Becoming an Order Member (Part 3)

There is no expectation that Sangha members become Order members. It is for each individual to decide whether this path feels right for them. When I decided to explore it, there were no Order members in my local Sangha, and it felt like a way of connecting more deeply with the wider UK community and learning from more experienced practitioners.

The pathway to becoming an Order member has evolved as the community has grown. In Thay’s time it was often a personal invitation. Today, there is a clear process supported by mentors and overseen by the Ordination Guidance Group. This may differ slightly from country to country. 

Step 1 – Receiving the Five Mindfulness Trainings

The journey usually begins with receiving the Five Mindfulness Trainings on a retreat. This is a public commitment to study, practise, and reflect on these ethical guidelines for mindful living, usually for at least two years, with the support of a Sangha. During this time, practitioners help build and support their local Sangha and develop a deeper connection with Thay’s teachings and the Plum Village tradition.

Step 2 – Finding mentors

If someone feels called to go deeper and study the Fourteen Mindfulness Trainings, they can ask for the Aspirant Handbook and seek the support of two Order Members as mentors. This can sometimes take time, but support is available for anyone who needs help making connections.

Step 3 – Becoming an Aspirant

With the support of their mentors, family, and Sangha, they apply to become an Aspirant. For me, this reflects an important aspect of our practice: we do not walk this path alone.

Step 4 – Study and practice

Aspirants spend at least two years studying the Fourteen Mindfulness Trainings with their mentors and reflecting on how they can apply them in daily life. Every journey is unique.

One of my mentees would often ask, “What’s my homework?” I would reply, “What do you think you need to practise?” The path is less about passing a course and more about learning to look deeply into our own lives with honesty and compassion.

Step 5 – Becoming an Order member

After at least two years as an Aspirant, regular study of the Fourteen Mindfulness Trainings, and participation in the wider Order community, an Aspirant may feel ready to request transmission of the Trainings and become an Order member.

The question, “Am I ready?” can be a difficult one to answer. In my experience, Aspirants often benefit from a gentle nudge or encouragement from their mentors.

One question from the handbook has always stayed with me:

Do I have confidence in my practice? Is the practice helping me become more compassionate, transform my suffering, and improve the quality of my relationships?

It’s a question we can return to again and again throughout our practice.

If an Aspirant and their mentors feel the time is right, they can apply to receive the Fourteen Mindfulness Trainings. Once accepted, they attend a retreat in the UK or at Plum Village, where the transmission ceremony takes place.

The transmission ceremony

The transmission ceremony begins with traditional Plum Village practices, including lighting incense, chanting, and Touching the Earth. Each of the Fourteen Mindfulness Trainings is then read aloud, and each Aspirant publicly responds to the question, “Do you make the commitment to receive, study and practise this Training?” with “Yes, I do.”

At the end of the ceremony, each new Order member receives a certificate acknowledging their place in the Linji lineage of practice, which has been passed down through generations. They are also given a Dharma name in both Vietnamese and English. The name reflects their aspiration, while a shared family name connects them with everyone ordained in the same ceremony.

My Dharma name is True Mountain of Non-Fear. Non-Fear is the family name shared by everyone ordained at that time, while Mountain is my individual name. When I first received it in 2014, it felt like a very big name to live up to, and in many ways it still does. But I am grateful to practise with it. When I feel uncertain or doubtful, I sometimes remind myself: I am a Mountain of Non-Fear, and it helps support me.

What changes?

In many respects, very little.

Order members continue serving their local Sanghas and communities in much the same way as before. Some take on additional responsibilities, support retreats, mentor Aspirants, or help the wider community, but how each person serves will look different depending on their circumstances and stage of life.

The brown jacket is often the most visible change, but even this is worn differently by different people. Personally, I wear mine when facilitating. Putting it on reminds me of the generations of practitioners who have walked this path before me and invites me to practise with humility and gratitude.

At a recent Day of Mindfulness, we reflected that if you asked ten Order members about their experience of the Order, you would receive ten different answers. While we follow a similar path, each of us brings our own joys, challenges, and aspirations to the journey. One of the Order members described their experience in this way: 

“This brown jacket is something people often notice. It can look like something I have, or something that says something about me. But it doesn’t really belong to me.

It belongs to the Sangha, and it is the Sangha…. Every meditation, every teaching, every act of mindfulness by the Sangha, past and present, is reflected in this jacket.”

Perhaps the most beautiful description came from an Order member in my Sangha, who said: “It represents practice, not position. Responsibility, not status.It reminds me to come back to humility, and to remember that whatever I am able to offer comes from a much larger source than just myself. The jacket doesn’t separate me from you. It reminds me that I am not separate from you, and that I am never truly alone. Being part of the Order of Interbeing is not about signs, identity or status – it’s about interconnection, humility, and collective practice.”

For me, that captures the spirit of the brown jacket and the Order of Interbeing far better than any formal definition.

Not all Plum Village practitioners are part of the Order of Interbeing, and there is no expectation that they should be. Many people spend a lifetime practising with Sangha without becoming Aspirants or Order members, and this is equally valued. Anyone can study and practise the Fourteen Mindfulness Trainings. In fact, I would encourage doing so with a Sangha, where we can learn from one another’s experiences and understanding.

Glossary of terms and useful links:

• 5 Mindfulness Trainings (5MTs) – Five ethical guidelines that support mindful, compassionate, and responsible living in daily life, based on Buddhist precepts (practical principles that help cultivate wisdom, compassion, and awareness). https://plumvillage.org/mindfulness/the-5-mindfulness-trainings
• 14 Mindfulness Trainings (14MTs) – Fourteen practices developed by Thich Nhat Hanh that deepen understanding, compassion, and engaged Buddhist practice. https://plumvillage.org/mindfulness/the-14-mindfulness-trainings
• Thich Nhat Hanh (Thay) – A Vietnamese Zen Buddhist monk, peace activist, and founder of the Plum Village tradition and the Order of Interbeing. Often referred to as “Th?y” which is Vietnamese for teacher.
• Sangha – A community of practice, usually a group of people who meet online or in person to meditate and practice mindfulness together. Find a sangha near you https://plumvillage.uk/practice-groups/find-a-group/
• Order of Interbeing (OI) – An international community of lay and monastic practitioners committed to studying, practicing, and embodying the Fourteen Mindfulness Trainings. https://plumvillage.uk/who-we-are/order-of-interbeing/
• The Order of Interbeing Council (TOIC) – 
• Aspirant – A practitioner who is studying the Fourteen Mindfulness Trainings with mentors while preparing for possible ordination into the Order of Interbeing.
• Order Member – A practitioner who has formally received the Fourteen Mindfulness Trainings and committed to serving the Sangha and wider community.
• Brown Jacket – A symbol of service, humility, and commitment to the Fourteen Mindfulness Trainings worn by some members of the Order of Interbeing