Living With Awareness: A Guide To The Five Mindfulness Trainings of Plum Village

Meditating in Big Sur, California

Thich Nhat Hanh’s Five Mindfulness Trainings offer a practical path to living ethically and compassionately. Rooted in the Buddhist tradition, these trainings are not rigid rules but guiding principles that help us cultivate understanding, love, and deep awareness in our daily lives. They serve as a modern expression of the traditional Five Precepts of Buddhism, inviting us to live with greater mindfulness and intention.

I was introduced to these trainings at the Plum Village Deer Park Meditation Retreat I recently attended in Estes Park, Colorado. It was a great retreat and I greatly appreciated the opportunity to deepen my meditation and awareness practices in a variety of ways. Click here to read more about this retreat.

These trainings represent the Buddhist vision for a global spirituality and ethic. They remind me of the yoga sutras or the ten commandments and are aspirational, contemplative statements to guide our mindset and meditation practice. They are a concrete expression of the Buddha’s teachings and are meant to help us on the path of right understanding and true love, leading to healing, transformation, and happiness for ourselves and the world. When I read these trainings I felt like, “YES! THIS!”. The trainings put more concrete and succinct words and concepts to ways I’ve been trying to live most of my life and frankly just feel right to me. I am excited and committed to practicing these trainings with an online sangha (community) once per month and am slowly digesting them and seeing where I feel called to make adjustments in my life.

Below is a summary of each training and a link to more details on each training with my own input, formatting, and a few cents.

First Mindfulness Training: Reverence for Life

The first training calls us to protect and cherish all life. It encourages nonviolence in thoughts, words, and actions, reminding us that we are interconnected with all beings. By practicing kindness and avoiding harm—whether to people, animals, or the planet—we nurture peace and compassion. This extends to mindful eating, ethical consumption, and supporting social justice initiatives that uphold the dignity of all life.

Second Mindfulness Training: True Happiness

This training invites us to cultivate generosity and avoid exploitation or taking what is not freely given. It encourages us to look deeply at our consumption patterns—whether material goods, relationships, or experiences—and ensure they bring true well-being. We are reminded that we have more than enough conditions to be happy, right here, right now. By practicing gratitude, sharing our resources, and avoiding greed, we create a foundation for happiness that is rooted in contentment rather than accumulation.

Third Mindfulness Training: True Love

Mindful relationships are at the heart of the third training, which emphasizes integrity and deep respect in our connections with others. It teaches us to nurture love based on trust, understanding, and care rather than attachment or control. This includes honoring commitments, practicing loving speech, and ensuring that our actions in relationships bring healing and joy rather than suffering.

Fourth Mindfulness Training: Loving Speech and Deep Listening

Communication can either create connection or division. The fourth training urges us to speak truthfully, compassionately, and with awareness of the impact of our words. It also calls us to listen deeply, offering our full presence without judgment. Practicing this training allows us to transform conflicts, strengthen relationships, and foster understanding in our families, communities, and bey

Fifth Mindfulness Training: Nourishment and Healing

What we consume—both physically and mentally—shapes our well-being. The fifth training encourages mindful consumption, whether in food, media, or sensory experiences. By choosing what nourishes our body and mind and avoiding toxins that cause harm, we cultivate clarity, joy, and emotional balance. This training invites us to be conscious of the energies we bring into our lives and to make choices that support healing and transformation.

Bringing the Five Mindfulness Trainings into Daily Life

The Five Mindfulness Trainings are not about perfection but about continuous practice and little progress and efforts. They encourage us to live with greater awareness, making choices that align with our deepest values. Whether through small acts of kindness, conscious consumption, or deep listening, each moment offers an opportunity to embody mindfulness and compassion.

As Thich Nhat Hanh reminds us, “Happiness is available. Please help yourself to it.” By embracing these teachings, we take steps toward a more peaceful, harmonious world—one mindful breath at a time.

Please do reach out if you’re interested in hearing more about the mindfulness trainings or if you’d like to join me and my online sangha group that meets on the 2nd Thursdays of each month at noon PST. It’s a lovely small group that meets during zoom for meditation, connection, reciting the trainings, and dharma sharing.

The following photo is from Earth, Our True Nature Retreat at Estes Park YMCA August 2024, https://deerparkmonastery.org/photo/earth-our-true-nature-retreat-photo-gallery/

A monk meditating at the retreat