Author Archives: Janet

The 4th Mindfulness Training: Loving Speech and Deep Listening

Aware of the suffering caused by unmindful speech and the inability to listen to others, I am committed to cultivating loving speech and compassionate listening in order to relieve suffering and to promote reconciliation and peace in myself and among other people, ethnic and religious groups, and nations.  Knowing that words can create happiness or suffering, I am committed to speaking truthfully using words that inspire confidence, joy and hope.  When anger is manifesting in me, I am determined not to speak.  I will practice mindful breathing and walking in order to recognize and to look deeply into its roots,…

The 3rd Mindfulness Training – True Love

Aware of the suffering caused by unmindful sexual behavior, I am committed to cultivating responsibility and learning ways to protect the safety and integrity of individuals, couples, families, and society. Knowing that sexual desire is not love, and that sexual activity motivated by craving always harms me as well as others, I am determined not to engage in sexual relations without true love and a deep, long-term commitment made known to my family and friends. I will do everything in my power to protect children from sexual abuse and to prevent couples and families from being broken by unmindful sexual…

The 2nd Mindfulness Training – True Happiness

  “Aware of the suffering caused by exploitations, social injustice, stealing, and oppression, I am committed to practicing generosity in my thinking, speaking, and acting.  I am determined not to steal and not to possess anything that should belong to others: and I will share my time, energy, and material resources with those who are in need.  I will practice looking deeply to see that the happiness and suffering of others are not separate from my own happiness and suffering: that true happiness is not possible without understanding and compassion: and that running after wealth, fame, power and sensual pleasures…

The 1st Mindfulness Teaching – Reverence for Life

First of 5 posts on the Five Mindfulness Trainings. Our goal is Mind Expansion and Increased Well-Being for all. These posts have nothing to do with any religious teachings, and all to do with the development of personal virtue and positive ethics. Enjoy and Participate! The 1st Mindfulness Teaching – Reverence for Life “Aware of the suffering caused by the destruction of life, I am committed to cultivating compassion and learning ways to protect the lives of people, animals, plants, and minerals.  I am determined not to kill, not to let others kill, and not to support any act of…

The Five Mindfulness Trainings: The Path to Peace

Something new for the 2013: An interactive blog post.  Leave comments so that we get a dialogue going.  We’ll create smiles, some inspiration – all at the same time! Over the next few weeks we’ll be contemplating Thich Naht Hnah’s Five Mindfulness Trainings, often called the Five Precepts.  I ask you to think about what you read, and perhaps do some writing of your own so that you clarify ideas and beliefs within your own mind and heart.  Each post is made so that you can print the page and write down your own ideas, if you choose to do…