Her latest work 'THE RAFT' has all the ingredients of a landmark: classical references, naked body painted people lying still on a canvas and an accusatory monologue, written from the perspective of a drowning man in the Mediterranean sea. THE CRAFT STORE is the home of the UK’s leading channel dedicated to Crafts, Hobbies and Arts. A place where our brilliant team of presenters and fabulously talented guests will educate, entertain and inspire your passion and fuel your creativity. We are the only name you need to find the latest and best in craft and art supplies from leading.
The Raft is a special bi-weekly series, assembled by the Thich Nhat Hanh Foundation, Plum Village Monastery, Parallax Press, and the Plum Village App team to help keep you grounded and connected during these challenging times, and to inspire your mindfulness practice.
Each issue includes a Dharma talk, guided meditation, upcoming online events, and other resources for your mindfulness practice, such as toolkits for kids, reflections by monastics, poetry and visual art, and more.
The Meaning of “The Raft”
The Buddha compared his teachings to a raft that helps us cross over to the other shore - the shore of peace, freedom, and well-being. Similarly, The Raft series is a body of teachings and practices crested to uplift us as we cross this difficult moment in our collective history.
“We should use the teaching like a raft to bring us across the river. And then when we've crossed the river, we can leave the raft there for someone else to use.”
As Thich Nhat Hanh has taught, once we have benefitted from the raft of the Dharma, we should make it available to others. If you’ve enjoyed The Raft series, please share it with your fellow Sangha members, friends, and loved ones.
Past Raft Issues
Remember those famous explorers your read about in the books? Inspired travelers mapping the earth? Proud pirates fearing nothing but lack of rome? You have a chance to join their ranks! Of course, you’ll start out small and humble. You won’t have a fully equipped ship with a team to withstand the fiercest of storms. But instead you can take a couple of friends with you! Discover the upbeats and downsides of surviving on a decrepit raft in the unknown spot of the ocean playing Raft online!
Your voyage is about to begin!
The game is a mix of genres and that what makes it’s so unique and exciting. There is an element of survival: your life is always at risk, your only hope and support in this huge dangerous water world is a slippery wooden board. You have to eat and drink, and fresh water only. You need to get a good night’s sleep and hide away from bad weather. Otherwise your days as a sea wolf are counted. Another genre is sandbox. You don’t only have to survive on your raft, you actually have an opportunity to improve it. The ocean is full of various materials that can be used to patch up holes, increase your living space and equip yourself with necessary stuff to lead a safe and more or less comfortable existence. Finally, there is a pinch of adventure – the sea is roamed by other players as well, some of them will turn out to be friendly and ready for a mutually beneficial exchange of supplies. But some will try to attack you, destroy your raft and collect what’s left of it. So what you also need to think about is your protection. Let’s now look at each aspect in detail.
Survive, craft, explore!
The Rafters
Your journey starts when you come to your senses on that very raft, vaguely remembering that your ship crashed and realizing the only person you can now count on is yourself. Considering your options, you notice a hook in your hand. It has a rope attached to it. This naive device will allow you to catch your very first batch of materials to make your raft a little better. Just take a look: wood, barrels, boards, plenty of other objects are just floating pass you begging to turn into improvements for your new house on the waves. You can use drafts or experiment on your own. All resources are combinable, but the result of that combination is unpredictable. Maybe you’ll be lucky to mix gunpowder, who knows…
The Raft Of Man
Crafting will also help you with satisfying your vital needs. You can make a container that will fill will nice, fresh, tasty water during the rain. And it will be raining a lot! You need a roof or at least a tent to hide under it when the weather freaks out. It’s a nice thing storms bring up swarms of fish – you can catch them using improvised spears, self-made nets and traps. There can never be too much food, so even if there is an overflow of it today, better store it in case tomorrow turns out much worse in terms of fishing. You’ll be surprised, but you can even set up a garden! It’s enough to look out for seeds and nuts the waves occasionally carry past you. With time, you’ll fill your raft with all sorts of upgrades, you’ll have furniture and all possible accommodations, maybe even a second floor!
The Rafting Company
But you know what, you’ll sooner or later get lonely. So why don’t you invite your friends to join the game? Each of them will have a raft of their own, you’ll be able to track each other, arrange marine meetings and of course help each other in a difficult minute. What else are friends for, right? And at the end of your voyage, there is a beautiful tropical island ready to open its sandy and palmy embrace for you… There you can refill your supplies, restore strength and set out for new adventures! Your raft is already afloat, hurry up!