please follow this link. Thank you!

    Welcome to a new episode 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.

    In this episode, Zen Buddhist monk Brother Phap Huu and leadership coach Jo Confino reflect on the passing of Brother Phap Huu’s father and the power of community in difficult moments, as well as considering insights into the teachings of no birth, no death.

    This emotional conversation touches tender places and explores the Brother’s personal journey of grief and loss, from first hearing the news of his father’s stroke, to the funeral and the subsequent processing. Brother Phap Huu further explores his complicated relationship with his father, the sacrifices made by his parents, and his regret at not being able to fully express his gratitude and love.

    Indeed, “It’s one thing to teach about ‘no birth, no death’, the passing of a loved one, but it’s a very different thing to experience it.”

    The episode ends with a short meditation guided by Brother Phap Huu.

    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

    Bodh Gaya
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bodh_Gaya

    Bodhi tree
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bodhi_tree

    Christiana Figueres
    https://www.globaloptimism.com/christiana-figueres 

    ‘The Fourteen Mindfulness Trainings’
    https://plumvillage.org/mindfulness/the-14-mindfulness-trainings 

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

    Jeta Grove
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jetavana 

    Joan Halifax
    https://www.joanhalifax.org/ 

    ‘Listening to Namo Avalokiteshvara’
    https://plumvillage.app/listening-to-namo-avalokiteshvara/ 

    Plum Village Tradition
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plum_Village_Tradition 

    Sister Chan Khong
    https://plumvillage.org/about/sister-chan-khong 

    Upaya Zen Center
    https://www.joanhalifax.org/upaya 

    The Way Out Is In: ‘Slow Down, Rest, and Heal: The Spirit of the Rains Retreat (Episode #7)’
    https://plumvillage.org/podcast/slow-down-rest-and-heal-the-spirit-of-the-rains-retreat

    The Way Out Is In: ‘The Three Jewels (Episode #89)’
    https://plumvillage.org/podcast/the-three-jewels-episode-89 

    Quotes

    “Be kind in life because that kindness is something that you can never underestimate. It will come back. Just trust that.”

    “For a lot of us immigrants in Canada, the temple was not just a spiritual and religious refuge, it was a cultural refuge. It was where we would see each other as Vietnamese. It was where we would smell the incense, eat the Vietnamese food, and hear the language… The temple was where we touched our little Vietnam and where everyone could feel that their longing was being answered by this community coming together.”

    “The good training of Plum Village is to learn to see the flowers first.”

    “It is never too late to say what needs to be said, even if someone has passed.”

    “‘Enjoy and easy.’ Enjoy that no matter how hard life is, we can always taste joy. And no matter how hectic life is, learn to be at ease; be easy with yourself.”

    “The practice of no birth, no death is also to see that life is also right here, right now.”

    “For me, the practice of no birth and no death gives us permission to hold both and to not be tied down by only sorrow.”

    “We’re here to connect the ultimate and the historical – not to see them as separate, but to bring them closer together.”
  • The Way Out Is In

    Renewing Buddhism – Live New Delhi Recording (Episode #108)

    18/06/2026 | 1h 27 mins.
    If you wish to support our podcast, please follow this link. Thank you!

    Welcome to a new episode 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.

    This episode was recorded live onstage in New Delhi, India, in February 2026, at the end of the pilgrimage In the Footsteps of the Buddha. Leadership coach Jo Confino was joined by Zen Buddhist nun Sister Tam Muoi and Dharma teacher Shantum Seth to discuss what it means to renew Buddhism, and Thich Nhat Hanh’s vision for doing so – including his emphasis on simplicity, equality, and making the teachings accessible and relevant to the contemporary world.

    They also reflect on their 14-day pilgrimage in India, and how it deepened their understanding of and connection to the Buddha’s teachings. This includes Sister Tam Muoi’s insights about the strong sangha formed among the diverse group of 60 pilgrims from 16 different countries. She also reflects on her personal connection to India and her healing journey of reconnecting with the Buddha’s teachings in their land of origin.

    Shantum Seth, who has been leading pilgrimages in India for over 30 years, explains the transformative power of these journeys in allowing people to connect with the Buddha as a human being and experience his teachings’ relevance to their own lives. He also shares plans for the Ahimsa Trust to establish a Plum Village center in India, to continue Thich Nhat Hanh’s legacy and bring the Dharma to a wider audience, especially a young one.

