The Five Mindfulness Trainings

An Online Class
Six Thursday Evenings
November 2 - December 14, 2023
7:00 PM - 9:15 PM Eastern Time
(No class on Thanksgiving Day, November 23)


Dates: November 2, 9, 16, 30 and December 7, 14 (No class on Thanksgiving Day Nov. 23)
Time: 7:00 p.m. - 9:15 p.m. Eastern Time.
Location: Online (via Zoom)

Registration: Use this link to register for the class.

The Five Mindfulness Trainings represent the Buddhist vision for a global spirituality and ethic. They are a concrete expression of the Buddha’s teachings on the Four Noble Truths and the Noble Eightfold Path, the path of right understanding and true love, leading to healing, transformation, and happiness for ourselves and for the world. To practice the Five Mindfulness Trainings is to cultivate the insight of interbeing, or Right View, which can remove all discrimination, intolerance, anger, fear, and despair. If we live according to the Five Mindfulness Trainings, we are already on the path of a bodhisattva. Knowing we are on that path, we are not lost in confusion about our life in the present or in fears about the future.

We are happy to offer this class again this year. Each session will begin with a guided meditation and mindful movements, followed by a presentation on the practice of the Five Mindfulness Trainings. There will be no session on Thanksgiving Day, November 23.

Our sibling sanghas, the Washington Mindfulness Community, Still Water Mindfulness Practice Center and Open Heart Mindfulness Community will join with the Mindfulness Practice Center of Fairfax on Saturday morning January 6, 2024 to transmit the Five Mindfulness Trainings for those who would like to take these Trainings to their hearts and practice them with the support of a practicing community.

- Attending the "Five Mindfulness Trainings" Class is required to receive the Transmission.

- The Transmission Ceremony will be offered online via Zoom and in-person at the Sanctuary of the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Fairfax, Virginia.

If you have already studied and practiced the Five Mindfulness Trainings, please come and give your support to the class. If you have the intention to receive the transmission of the Five Mindfulness Trainings, please commit yourself to attending the whole series of six sessions. In case you cannot attend a session because of an unexpected event, please let us know.

Registration:

  • For those who have not attended this class before, click here to register for the class.
  • For those who have attended this class previously and would like to refresh their understanding and practice of the Trainings, use the Zoom link for morning and Thursday evening sessions to get access to the class. If you cannot find the Zoom link, click on the link above to register again. The Zoom link will be sent to you in the registration confirmation email.

Contribution:

  • Please click here to give a one-time donation to support the class. Suggested contribution: from $30 to $60
  • For regular participants of the meditation sessions, please go to the main donation page to make your contribution (https://mpcf.org/donation.html.)

Schedule:

The class starts at 7:00 PM and ends around 9:15 PM Eastern Time.

  • 7:00: Guided Meditation
  • 7:40: Mindful gentle movements
  • 8:00: Presentation of the Mindfulness Trainings (See below)
  • 9:15: Closing

Dates:

  • November 2: Introduction
  • November 9: The First Mindfulness Training - Reverence for Life
  • November 16: The Second Mindfulness Training - True Happiness
  • November 30: The Third Mindfulness Training - True Love
  • December 7: The Fourth Mindfulness Training - Loving Speech and Deep Listening
  • December 14: The Fifth Mindfulness Training - Nourishment and Healing

Resources:

Other Five Mindfulness Trainings classes offered by our sibling sanghas:

- Class offered by the Still Water Mindfulness Practice Center
- Class offered by the Open Heart Mindfulness Community)

Books by Master Thich Nhat Hanh:
  • The Mindfulness Survival Kit - Five Essential Practices
  • For A Future To Be Possible
  • Happiness: Essential Mindfulness Practices
The text of the Five Mindfulness Trainings:
Attending the "Five Mindfulness Trainings" Class is required to receive the Transmission. You will be invited to apply for the Transmission around mid-December.


“When someone asks, "Do you care? Do you care about me? Do you care about life? Do you care about the Earth? ", the best way to answer is to practice the Five Mindfulness Trainings. This is to teach with your actions and not just with words. If you really care, please practice these mindfulness trainings for your own protection and for the protection of other people and species. If we do our best to practice, a future will be possible for us, our children, and their children.”

From “For A Future To Be Possible” by Thich Nhat Hanh