In my previous article, we explored how Thích Nhất Hạnh transformed the traditional Five Precepts into a living ethical practice that is accessible beyond religious boundaries. He renamed them the Five Mindfulness Trainings, giving them new titles that speak directly to modern concerns. By beginning each training with the recognition of suffering, he reframed their orientation from external restraint to inner understanding, emphasizing that the mind is the root of ethical action.
We also examined how the trainings broaden the scope of the original precepts to address concerns specific to today’s world, including social injustice, unmindful consumption, and environmental harm. By highlighting the interbeing nature of our existence, these trainings invite us to look deeply into how our thoughts, speech, and actions affect both our own suffering and the suffering of others.
In this way, the Five Mindfulness Trainings offer a path of ethical practice grounded in awareness, interbeing, and compassion. They link personal transformation with collective responsibility as well as the suffering and well-being of the world.
We now turn to the meaning and significance of receiving the Five Mindfulness Trainings.
The Five Precepts as a marker of Buddhist identity
Traditionally, the Five Precepts are the core ethical code for lay followers of Buddhism; the precepts therefore “were originally probably intended to be given to a layman in order to initiate him into the Buddhist faith.” (Terwiel, 2012) This arguably still applies in regions such as China, where Buddhism and other religions exist alongside each other. In these contexts, the Five Precepts are taken as part of becoming a lay Buddhist.
However, in predominantly Buddhist nations, such as Thailand, where most people are born into Buddhist families, taking the Five Precepts does not have much to do with one’s initiation into Buddhism. (Terwiel, 2012) Despite these differences in context, taking the Five Precepts in both cases still implies a Buddhist identity.
Receiving the Five Mindfulness Trainings as ethical commitment
Receiving the Five Mindfulness Trainings, on the other hand, has nothing to do with one’s religious identity. As shown in my previous two articles (linked below), the trainings are non-sectarian and universal in nature; anyone can practice them regardless of their spiritual tradition or cultural background. Receiving them in a formal ceremony does not imply any religious identity but is simply a public declaration of one’s commitment to practice these trainings.
Moreover, unlike the Five Precepts, which are traditionally taken as a complete set, in the Plum Village tradition, people are allowed to receive only certain mindfulness trainings at a particular time if they are not ready to receive all five. As Thích Nhất Hạnh explained: “If you practice even one mindfulness training deeply, you will find that you are also keeping the other four, even without making a formal promise to do so. The Five Mindfulness Trainings are very much interconnected.” (Thích Nhất Hạnh, 2007)
This interconnectedness reflects the interbeing nature of the trainings. Progress in one naturally supports growth in the others. For this reason, it is not necessary to receive all five at once. For an illustration of how practicing one training is also practicing the others, see my previous article.
Readiness and gradual practice
Those who aspire to receive the mindfulness trainings can usually do so at retreats. They would typically complete an application form to express their wish to receive all or certain trainings in a formal transmission ceremony held at the end of a retreat. During that time, they may also request a Dharma name to encourage their ongoing practice.
Thích Nhất Hạnh indicated that we do not need to be fully living according to the trainings before receiving them. What matters is being mindful in whatever we do:
When somebody comes to us and asks if he or she should stop drinking before receiving the five mindfulness trainings (the precepts), we always tell them that they can continue to drink, but they must drink mindfully. If you drink your wine mindfully for a week, and you practice deeply, you will stop drinking after a few weeks. Nothing is forced on you; it is your own understanding, your wisdom, that tells you how to behave, that tells you how to conduct your everyday life. (Thích Nhất Hạnh, 2006)
This example shows that readiness for receiving the mindfulness trainings lies not in prior compliance, but in a willingness to practice mindfully in everyday life.
Sri Lankan Buddhist scholar Yakupitiyage Karunadasa notes:
The Noble Eight-fold Path can be followed at different levels or in varying degrees of intensity. If one cannot follow it fully, one can follow it as far as possible. If the best thing is to realize the ideal, the next best thing is to be nearer the ideal. . . . The ideal is the source of inspiration to do the right thing and to resist from doing the wrong thing. (Karunadasa, 2001)
Receiving the trainings, which are rooted in the ethical aspect of the Noble Eightfold Path, can therefore motivate practitioners to move closer to what the trainings encourage.
The recipients will receive a Five Mindfulness Trainings Certificate after the transmission ceremony. They are then encouraged to recite the trainings at least monthly so that they can progressively deepen their practice. If they do not recite the trainings at least trimonthly with their practice community, the validity of the transmission will lapse and they will need to receive the trainings again. (Thích Nhất Hạnh, 2007)
Drawing on data from my PhD fieldwork at Plum Village, I will examine, in future articles, what led my interview participants to receive (or not to receive) the Five Mindfulness Trainings and what that meant to them, particularly for those who came from a different spiritual background. I will also look at why some of them chose to receive only some of the trainings rather than all five, as well as the reasons why a few others received the trainings more than once.
Conclusion
While the Five Precepts are closely tied to Buddhist identity, the Five Mindfulness Trainings are non-sectarian and open to anyone wishing to cultivate mindfulness in daily life. Receiving the trainings is therefore neither a sign of religious affiliation nor a matter of obligation. Rather, it is an open expression of a person’s commitment to ethical living grounded in awareness, interbeing, and compassion. The trainings invite practitioners to recognize how their thoughts, speech, and actions are inseparable from the suffering and well-being of the world, and to act accordingly.
In contrast to the traditional precepts, which are typically taken as a complete set, the mindfulness trainings allow for different levels of readiness and commitment. The trainings emphasize that ethical practice begins with a sincere willingness to practice mindfully in daily life rather than complete moral conformity beforehand.
The Five Mindfulness Trainings reflect the flexibility and enduring relevance of Thích Nhất Hạnh’s Engaged Buddhism. Through them, he demonstrated that Buddhist ethics can remain deeply rooted in tradition while responding creatively and compassionately to the challenges of the contemporary world.
In the next article, we will look at Thích Nhất Hạnh’s Fourteen Mindfulness Trainings, which are intended for members of the Order of Interbeing and further develop the ethical vision outlined in the Five Mindfulness Trainings.
References
Karunadasa, Yakupitiyage. 2001. The Early Buddhist Teaching on the Practice of the Moral Life. A Numata Yehan Lecture in Buddhism. University of Calgary, Alberta, Canada.
Terwiel, Barend. 2012. Monks and Magic: Revisiting a Classic Study of Religious Ceremonies in Thailand. Denmark: NIAS Press.
Thích Nhất Hạnh. 2006. True love: A Practice for Awakening the Heart. Boston: Shambhala
Thích Nhất Hạnh. 2007. For a Future to be Possible: Buddhist Ethics for Everyday Life. Berkeley, California: Parallax Press.
Related features from BDG
Thích Nhất Hạnh’s Five Mindfulness Trainings, Part 1
Thích Nhất Hạnh’s Five Mindfulness Trainings, Part 2