    Shantum Seth, an ordained Dharmacharya (Dharma teacher) in the Buddhist Mindfulness lineage of Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh, teaches in India and across the world. A co-founder of Ahimsa Trust, he has been a student of Thich Nhat Hanh’s teachings for the past 35 years, and, since 1988, has led pilgrimages and other multi-faith, educational, cultural, spiritual, and transformative journeys across diverse regions of India and Asia.

    He is actively involved in educational, social, and ecological programmes, including work on cultivating mindfulness in society, including with educators, the Indian Central Reserve Police Force, and the corporate sector. Across various Indian sanghas, Dharmacharya Shantum is the primary teacher of different practices of mindfulness from Thich Nhat Hanh’s tradition.

    Sister Tam Muoi (Sister Samadhi) is from the UK and was ordained in 2012 and became a Dharma teacher in 2022. Having encountered the practice whilst living in France, she became engaged in the French lay sangha and was ordained into the Order of Interbeing in 2004. She is actively supporting the recently created Being Peace Practice Centre in the UK and is deeply committed to the work of healing ancestral harm, and to participation in trainings and retreats exploring White Awareness. Read more here.

    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/

    Recordist: Ann Nguyen
    https://ann.earth
    Sound editor: Joe Holtaway
    https://joeholtaway.com
    Publisher: Anca Rusu
    Producer: Clay Carnill
    https://claycarnill.com
    Executive Producer: Catalin Zorzini

    List of resources

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

    Plum Village Tradition
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plum_Village_Tradition

    Advaita Vedanta
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Advaita_Vedanta

    A Pebble for Your Pocket
    https://www.parallax.org/product/a-pebble-for-your-pocket/ 

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

    Bodh Gaya
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bodh_Gaya

    Bodhi tree
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bodhi_tree

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

    Jamun Village
    https://ahimsatrust.org/jamun-village/

    Jeta Grove
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jetavana

    Nalanda University
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nalanda_University

    Old Path White Clouds
    https://www.parallax.org/product/old-path-white-clouds

    Pushyamitra Shunga
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pushyamitra_Shunga

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

    Sister Chan Duc
    https://plumvillage.org/people/dharma-teachers/sr-chan-duc

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

    The Stone Boy and Other Stories
    https://www.parallax.org/product/the-stone-boy-and-other-stories/

    Dharma Talks: ‘The Noble Eightfold Path’
    https://plumvillage.org/library/dharma-talks/the-noble-eightfold-path

    The Way Out Is In: ‘The Three Jewels (Episode #89)’
    https://plumvillage.org/podcast/the-three-jewels-episode-89

    Vulture Peak
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vulture_Peak

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

    Quotes

    “Often friends would tell Thay, ‘I try to do walking meditation. I find that difficult – but I love the sitting.’ And Thay would say, ‘Well, then sit. Do the practice that you enjoy.’ It’s so important to touch joy in whatever practice we do. It shouldn’t be hard work and creating more battles on your cushion.”

    “Suffering is where we start. It’s your own suffering you have to handle. But also look at the suffering in the world. It’s not separate: other people’s suffering is your suffering; other people’s happiness is your happiness. That’s where we start. And then, know that all these things are interconnected. Nothing exists independently.”

    “India is a great teacher because she’s confronting you all the time. That’s why we call her Mother India, I guess. She also challenges every preconception, and so, ‘Everything you say about India, the exact opposite is also true.’”

    “It’s dangerous coming to India because you’re going to go back different.”

    “Don’t believe something just because a teacher says it, or because it’s written in scripture, or has come from centuries-old tradition. Try it. And see how you feel.”

    “Thay was a very revolutionary teacher because of his aspiration to make Buddhism relevant. He had seen the damage done by dogmatism, by fossilization. And so he was always thinking of new ways that we could make Buddhism appropriate.”

    “Our precepts – the behavioral code for all the monastics and also for the lay friends – are rewritten every five or 10 years to update them. It’s quite extraordinary that Thay had the courage to do that; he faced criticism from many very traditional countries.”

    “Something important about the Buddha Dharma is that it is very much about what we experience in this world. We’re not talking about something which is going to happen after some sort of transcendence. And that’s why I think the Buddha Dharma is relevant to our Earth: we have to care for this little planet of ours, we have to care for our rivers, we have to care for our climate, to care for each other. And it’s not about an outcome in some past or future life; the karma happens right here and now. Every action has a result and that result can be seen in this life and in this community.”

