In his efforts to promote peace in the world, Zen master Thich Nhat Hanh devised the Five Mindfulness Trainings, a modern and secular version of the Buddha’s teachings of the Five Precepts. He saw these Mindfulness Trainings as a “path out of suffering” that was not connected with any particular religion.
The Mindfulness Trainings are ethical guidelines that “offer concrete ways of practice that deepen our understanding and help us see people, situations, and our environment more clearly.”
This six-week course will use The Mindfulness Survival Kit by Thich Nhat Hanh as the framework for weekly discussions and practices. The course will introduce participants to sitting and walking meditation and some of the fundamental concepts of Buddhist teachings that serve as the basis for the five Mindfulness Trainings. The goal of the course is to cultivate compassion for all those we read about in the daily news and encounter in our lives, and to develop ways to take care of our own anger, grief, despair, and fear.