Mindfulness Trainings

The Five Mindfulness Trainings of the Plum Village Tradition and the Fourteen Mindfulness Trainings of the Order of Interbeing are guiding wisdom for how we can be mindful in our daily lives. They were written by Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh (Thay) and modified over the years by Thay and the monks and nuns in […]

The Mindfulness Trainings are not Formulas for Absolute Virtue

In these words of wisdom from Hannah Tennant-Moore, we learn that the precepts or the Mindfulness Trainings are not formulas for absolute virtue. Every single one of them, whether we are talking about the Five Mindfulness Trainings or the Fourteen Mindfulness Trainings of the Order of Interbeing, is relative and depends on what is happening […]

More on the Willpower Instinct

These words of wisdom from Dr. Kelly McGonigal, Ph. D. tell us more on the willpower instinct. The first article on The Willpower Instinct by Kelly McGonigal appeared on Best Meditation Videos on November 29, 2012, in which she talks about her book, The Willpower Instinct: How Self-Control Works, Why It Matters, and What You […]

Ethics from the Heart

These words of wisdom from Lin Jensen talk about the precepts of Buddhism. Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh, known as Thay by his followers, likes to call these Mindfulness Trainings. In either case, they teach us to practice ethics from the heart. The Zen attitude about the precepts corresponds quite nicely with Thay’s teachings. In […]

Mindfulness In Health Care

Dr. Jon Kabat-Zinn is now in the process of having top level discussions with political leaders in the UK about mindfulness in health care. Dr. Kabat-Zinn is the founder of Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) at the University of Massachusetts in 1979. The article in The Guardian dated April 7, 2013 by Madeleine Bunting states, …Kabat-Zinn has a […]

Mindful Eating Helps Lose Weight

A recent article on the Science Daily website indicated that mindful eating helps lose weight. A study at the Ohio State University showed that “mindful eating equals traditional education in lowering weight and blood sugar” for diabetes patients. The report states, Eating mindfully, or consuming food in response to physical cues of hunger and fullness, […]

Seven Rules of Life

Here are today’s Weekly Words of Wisdom from Lama Surya Das. The Buddha once said Do not pursue the past. Do not lose yourself in the future. The past no longer is. The future has not yet come. Looking deeply at life as it is in the very here and now, the practitioner dwells in […]

Meditation Practices to Save Our Planet

Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh was interviewed by The Ecologist and gave meditation practices to save our planet. He warned that “maybe in 100 years there will be no more humans on the planet, in just 100 years.” Extinctions have taken place on our planet many times. Volcanic eruptions about 251 million years ago created […]