    “You sit, you enjoy your breath, you get a little sense of being a Buddha for a moment. Maybe you can become a part-time Buddha, maybe a full-time Buddha. ‘Buddha’ just means ‘to be awake’ – and with mindfulness practice, being mindful is a type of awakening.”
  • The Way Out Is In

    In the Footsteps of the Buddha (6/6) | Loss and Transformation (Episode #107)

    28/05/2026 | 1h 34 mins.
    This week’s show was recorded using an improvised audio recording setup while the podcast team was on pilgrimage through India. Thank you for your understanding. 🙏

    If you wish to support our podcast, please visit this link. Thank you!

    Welcome to a new episode 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.

    The final in a series of six episodes recorded during the In the Footsteps of the Buddha pilgrimage, this instalment was made in Sravasti, India, in February 2026. In it, leadership coach Jo Confino is joined by Zen Buddhist nun Sister Tam Muoi and Dharma teacher Shantum Seth to share their experiences and reflections as they visit Sravasti and Jeta Grove. They discuss the power of community, and how the sangha held space for grief when co-host Brother Phap Huu received news of his father’s passing.

    They further explore themes of impermanence, non-attachment, transformation, the balance between the ultimate and historical dimensions in Buddhist teachings, and the importance of insight and practice. All three share personal stories illustrating these themes and the ways the pilgrimage has deepened their understanding of and connection to the Buddha’s legacy.

    The episode concludes with the group singing a song composed by a fellow pilgrim, capturing the essence of the ‘way out is in’ teachings.

    About the pilgrimage:

    In 1988, Shantum Seth was invited by Thich Nhat Hanh (Thay) to organize a pilgrimage to the sacred sites associated with the Buddha’s life across India. Subsequently, Thay encouraged Shantum to continue guiding such journeys each year, offering pilgrimage itself as a mindfulness practice – one that the Buddha had suggested.

    Shantum has been leading these transformative journeys ever since, offering people from around the world the opportunity to follow In the Footsteps of the Buddha with awareness and insight. After 15 years at the United Nations, Shantum left to volunteer with the Ahimsa Trust, which represents Thay’s work in India and promotes the practice of “peace in oneself and peace in the world”.

    Through Buddhapath, his expression of Right Livelihood, Shantum continues to guide pilgrimages and share the wisdom and culture of the places he visits in India and across Buddhist Asia, cultivating community through these deeply meaningful journeys.

    To learn more about upcoming pilgrimages, visit www.buddhapath.com, or follow Shantum on Facebook and Instagram at @eleven_directions.

    Shantum Seth, an ordained Dharmacharya (Dharma teacher) in the Buddhist Mindfulness lineage of Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh, teaches in India and across the world. A co-founder of Ahimsa Trust, he has been a student of Thich Nhat Hanh’s teachings for the past 35 years, and, since 1988, has led pilgrimages and other multi-faith, educational, cultural, spiritual, and transformative journeys across diverse regions of India and Asia.

    He is actively involved in educational, social, and ecological programmes, including work on cultivating mindfulness in society, including with educators, the Indian Central Reserve Police Force, and the corporate sector. Across various Indian sanghas, Dharmacharya Shantum is the primary teacher of different practices of mindfulness from Thich Nhat Hanh’s tradition.

    Sister Tam Muoi (Sister Samadhi) is from the UK and was ordained in 2012, becoming a Dharma teacher in 2022. Having encountered the practice whilst living in France, she became engaged in the French lay sangha and was ordained into the Order of Interbeing in 2004. She is actively supporting the recently created Being Peace Practice Centre in the UK and is deeply committed to the work of healing ancestral harm, and to participation in trainings and retreats exploring White Awareness. Read more here.

