Mindfulness Survival Kit Five Essential Practices

Thich Nhat Hanh calls the trainings a “diet for a mindful society.” With this book he offers a valuable contribution to the debate, on how we can come together to define secular, moral guidelines that will allow us to explore and sustain a sane, compassionate, and healthy way of living. The Five Mindfulness Trainings offer a path to restoring meaning and value in a world marked by moral and spiritual emptiness. Whether called virtues, ethics, moral conduct, or precepts they are guidelines for living without bringing harm to others; they bring sanity and light into the world.

“A beautiful, wise, sensitive book for Buddhists and those open to learning from other traditions. Highly recommended.” — Library Journal

“Nhat Hanhs meditations illuminate the connection between spirituality and social action and point us to the value of mindfulness in everyday life.”—Publishers Weekly

“A beautiful, wise, sensitive book for Buddhists and those open to learning from other traditions. Highly recommended.”—Library Journal

“Thich Nhat Hans deep understanding of the precepts [trainings] and his actual contact with todays suffering make these reworkings profound.” —Turning Wheel

“The insightful and penetrating commentaries on the precepts, by one of the wisest and most compassionate spiritual guides of our times, offer challenging responses to the most difficult moral dilemmas we face.” —Fellowship in Prayer

QUOTE

“Violence, racial injustice, alcoholism, sexual abuse, environmental exploitation, and so many other problems compel us to find ways to stop the suffering that is rampant in ourselves and in society. To realize peace in our daily lives, we need some guidelines. 2,500 years ago, the Buddha offered Five Wonderful Precepts as a practice to help us live a peaceful and wholesome life.”

—Thich Nhat Hanh

Endorsements

“The teaching of the Buddha is said to be ‘vast and profound. I firmly believe that it has the power to transform our society, but only if more and more men and women come to embody it in their lives, living in mindfulness and acting with compassion both toward themselves and toward others. The great and gentle strength of Thich Nhat Hanhs teaching is to show us that a vision of a world in peace is not only possible, but that it begins here, begins now, with each one of us looking deeply within, and honoring limitless potential. We can change the world by how we live, and nothing less than the survival of our species on Earth may be at stake. As human beings, to live in wisdom, and to love in compassion, is not only our responsibility, but our birthright.”

Sogyal Rinpoche – author of The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying

Thich Nhat Hanh calls the trainings a "diet for a mindful society." With this book he offers a Buddhist contribution to the current thinking on how we can come together to define secular, moral guidelines that will allow us to explore and sustain a sane, compassionate, and healthy way of living. The Five Mindfulness Trainings offer a path to restoring meaning and value in our world, whether called virtues, ethics, moral conduct, or precepts they are guidelines for living without bringing harm to others.

The Five Mindfulness Trainings (also referred to as "Precepts")--not to kill, steal, commit adultery, lie, or take intoxicants--are the basic statement of ethics and morality in Buddhism. Zen Master and peace activist Thich Nhat Hanh argues eloquently for their applicability in our daily lives and on a global scale. Nhat Hanh discusses the value and meaning of each precept, offering insights into the role that it could play in our changing society.

Thich Nhat Hanh calls the trainings a "diet for a mindful society". With this book, he offers a Buddhist contribution to the current thinking on how we can come together to define secular, moral guidelines that will allow us to explore and sustain a sane, compassionate, and healthy way of living. The Five Mindfulness Trainings offer a path to restoring meaning and value in our world--whether called virtues, ethics, moral conduct, or precepts they are guidelines for living without bringing harm to others.

Joan Halifax is the author of several books including, The Fruitful Darkness and Being with Dying. She is the founder of the Zen Peacemaker community and currently serves as Abbot, and Head Teacher of Upaya Zen Center, a Buddhist monastery in Santa Fe, New Mexico. She lives in Santa Fe, NM.

Jack Kornfield, Ph.D., is founder of both the Insight Meditation Society in Massachusetts and the Spirit Rock Meditation Center in California. An influential psychologist, author and teacher, his books, including, A Path with Heart, and Bringing Home the Dharma, which have been translated into 20 languages and sold more than a million copies. He lives in Woodacre, CA.

Introduction

The Five Mindfulness Trainings

First Mindfulness Training, Reverence for Life

Second Mindfulness Training, Generosity

Third Mindfulness Training, Sexual Responsibility

Fourth Mindfulness Training, Deep Listening and Loving Speech

Fifth Mindfulness Training, Diet for a Mindful Society

The Three Jewels

Commentary on the Three Jewels

Frequently Asked Questions About the Five Mindfulness Trainings and the Three Jewels

Afterword: Jack Kornfield, Happiness Comes from the Heart