The Five Mindfulness Trainings
The Five Mindfulness Trainings represent the Buddhist vision for a global spirituality and ethic. They are a concrete expression of the Buddha’s teachings on the Four Noble Truths and the Noble Eightfold Path, the path of right understanding and true love, leading to healing, transformation, and happiness for ourselves and for the world. To practice the Five Mindfulness Trainings is to cultivate the insight of interbeing, or Right View, which can remove all discrimination, intolerance, anger, fear, and despair. If we live according to the Five Mindfulness Trainings, we are already on the path of a bodhisattva. Knowing we are on that path, we are not lost in confusion about our life in the present or in fears about the future.
The Five Mindfulness Trainings
The Five Mindfulness Trainings represent the Buddhist vision for a global spirituality and ethic. They are a concrete expression of the Buddha’s teachings on the Four Noble Truths and the Noble Eightfold Path, the path of right understanding and true love, leading to healing, transformation, and happiness for ourselves and for the world. To practice the Five Mindfulness Trainings is to cultivate the insight of interbeing, or Right View, which can remove all discrimination, intolerance, anger, fear, and despair. If we live according to the Five Mindfulness Trainings, we are already on the path of a bodhisattva. Knowing we are on that path, we are not lost in confusion about our life in the present or in fears about the future.
The Five Mindfulness Trainings
The Five Mindfulness Trainings represent the Buddhist vision for a global spirituality and ethic. They are a concrete expression of the Buddha’s teachings on the Four Noble Truths and the Noble Eightfold Path, the path of right understanding and true love, leading to healing, transformation, and happiness for ourselves and for the world. To practice the Five Mindfulness Trainings is to cultivate the insight of interbeing, or Right View, which can remove all discrimination, intolerance, anger, fear, and despair. If we live according to the Five Mindfulness Trainings, we are already on the path of a bodhisattva. Knowing we are on that path, we are not lost in confusion about our life in the present or in fears about the future.
The Five Mindfulness Trainings
The Five Mindfulness Trainings represent the Buddhist vision for a global spirituality and ethic. They are a concrete expression of the Buddha’s teachings on the Four Noble Truths and the Noble Eightfold Path, the path of right understanding and true love, leading to healing, transformation, and happiness for ourselves and for the world. To practice the Five Mindfulness Trainings is to cultivate the insight of interbeing, or Right View, which can remove all discrimination, intolerance, anger, fear, and despair. If we live according to the Five Mindfulness Trainings, we are already on the path of a bodhisattva. Knowing we are on that path, we are not lost in confusion about our life in the present or in fears about the future.
The Five Mindfulness Trainings
The Five Mindfulness Trainings represent the Buddhist vision for a global spirituality and ethic. They are a concrete expression of the Buddha’s teachings on the Four Noble Truths and the Noble Eightfold Path, the path of right understanding and true love, leading to healing, transformation, and happiness for ourselves and for the world. To practice the Five Mindfulness Trainings is to cultivate the insight of interbeing, or Right View, which can remove all discrimination, intolerance, anger, fear, and despair. If we live according to the Five Mindfulness Trainings, we are already on the path of a bodhisattva. Knowing we are on that path, we are not lost in confusion about our life in the present or in fears about the future.
The Five Mindfulness Trainings represent the Buddhist vision for a global spirituality and ethic. They are a concrete expression of the Buddha’s teachings on the Four Noble Truths and the Noble Eightfold Path, the path of right understanding and true love, leading to healing, transformation, and happiness for ourselves and for the world. To practice the Five Mindfulness Trainings is to cultivate the insight of interbeing, or Right View, which can remove all discrimination, intolerance, anger, fear, and despair. If we live according to the Five Mindfulness Trainings, we are already on the path of a bodhisattva. Knowing we are on that path, we are not lost in confusion about our life in the present or in fears about the future.
"The Five Mindfulness Trainings are one of the most concrete
ways to practice mindfulness. They are nonsectarian, and their
nature is universal. They are true practices of compassion and
understanding. All spiritual traditions have their equivalent to
the Five Mindfulness Trainings.
​
The first training is to protect life, to decrease violence in
ones self, in the family and in society. The second training
is to practice social justice, generosity, not stealing and not
exploiting other living beings. The third is the practice of
responsible sexual behavior in order to protect individuals,
couples, families and children. The fourth is the practice of
Deep listening and Loving Speech to restore communication
and reconcile. The fifth is the practice of Mindful Consumption,
to help us not bring toxins and poisons into our body or mind.
"The Five Mindfulness Trainings are one of the most concrete
ways to practice mindfulness. They are nonsectarian, and their
nature is universal. They are true practices of compassion and
understanding. All spiritual traditions have their equivalent to
the Five Mindfulness Trainings.