    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/

    Recordist: Ann Nguyen
    https://ann.earth
    Sound editor: Joe Holtaway
    https://joeholtaway.com
    Publisher: Anca Rusu
    Producer: Clay Carnill
    https://claycarnill.com
    Executive Producer: Catalin Zorzini

    List of resources 

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

    Plum Village Tradition
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plum_Village_Tradition

    Jeta Grove
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jetavana

    Mangala Sutta
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ma%E1%B9%85gala_Sutta

    Avalokiteshvara
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avalokite%C5%9Bvara

    Song: ‘No Coming, No Going’
    https://plumvillage.org/library/songs/no-coming-no-going-song

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

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

    Tathagata
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tath%C4%81gata 

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

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

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

    Dharma Talks: ‘The Noble Eightfold Path’
    https://plumvillage.org/library/dharma-talks/the-noble-eightfold-path

    Anapanasati Sutta
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C4%80n%C4%81p%C4%81nasati_Sutta

    Angulimala
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A%E1%B9%85gulim%C4%81la

    Dharma Talks: ‘Redefining the Four Noble Truths’
    https://plumvillage.org/library/dharma-talks/redefining-the-four-noble-truths

    Poem: ‘Please Call Me by My True Names’
    https://www.parallax.org/mindfulnessbell/article/poem-please-call-me-by-my-true-names

    Laurie Anderson
    https://laurieanderson.com/

    Quotes

    “Some non-attachments are more painful than others.”

    “Thay talked about the fact that we allow 20% attachment; that we need to recognize we’re living in this life. And that we need to honor our feelings and our emotions in the historical dimension, whilst also in the ultimate dimension.”

    “We can have joy and sadness at the same time. They do not cancel each other out.”

    “We can have a moment of happiness and a moment of deep sadness, and we can contain both emotions at the same time.”

    “Because of the years of practice, when the difficult time comes we’re able to meet it with a degree of equanimity and understanding and not be dragged into a vortex of despair and depression. We are able to meet the moment.”

    “The matter of birth and death is as serious as if your turban is on fire.”

    “The art of life is increasingly bringing the ultimate and historical dimensions together and recognizing that they inter-are.”

    “Thay once said that what we practice in Plum Village is insight-based stress reduction or insight-based transformation. And what he meant was that once we’ve had an insight, everything is different. We cannot unlearn something that we’ve learned. And so all of our practice is about developing mindfulness, concentration, which leads to insight that is really understanding.”

    “There’s no point practicing if we don’t generate some insights.”

    “The insight is not there to be endlessly repeated, the insight is there to encourage us to practice. It’s like an anchor that helps us to stay put, and then we work at it.”

    “Peace in oneself, peace in the world.”

    “Happiness rests within oneself.”

    “If I want transformation outside, I need to do it inside. And my general upbringing has been to shift outside things outside – not to ignore the injustices outside, but to have the presence and then the wisdom of the community to act in a skillful way.”

    “In Zen circles we say that practicing with your family is the highest practice, the deepest Zen practice. That’s when you find out how you are doing. Because our parents know us as that stroppy teenager or that difficult child. We can’t float in as a spiritual practitioner; they can see straight through that.”
  • The Way Out Is In

    In the Footsteps of the Buddha (5/6) | The River of Life (Episode #106)

    14/05/2026 | 1h 39 mins.
    If you wish to support our podcast, please visit this link. Thank you!

    Welcome to a new episode 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.

    The fifth in a series of six episodes recorded during the In the Footsteps of the Buddha pilgrimage, this instalment was made in Kushinagar, India, in February 2026. In it, Zen Buddhist monk Brother Phap Huu and leadership coach Jo Confino are joined by Zen Buddhist nun Sister Tam Muoi and Dharma teacher Shantum Seth to reflect on the Buddha’s final days and the legacy and continuation of his teachings. They also discuss Thich Nhat Hanh’s passing and how Plum Village responded to his transition; the responsibility of current and future generations to continue his work and teachings; and the importance of the multi-fold community in preserving and spreading the Buddha’s teachings in a way that is relevant and accessible to the modern world.

    Furthermore, Shantum Seth provides historical context about the Buddha’s final journey and the events after his passing, including the first Buddhist council and the spread of Buddhism; Brother Phap Huu draws parallels between the Buddha’s and Thich Nhat Hanh’s teachings and legacies; and Sister Tam Muoi discusses the importance of the monastic order in continuing the Buddha’s teachings – as well as Thich Nhat Hanh’s vision for the Plum Village tradition to evolve and adapt while staying true to its core principles.

    About the pilgrimage:

    In 1988, Shantum Seth was invited by Thich Nhat Hanh (Thay) to organize a pilgrimage to the sacred sites associated with the Buddha’s life across India. Subsequently, Thay encouraged Shantum to continue guiding such journeys each year, offering pilgrimage itself as a mindfulness practice – one that the Buddha had suggested.

