Touching the Ancestral Stream: Human and More Than Human

A deep awareness of my nonhuman and human ancestors came to my
mind as I contemplated Thầy officially becoming an ancestral teacher of Từ Hiếu Temple. Thầy is quoted as saying, “The ancestors have
already prepared everything.” This insight gives me a great sense of
relief, belonging, and certainty as I pivot daily in many different directions. The depth in the teachings of continuation and interbeing is so
vast, yet so comforting. The image of “touching the ancestral stream”
is rooted in the natural world. I imagine placing my hand in the cool
waters of a clear stream as it flows by, and I feel held in the reality of
connection to this infinite flow of life and nourishment.
The meaningful human relationships I experience in Plum Village are a huge part of my well-being. But when I reflect on feeling
connected with our deep, rich Plum Village lineage, immediately the
lands of Plum Village, France, come to my mind. I feel a deep, soulful
connection to the natural world in Plum Village, especially in Upper
Hamlet. These lands and all who dwell on them are also my spiritual
family. I do my best to speak out for and to honour these lands and
the integral role they play in the healing of all the humans who have
crossed our threshold over the forty-one years of Plum Village’s history. This land and the beings who dwell here, nonhuman and human,
are part of my ancestral stream. They are a continuation of beloved
Thầy and the wealth of the Plum Village lineage.
I love how Thầy encouraged contemplating our spiritual ancestors, our blood ancestors, and our land ancestors. I am as deeply
connected to my animal, plant, and mineral ancestors as my human
ancestors. In Plum Village I am in touch with the ancient oak forests
with which we are blessed. I am in touch with the numerous past
generations of squirrels and jays who buried more oak acorns than
they could eat and, in so doing, helped cultivate the next generation
of oak trees. I am in touch with the rich limestone soils that have
evolved over aeons and now support these oak forests and our Plum
Village farms and gardens.
I have supported the Happy Farm project’s rooting into the soil
of Plum Village for nearly a decade now. When I introduce the farm
Touching the Ancestral Stream:
Human and More Than Human
Thầy’s radical teaching on connecting with our blood, spiritual,
and land ancestors opened up a deep awareness in Mick McEvoy:
his ancestors are not just human, but animal, plant, and mineral.

Happy Farm photo courtesy
of Conscious Film Co.

project, I often invoke our Happy Farm ancestors. Thầy was our original Happy Farm ancestor. Often Thầy is introduced as a “Zen master,
poet, peace activist, and gardener.” I love this. Anyone familiar with
Thầy’s teachings has noticed the countless farming and gardening
metaphors he skilfully deploys to help us understand. He tells us, for
example, that a gardener can transform the rubbish we accumulate
in life into beautiful compost that can nourish the soil of our inner
and outer gardens. Two other early Happy Farm ancestors in Upper
Hamlet are Stuart and Daniel, long-term lay friends who began the
project in 2013. Without them, Happy Farm would not exist. Every
human being who has stepped onto our farms and gardened with us
is also a farm ancestor. Thousands of human Happy Farm ancestors
have shaped our lands and contributed their energy. Their contribution and practice has made the farm what it is today.
Thầy’s teaching on deep ecology and his early environmental activism touched me deeply. Contemplating Thầy’s continuation, I see
clearly that he has created a global community of future ancestors
who will continue his teachings and that of the Buddha. There is a
new generation of activists who, after experiencing these teachings,
are cultivating a deep spiritual realm in their own lives to support
their work and activism—this in the midst of our polycrisis of climate,
ecology, pollution, racial justice, and social justice. What is radical
and revolutionary is that many of these people are not just falling
back on spirituality to support their work, but, like me, are consciously ceasing to separate their spiritual lives from the rest of their lives.
We are integrating our spiritual practice into every aspect of our life.
No more binary between activism and spirituality—our activist work
is our spiritual life. Our spiritual life is our activism. This is the continuation of Thầy.
Often when we practise with our spiritual ancestors in our tradition the term patriarch is invoked. I have so much respect for the
many amazing men who lived beautifully simple, yet deep, lives of
practice and carried the teachings and traditions forward for all of
us. But, understandably, the term patriarch also awakens resistance.
Often I take time to invoke the numerable matriarchs in our spiritual,
blood, and land ancestry. We don’t have to look far to appreciate living bodhisattvas: Sister Chân Không, Sister Chân Đức, and so many
other elder monastic sisters and siblings.
Another matriarch I invoke regularly is the linden tree in Upper Hamlet. The majestic linden tree has been deeply rooted in the
soils of Upper Hamlet since before Plum Village existed. This matriarch offers so much. For humans, she offers oxygen, shade, and
nectar-filled flowers for tea. Her mature branches hold two swings
that have entertained and comforted countless children and adults,
monastic and lay. She has served as the arrival and departure point
for countless people at the beginning and end of retreats. She holds

whole families of humans in her shade and embrace as they practise
Dharma sharing week after week. Not to mention that she also offers
home and sustenance to countless more-than-human beings. This
linden tree is the matriarch of Upper Hamlet.
As a farmer, an ecologist, an educator, and a practitioner, I feel
so deeply grateful to have Thầy as an ancestral teacher. From Thầy I
have inherited so much. I do my best to transmit the deep practice of
what it is to be a gardener, what it is to cultivate our inner and outer
gardens toward collective healing, transformation, and awakening.
I recognise that the conditions that enable me to live, practice,
study, and serve in Plum Village are a direct result of the good will of
my ancestors. I am connected to their goodwill, which enables me to
continue to create opportunities for practice and healing in Plum Village, France by organising and facilitating retreats and our residential Happy Farm programme. I am in touch with the good will and
benevolence of all my nonhuman ancestors: animals, plants, and
minerals. The plants and animals on these lands nourish me, and the
nutrient- and mineral-rich soils support the cultivation of organic,
seasonal food that helps fill the alms bowls of our community.
In gratitude to Thầy and the ancestors who have already prepared everything. In gratitude to be part of Thầy’s continuation and
this constantly flowing ancestral stream. In gratitude to be part of
this deep and rich Plum Village lineage.
For more information on the Happy Farm, visit thehappyfarm.org.
Mick McEvoy, True Pure Earth (pronouns
he/him), an Irish native, lives, works, and
studies in the community of Plum Village,
France. Mick brings over twenty years of
experience working with people, plants, and
mindfulness practice to his management
of the Happy Farm and rewilding projects.
The farm welcomes hundreds of retreatants
annually and combines mindfulness-based
approaches with seasonal organic food
production and land stewardship rooted in
deep ecology.