Album Release: A Cloud Never Dies

Album Release

The debut album from Plum Village Band, produced by prolific artist and producer Jack Peñate, recorded at the Plum Village Monastery in France.

The debut album from the monks and nuns of Plum Village Monastery in France, A Cloud Never Dies, is a musical meditation, a tribute to a Zen master credited with bringing mindfulness practices to the West, and a deep teaching on the Buddhist principles of “continuation” and “non-fear.”

The album was inspired by and dedicated to the community’s teacher, Vietnamese Buddhist teacher Thich Nhat Hanh. Although he passed away in 2022, Thich Nhat Hanh (or “Thay” – Vietnamese for “teacher”) taught that–like a cloud–nothing ever really dies; it merely transforms. A cloud, for instance, becomes rain, which becomes a river, which becomes the water with which we make the tea we drink, beginning the cycle all over again.

Because death is really a kind of transformation, Thay taught that we can practice “non-fear” about our future and focus more on the present moment.

When we talk about art, it’s not just in the realm of music and painting, but art as an ability to generate joy and happiness in others,

“The essence of the album is to invite listeners on a journey of insight that allows us to get in touch with, and transform, our suffering and grief,” said Brother Phap Huu, abbott of Plum Village Monastery’s Upper Hamlet and a longtime attendant of Thich Nhat Hanh’s. “At the same time, it invites listeners to be in touch with love and inspiration.”