    Shantum has been leading these transformative journeys ever since, offering people from around the world the opportunity to follow In the Footsteps of the Buddha with awareness and insight. After 15 years at the United Nations, Shantum left to volunteer with the Ahimsa Trust, which represents Thay’s work in India and promotes the practice of “peace in oneself and peace in the world”.

    Through Buddhapath, his expression of Right Livelihood, Shantum continues to guide pilgrimages and share the wisdom and culture of the places he visits in India and across Buddhist Asia, cultivating community through these deeply meaningful journeys.

    To learn more about upcoming pilgrimages, visit www.buddhapath.com, or follow Shantum on Facebook and Instagram at @eleven_directions.

    Shantum Seth, an ordained Dharmacharya (Dharma teacher) in the Buddhist Mindfulness lineage of Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh, teaches in India and across the world. A co-founder of Ahimsa Trust, he has been a student of Thich Nhat Hanh’s teachings for the past 35 years, and, since 1988, has led pilgrimages and other multi-faith, educational, cultural, spiritual, and transformative journeys across diverse regions of India and Asia.

    He is actively involved in educational, social, and ecological programmes, including work on cultivating mindfulness in society, including with educators, the Indian Central Reserve Police Force, and the corporate sector. Across various Indian sanghas, Dharmacharya Shantum is the primary teacher of different practices of mindfulness from Thich Nhat Hanh’s tradition.

    Sister Tam Muoi (Sister Samadhi) is from the UK and was ordained in 2012, becoming a Dharma teacher in 2022. Having encountered the practice whilst living in France, she became engaged in the French lay sangha and was ordained into the Order of Interbeing in 2004. She is actively supporting the recently created Being Peace Practice Centre in the UK and is deeply committed to the work of healing ancestral harm, participating in trainings and retreats exploring White Awareness. Read more here.

    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/

    Recordist: Ann Nguyen
    https://ann.earth
    Sound editor: Joe Holtaway
    https://joeholtaway.com
    Publisher: Anca Rusu
    Producer: Clay Carnill
    https://claycarnill.com
    Executive Producer: Catalin Zorzini

    List of resources 

    The Way Out Is In: ‘In the Footsteps of the Buddha (3/6) | The Heart of the Buddha’s Teachings (Episode #104)’
    https://plumvillage.org/podcast/in-the-footsteps-of-the-buddha-3-6-the-heart-of-the-buddhas-teachings-episode-104

    The Way Out Is In: ‘In the Footsteps of the Buddha (2/6) | Enlightenment under the Bodhi Tree (Episode #103)’
    https://plumvillage.org/podcast/in-the-footsteps-of-the-buddha-2-6-enlightenment-under-the-bodhi-tree-episode-103

    The Way Out Is In: ‘In the Footsteps of the Buddha (1/6) | The Buddha: Down to Earth (Episode #102)’
    https://plumvillage.org/podcast/in-the-footsteps-of-the-buddha-1-6-the-buddha-down-to-earth-episode-102

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

    Plum Village Tradition
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plum_Village_Tradition

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

    Blue Cliff Monastery
    https://www.bluecliffmonastery.org/

    No Mud, No Lotus: The Art of Transforming Suffering
    https://www.parallax.org/product/no-mud-no-lotus/

    The Order of Interbeing
    https://plumvillage.org/community/order-of-interbeing

    The Way Out Is In: ‘The Three Jewels (Episode #89)’
    https://plumvillage.org/podcast/the-three-jewels-episode-89

    Mahāyāna Mahāparinirvāṇa Sūtra https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mah%C4%81y%C4%81na_Mah%C4%81parinirv%C4%81%E1%B9%87a_S%C5%ABtra

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

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

    Stephen Batchelor
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephen_Batchelor_(author)

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

    Sister Dao Nghiem
    https://plumvillage.org/people/dharma-teachers/sr-dao-nghiem

    Letters from Thich Nhat Hanh
    https://plumvillage.org/about/thich-nhat-hanh/letters

    Dharma Talks: ‘Redefining the Four Noble Truths’
    https://plumvillage.org/library/dharma-talks/redefining-the-four-noble-truths

    Dharma Talks: ‘The Noble Eightfold Path’
    https://plumvillage.org/library/dharma-talks/the-noble-eightfold-path

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

    Sunyata
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C5%9A%C5%ABnyat%C4%81

    King Prasenajit
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pasenadi

    Kapilavastu
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kapilavastu_(ancient_city)

    Mahākāśyapa
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mah%C4%81k%C4%81%C5%9Byapa

    Quotes

    “Thay really practiced the present moment, because in the present you’re also practicing impermanence. There’s only one moment to live and to touch life, and that is the very here and now.”

