Duration (time period)*

One Year, August 2014 – July 2015

Course format: (30 days of contact teachings and practices)

Retreats

1. 5-day retreat (
2. 3-day retreats (Jan 16 – 18 & March 13- 15, 2015)

DOMs on:        

l   Sept. 6, 20; Oct. 4, 18; Nov. 8, 22, 2014

l   Jan 31;   Feb. 14, 28 (after 1^st 3-day retreat)

l   April 4, 18 (after 2^nd 3-day retreat)

l   8 DOMs in May – July, 2015 for practicum

Daily mindfulness practices (2 hours/day) for 200 days

Reading and writing assignments

30

HKD 20,000.00

(including accommodations, food and tuitions for retreats & DOMs)

Dharma teachers of Plum Village Mindfulness Academy

Principal instructor:

Bhikkhu Thich Chan Phap Kham.

Assistant Instructors:
Bhikkhu Thich Chan Phap Chung
Bhikkhu Thich Chan Phap Giao
Bhhikhuni Thich Nu Chan Hanh Nghiem
Bhhikhuni Thich Nu Chan Than Nghiem
Bhhikhuni Thich Nu Chan Mai Nghiem
Bhhikhuni Thich Nu Chan Tham Nghiem

Title of Course:         Mindfulness Born Peace and Happiness: A Joyful Way of Well-Being

Description of the course:

Students will study and practice mindfulness under the guidance of Buddhist monastics in the tradition of Thich Nhat Hanh and Plum Village. Mindfulness was discovered by Shakyamuni Buddha, a wise and compassionate teacher, in India about 2600 years ago. Practicing mindfulness can bring us peace and happiness, help transform our pain and suffering, and guide us in living our lives which can bring well-being to ourselves and society.

The teachings and practices are based on the Discourse on Full Awareness of Breathing, the Discourse on the Four Establishments of Mindfulness, and the Manifestation-Only Psychology as taught and practiced in the Buddhist tradition for thousands of years. These teachings and practices have been updated, made relevant, and integrated into daily activities by Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh and the Plum Village Monastics for the past 40 years. Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh, widely considered as the father of modern mindfulness, helped start the interest of mindfulness in the West with the publication of “The Miracles of Mindfulness” in 1975.

The teachings and practices cover three themes: Cultivating Peace and Happiness, Transforming Pain and Suffering, and Guidelines for living and creating a healthy and compassionate life style for ourselves and for society. The three themes cover three essential elements of meditation: mindfulness, concentration and insight.

We will learn how to bring our mind back to our body with mindful breaths which helps us to be present in the here and now, to calm our body and mind, to stop our discriminated thinking, and to cultivate peace and happiness. The stopping and slowing down of thoughts, speech and bodily actions leads to the tranquility of the mind. Mindful breathing is integrated into daily activities such as walking, eating, exercising, taking a shower, cooking, driving, working, etc…so that mindfulness can be practiced every moment and everywhere.

With our mind in tranquility and concentration, we will practice listening and looking deeply into our feelings, perceptions, mental formations and consciousness, in order to see the causes of our pain and suffering and to transform them into peace and joy (develop insight). We will learn how the mind works through the teachings of Manifestation-Only Psychology of the Yogacara Buddhist School, which considers all physical and mental phenomena as manifestations of the store consciousness (unconscious, sub-conscious or subliminal conscious in Western Psychology). We will see how Manifestation Psychology serves as a holistic foundation for understanding the connection between body and mind, and how our consciousness affect our learning and behavior, thinking, memory and the quest for meaning of life. We will see that there are seeds of sickness and wellness within us, and whether we will be well or sick depends not only on the seeds but also on the environment (i.e. our life style and the collective health of society).

Having learned how to cultivating peace and happiness, transforming pain and suffering for ourselves, we will look into the 5 essential mindfulness trainings (global ethics), which help establish a healthy and compassionate living environment for ourselves and for society. We will learn how to build a practicing community to help us going on the path of peace and happiness.

Even though the teachings and practices are based on Buddhist tradition, they will be presented and implemented in a non-sectarian way. The course is held in a retreat environment to strengthen practices of mindfulness in daily life.

Training outcomes (By the end of this training, participants will be able to……)

About 2600 years ago, the Buddha discovered Mindfulness as a method to calm body and mind, and to develop concentration and insight as the way to overcome greed, hatred and delusions, which are the main causes of pain and suffering. The Buddha’s teachings and practices of mindfulness were recorded in the Anapanasati Sutta (Full Awareness of Breathing) and Satipathana Sutta (Four Establishments of Mindfulness). The Manifestation-Only Psychology was based on teachings of the mind by the Buddha, further developed by generations of Buddhist monks, systematized by Vasubandhu, an Indian Buddhist monk and philosopher in the 4^th century C.E. Works on the Manifestation-Only Psychology were further developed by Xuan Zang, Fa Zang in the 7^th and 8^th century. In the late 20^th and early 21^st century, Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh has updated the teachings, made them accessible and relevant to the modern society. The Five Mindfulness Trainings (5 precepts) are guidelines for living a happy life, also taught by the Buddha in his time.

The materials presented in this training program represent authentic teachings of the Buddha in the field of mindfulness, enriched and updated by Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh for modern time. By the end of this training, participants should be able to:

• Identify essential element of mindfulness practices: mindful breaths and mindful steps.
• Carry out daily mindfulness practices to help nourish body and mind, and to help transform pain and suffering into peace and happiness.
• Understand how the mind works from the Manifestation-Only perspective, and how to use them to free our mind from discriminative and judgmental thinking.
• Reflect on the interdependent nature of individual and collective well-being.
• Participate in local mindfulness community (Sangha).
• Apply mindfulness teachings and practices into their professions.
• Hold session of mindfulness practices for others.

10

30

Plum Village Mindfulness Academy, Hong Kong

Name of coordinator/contact person

Email address

2985-5281

Ms Venus Wong

email: venuspyw@gmail.com

Participants will practice leading mindfulness activities in retreats and Days of Mindfulness conducted by PVMA in Hong Kong, from May – July, 2015.

DOMs at AIAB, HKU, CUHK, HKIEd (May – July)