The Mindfulness Trainings
In the spirit of interbeing, each one of the trainings contains all the others. The First Mindfulness Training includes all the others, and all the other trainings contain the first. We can see clearly that the first is the basis of the twelfth training, which urges us to protect all life. In Buddhism, actions are seen to arise in three domains: in body, speech, and mind. We usually think that killing is a
physical action and occurs in the domain of the body, but a fanatical mind can cause the killing of not just one, but millions of human beings. If we were to truly follow the guidance of the First Mindfulness Training, all weapons would become obsolete.
The teachings and practices found in Buddhism may vary, but all of them aim at liberating the mind. Openness and nonattachment to views are the guiding principles for all endeavors leading to reconciliation and peace. They are also the doors that lead to the world of ultimate reality and absolute freedom.
The Buddha regarded his own teachings as a raft to cross the river and not as an absolute truth to be worshipped or clung to. Ideological inflexibility is responsible for so much of the conflict and violence in the world. Many Buddhist texts, including the Kālāma Sūtra, the Arittha Sūtra (Knowing the Better Way to Catch a Snake), and the Vajracchedikā Sūtra (The Diamond That Cuts through Illusion), address this important subject.
Copyright © 2026 by Thich Nhat Hanh. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