    “All conditioned reality is subject to decay. Strive on diligently – essentially meaning, Everything is impermanent; keep up the practice.”

    “Dwelling happily in the present moment is the insight of meditation. But dwelling happily in the present moment doesn’t mean that suffering doesn’t exist; doesn’t mean that our anger and our frustration is not there. But, no matter what the situation is – whether it is loss, grief, frustration, chaos – as a practitioner, we have to have the ability to dwell in the very here and now, and allow ourselves to see that wonder, because that wonder is the light that shines through the darkness, the fog, the chaos.”

    “When we’re reaching the end of our lives, we want to declutter. We want to put our affairs in order. We want to make sure, to the best of our abilities, that we leave life clean, that we don’t leave arguments, resentments, and suffering behind for the next generation to have to deal with.”

    “I have never met an individual. I meet the entire lineage of that person stretching back to the beginning of time – because, if there’d been an interruption, then you wouldn’t exist.”

    “The Buddha said, ‘I’ve never taught with a clenched fist, I have offered all the teachings for you to be calm, peaceful, transform your emotions, and be liberated. And so keep the Dharma as your island and be a light unto yourself, and keep the Dharma as your island.’ So he’s very clear that the Dharma is his continuation; the teachings and practice are his continuation.”

    “In a country like India, the Buddha exists at a very ambient level, in the way we live our lives and feel the interconnectedness of everything, with nature, with other people.”

    “If we know how to suffer, we’re going to suffer a whole lot less.”

    “Thay would always include our lay friends. Whenever he was teaching in any ceremony he would always add, ‘And our lay friends, our sisters and our brothers from the lay community, the multi-fold community.’ He would always correct the language as he went along, even if it wasn’t written down, to include everybody. And this was such a teaching for us that we want to continue it. We do not want to be a monastic community where the monastics are the privileged ones. Instead, we are all practicing together and all have different capacities and different things that we can offer.”

    “Thay once shared that his vision is that, one day, we’re all walking in the marketplace and see a monk walking by with peace and grace. And that monk is a bell of mindfulness. You see that monk and you stop and just breathe, connecting back to your spiritual dimension. And then you go on.”

    “Thay empowered us, each of us, and now we can empower so many other people. And I think it’s a reminder that we don’t need to look for the teachers and what impact they had; instead, we can look at the impact we are having every day, in all the interactions we have, in all the people we meet, in all of the thoughts we have and all the words we speak, in all the actions. We, each of us, are a continuation. And we’re not a continuation to one other person; we’re a continuation to all of life. The way we are present in nature is the way that nature can be present for us. The way that we are available to other people then gives people the opportunity to be available to others.”

    “Everything Thay did, he always reflected back to the Buddha. The Buddha’s whole way of teaching was also to empower everyone he met, to water the seeds of mindfulness and awakening in every person.”
More Buddhism podcasts
About The Way Out Is In
This podcast series is aimed at helping us to transcend our fear and anger so that we can be more engaged in the world in a way that develops love and compassion. Thich Nhat Hanh’s calligraphy ‘The Way Out Is In” highlights that the way out of any difficulty is to look deeply within, gain insights and then put them into practice. "The Way Out is In" is co-hosted by Brother Phap Huu, Thich Nhat Hanh's personal attendant for 17 years and the abbot of Plum Village's Upper Hamlet, and Jo Confino, who works at the intersection of personal transformation and systems change. The podcast is co-produced by the Plum Village App and Global Optimism, with support from the Thich Nhat Hanh Foundation.
Podcast website

Listen to The Way Out Is In, Secular Buddhism and many other podcasts from around the world with the radio.net app

Get the free radio.net app

  • Stations and podcasts to bookmark
  • Stream via Wi-Fi or Bluetooth
  • Supports Carplay & Android Auto
  • Many other app features
The Way Out Is In: Podcasts in Family