​
The first training is to protect life, to decrease violence in
ones self, in the family and in society. The second training
is to practice social justice, generosity, not stealing and not
exploiting other living beings. The third is the practice of
responsible sexual behavior in order to protect individuals,
couples, families and children. The fourth is the practice of
Deep listening and Loving Speech to restore communication
and reconcile. The fifth is the practice of Mindful Consumption,
to help us not bring toxins and poisons into our body or mind.
PROJECTS TO SUPPORT CHILDREN & FAMILIES IN VIET NAM (2023 - 2024)
Below are details about the specific humanitarian projects to which the Loving Work Foundation is committed in 2023-2024. Please consider joining us in our efforts to improve the lives of those who need it most.
Toilets for Schools
$30,000.00 Donation Goal
Project Details
In response to need, we propose to fund the construction of students' toilets at primary and secondary schools in rural central Viet Nam.
Currently, the condition of students' toilets is grossly sub-standard. Common practice by the students, beginning in primary grades, is to avoid the need to use the toilet during the course of the school day, due to the stench and generally disgusting environment. Open latrines, constructed many years ago, are often the only available option. Some toilets offer no privacy from other users.
Anecdotal evidence points to the chronic health issues which plague the children, even into adulthood, as a result of habits begun in childhood related to the consumption of inadequate amounts of water throughout the day, with the goal of avoiding the need to urinate. The reluctance to respond to the need to defecate becomes yet another avoidance strategy, one that has the potential to create serious, long-term health issues,
We believe that access to a sanitary environment for the most basic bodily needs is vital for the health and general welfare, both physical and mental/emotional, of young children. An immediate effect of the lack of such access has the potential to influence a child's ability to learn and thrive.
The non-governmental local organization, Project RENEW, which has worked for 20+ years in central Viet Nam and enjoys exemplary relationships with all sectors of the community, as well as with governmental authorities, will manage this project. We, at Loving Work Foundation, have had 18 years experience of personal contact with the management teams at Project RENEW, knowing the organization to be completely transparent and ethical.
​
This project supports the mission of the Loving Work Foundation to "improve the lives of disadvantaged children and families in Viet Nam".
​
Donation Deadline
December 31, 2023
​
Project Location
Central Viet Nam.
​
Improving the Lives of Children & Families in Central Viet Nam
$12,000.00 Donation Goal
Project Details
We propose to fund projects that directly improve daily life for families in Quang Tri Province and Thua Thien Hue Province, central Viet Nam.
Central Viet Nam, particularly Quang Tri Province, has the distinction of being the most bombed area on the planet. Statistics show that during the American/Viet Nam War, the American military dropped more bombs on Quang Tri Province, than were dropped in ALL of World War II, leaving a legacy that continues to impact the citizens and the earth itself.
Since the end of the war, 40,000 Vietnamese people have been killed and another 60,000 maimed by Unexploded Live Ordinance, primarily Cluster bombs that failed to explode when initially dropped. (Though for citizens to encounter larger, live bombs and landmines, is not 'unusual'. These small, deadly cluster bombs, referred to locally as “bombies” are especially dangerous, for they most often appear to be nothing more than a clod of dirt. Whether a landmine, a large bomb, or a "bombie", all are life-threatening. In spite of the tremendous progress made by the three de-mining NGS's operating in central Viet nam, all with a great focus on educating children and adults on how to protect themselves, death and injuries occur when disturbed by unsuspecting farmers and children.
A second war legacy with tragic consequences for families is directly connected to the genetic-altering herbicide, Dioxin/Agent Orange which was heavily sprayed over this area (and other parts of the country) in a successful effort to destroy trees and foliage in which the enemy could hide. Dioxins are toxic chemical compounds, classified as a “persistent organic Pollutant (POP)”. (Source: World Health Organization).
Genetically-transmitted diseases and bizarre and horrific deformities in newborns continue to the present day. We have visited some children, of all ages, who were left on the steps of Tu Du Maternity Hospital in Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon), their deformities too severe for any family to manage, regardless of the depth of their love. Tu Du hospital has a residential facility, "Peace Village', specifically for these babies who require constant care. We have seen the approximately 150 jars of fetuses kept there by the staff, their deformities too horrible to imagine, as a reminder of the consequences of chemical warfare.
The availability of residential institutions for those with disabilities is woefully inadequate, requiring families to care for their family member in the home. The need to care for a disabled family member of whatever age - infant, child, youth, elderly - creates daily challenges.
We (from the foundation) have personally seen cases of the family member with a severe disability who must be left alone while the caregiver(s) must work elsewhere, to earn a living. We have seen a young woman tied to her bed, with the door to the home locked (to protect her) while her parents were at work in the market. We have seen a severely physically and mentally disabled young man, home alone, lying on his bed, with an empty drinking cup and straw nearby which he had inadvertently knocked just out of reach. We have seen an extreme case of mental disability, a young girl who was kept in an otherwise empty pen in the barn beside the pigs while her farmer caregiver worked. She did not appear to have the capacity to understand or communicate.
