In my previous two series of articles, we traced the development of Thích Nhất Hạnh’s Engaged Buddhism during and after wartime Vietnam. From peace work amid conflict to the later formation of mindfulness communities around the world, his journey showed how Engaged Buddhism unfolded in response to diverse historical and cultural conditions. As his teachings took root in Western contexts, Thích Nhất Hạnh demonstrated how Buddhist practice could respond to new social realities while remaining grounded in its central purpose: relieving suffering. His legacy continues to offer a way for ancient wisdom traditions to speak directly to the challenges of contemporary life, transforming both individuals and communities.
This new series focuses on one of Thích Nhất Hạnh’s key teachings: the Five Mindfulness Trainings. In a later series, we will turn to the Fourteen Mindfulness Trainings of the Order of Interbeing. Together, these trainings show how the Buddhist teachings can be lived in everyday life, and how Thích Nhất Hạnh continually adapted engaged practice to a changing world.
The origin of the Five Mindfulness Trainings
The Five Mindfulness Trainings are a contemporary expression of the Five Precepts, the ethical guidelines traditionally followed by lay Buddhists: refraining from killing, stealing, sexual misconduct, lying, and the use of intoxicants. These precepts are rooted in the ethical training of the Noble Eightfold Path, which includes right speech, right action, and right livelihood. (Irons, 2008) For a fuller discussion, see my previous article, “Buddhist Mindfulness Versus Secular Mindfulness, Part 2.”
While the Five Precepts have long served as a moral framework within Buddhism, Thích Nhất Hạnh renewed and reworded them “in such a way that everyone can apply them, regardless of spiritual tradition or cultural background.” (Thích Nhất Hạnh, 2003) In doing so, he transformed a classical ethical code into living guidance for the realities of the modern world.
According to Thích Nhất Hạnh:
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. . . . 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. (Plum Village, n.d.-a)
As a modern articulation of the Five Precepts, the Five Mindfulness Trainings are non-sectarian and universal in spirit. (Plum Village, n.d.-a) Over the past two decades, more than 100,000 people worldwide have formally received the trainings in ceremony. (Plum Village, n.d.-b) To remain responsive to changing conditions in everyday life, the wording of the trainings continues to be reviewed and updated when needed.
Why they are called “mindfulness trainings”
Thích Nhất Hạnh originally referred to these ethical practices as “precepts.” He later chose to use the term “mindfulness trainings,” explaining:
. . . many Western friends told me that the word “precepts” evokes in them a strong feeling of good and evil; that if they “break” the precepts, they feel great shame. During the time of the Buddha, the word shila (precepts) was usually used for these five practices, but the word shiksha (trainings) was also often used. Since the meaning of the latter is more consistent with the understanding of how to practice them, without an absolute, black-and-white connotation, I have begun translating these practices as the Five Mindfulness Trainings. (Thích Nhất Hạnh, 2007)
He also pointed out that the term “mindfulness trainings” more clearly conveys that these practices are not commandments or rules imposed by an external authority. Rather, they arise from insight.
As he explained, they are not instructions commanded by the Buddha, but “the insights born from directly observing suffering and the causes of suffering. They are the most concrete expression of the practice of mindfulness. That is why it is appropriate and helpful to describe them as ‘mindfulness trainings.’” (Thích Nhất Hạnh, 2005)
In other words, “moral action is not obedience to a divine will nor the application of principles derived from reason. It is a response to an open investigation of reality.” (Strain, 2014) The change in terminology thus “focused practitioners’ awareness on inner determination rather than external authority as the source of the intention to cultivate non-harming ways of acting and thinking.” (Hunt-Perry & Fine, 2000) At its core, “understanding, rather than fear of punishment, is the reason for following the precepts.” (Dhammananda, 2002)
As Thích Nhất Hạnh further explained:
Precepts usually begin with admonitions concerning the body, such as not to kill. The Mindfulness Trainings . . . are the opposite—the ones concerning the mind come first. According to the teachings of the Buddha, the mind is the root of everything else. (Thích Nhất Hạnh, 2005)
For this reason, he began the description of each of the Five Mindfulness Trainings with the phrase “Aware of the suffering caused by . . .” (Plum Village, n.d.-a) In earlier formulations, when he still referred to these ethical practices as “precepts,” the wording took the imperative form “Do not . . .” (Thích Nhất Hạnh, 1993)
With this revised wording, each mindfulness training grows out of awareness itself: a commitment to cultivate beneficial qualities and to refrain from actions that cause harm to oneself and to society. Receiving these trainings is thus understood as a determination arising from one’s own awareness and insight, rather than as obedience to an external authority. (Hunt-Perry & Fine, 2000)
Renaming the Five Precepts
Thích Nhất Hạnh gave each of the Five Mindfulness Trainings a title: (1) Reverence for Life; (2) True Happiness; (3) True Love; (4) Loving Speech and Deep Listening; and (5) Nourishment and Healing. These titles correspond to the ethical principles expressed in the Five Precepts: refraining from killing, stealing, sexual misconduct, lying, and the use of intoxicants. (Plum Village. n.d.-a)
In contrast to the wording of the Five Precepts, the titles and interpretations of the Five Mindfulness Trainings adopt a more positive and encouraging tone. They also broaden the scope of the original precepts, allowing these ethical practices to speak more directly to the conditions and concerns of contemporary society.
Conclusion
The Five Mindfulness Trainings show how Thích Nhất Hạnh transformed the traditional Buddhist precepts into a form of ethical practice that speaks to a wider range of practitioners in the modern world.
By renewing their language, structure, and emphasis, he shifted attention away from rule-following and moral judgement toward an ongoing process of ethical cultivation rooted in awareness, insight, and compassion.
Rather than prescribing behavior through external authority, the Five Mindfulness Trainings invite each person to look deeply into the causes of suffering and to act from that understanding.
In my next article, we will take a deeper look at these mindfulness trainings.
References
Dhammananda, K. Sri. 2002. What Buddhists Believe (Expanded 4th Edition). Malaysia: Buddhist Missionary Society.
Hunt-Perry, Patricia. & Fine, Lyn. 2000. “All Buddhism is engaged: Thích Nhất Hạnh and
the Order of Interbeing.” In C. S. Queen (Ed.), Engaged Buddhism in the West (pp. 35–66). Boston: Wisdom Publications.
Irons, Edward. 2008. Encyclopedia of Buddhism. New York: Facts On File.
Plum Village. n.d.-a. The Five Mindfulness Trainings. Retrieved from https://plumvillage.org/mindfulness-practice/the-5-mindfulness-trainings/
Plum Village. n.d.-b. The life story of Thích Nhất Hạnh. Retrieved from https://plumvillage.org/about/thich-nhat-hanh/biography/
Strain, Charles. 2014. The Prophet and the Bodhisattva: Daniel Berrigan, Thích Nhất Hạnh, and the Ethics of Peace and Justice. Eugene, Oregon: Wipf and Stock Publishers.
Thích Nhất Hạnh. 1993. Interbeing: Fourteen Guidelines for Engaged Buddhism. Berkeley, California: Parallax Press.
Thích Nhất Hạnh. 2003. Creating True Peace: Ending Violence in Yourself, Your Family, Your Community, and the World. London: Rider.
Thích Nhất Hạnh. 2005. Being Peace. Berkeley, California: Parallax Press.
Thích Nhất Hạnh. 2007. Teachings on Love. Berkeley, California: Parallax Press.
Related features from BDG
Thích Nhất Hạnh’s Five Mindfulness Trainings, Part 2
Thích Nhất Hạnh’s Five Mindfulness Trainings, Part 3