The emotional and economic hardship on families is severe, yet, time and time again, we have seen families in which the love between caregiver and child is clearly present, in spite of the despairing conditions.
We depend on our local partners, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), to select the families in most need of assistance. Under the management of the NGO, we are committed to provide direct and immediate relief that has the potential for long-term positive effect on the individual, the family, and the entire community.
Where appropriate, we propose to continue, as we have done in the past, to fund the purchase of farm animals that become a source of food and nutrition, with the potential of becoming a source of future revenue for the families. These might include goats, pigs, cows, and/or chickens. In some cases, our on-site volunteers will actually construct the barns for the goats and coops for the chickens.
Each year, our international volunteers offer their donations to benefit the families. Where possible, we also offer our volunteer labor by engaging in efforts to improve their environment, for example, clearing a plot of land as a site for a vegetable garden, weeding an existent garden, and planting trees. These efforts are organized and managed by our local partners.
We fund and deliver farm animals that have the potential to provide the families with the most direct relief, i.e. goats, pigs, cows, and chickens which become a source of food and nutrition and offer the potential to be long-term income-producers. International friends of our foundation community are directly involved in assisting the families to prepare for the animals by building barns for the goats, building coops for the chickens, and pens for the pigs and cows. They deliver the animal(s) directly to the families. This project supports the mission of the Loving Work Foundation to "improve the lives of disadvantaged children and families in Viet Nam" and to "inspire interest in the cultural vibrancy, the spiritual practices, and the everyday lives of the people of Viet Nam".
​
Donation Deadline
March 8, 2024
​
Project Location
Viet Nam.
​
Tam Binh Center for Special Needs Children Hue Viet Nam
$10,000.00 Donation Goal
Project Details
To provide financial support for this center in Thua Thien Hue Province which serves a particularly 'underserved' community of children with a variety of disabilities, many of which are believed to be the genetic continuation of the effects of the Dioxin (Agent Orange) sprayed over this area by the US military for nine years during the 'American War'. Currently, Tam Binh serves 50 families by providing food and scholarships for the 30 children now enrolled in their program. Fifteen children are residential, returning home on weekends and holidays.
The children suffer from a variety of disabilities: Cognitive Disabilities, Autism Spectrum Disorder, Cerebral Palsy, Downs Syndrome, Deafness.
This center, like all centers for Special Needs children, receives no government aid. Children with even a slight 'disability' are not mainstreamed into the public school system.
The financial needs include salaries for the eight staff, currently at below a living wage, and all other daily expenses. The community need is great enough to justify expanding the current capacity of Tam Binh which is a goal.
We are committed to providing funds to this program, to be used at the discretion of the founder/managing director.
A past project, funded by donors to the foundation, involved funding and physically building a playground for the children, as well as improving the esthetics of the center by painting murals for the children's enjoyment.
​
Donation Deadline
February 14, 2024
​
Project Location
Hue,
Viet Nam.
​
Financial Aid for the School Children, Quang Nam Province
$20,000.00 Donation Goal
​
Project Details
To provide financial support for needy children in Quang Nam Province to attend Public school. Many families in the rural villages of Viet Nam cannot afford the required school fees. In some cases, the loss of the meager income a child might earn in the market is sufficient reason to prevent the child from attending school. Some families are desperately poor, especially those where there is only one parent at home, or an elderly grandma or grandpa has assumed responsibility for raising the child, due to the parents having passed away, or they are working in the city, or, in some instances, they have abandoned the family. The plight of the family is even greater when there is a child who suffers from a disability which means they must be cared for at home, increasing the burden on the caregiver(s) and their healthy sibling(s). (There is no center for children with disabilities in the villages in which we work.
A constant concern is that without access to education, a child is extremely vulnerable to being trafficked to the city or to other countries and forced into the harsh realities of the sex trade or other inappropriate environments.
This project is ongoing. Currently, Loving Work Foundation friends support more than 100 children to attend school. Some of the children we have supported have graduated. One is a second year university student who is being completely funded by two friends who have been supporters for the past 10 years.
Each late August/early September, we accompany our local Vietnamese friends of many years who, as managers of the project, deliver funds to several schools for the upcoming academic year. We have well-established relationships with the school teachers and managing staff. In the belief, that they know the families and situations in their community, we rely on them to select the children for the program, as well as those whose families are in the greatest need for some monthly support throughout the year.
​
Donation Deadline
July 31, 2024
​
Project Location
Quang Nam Provence,
Viet Nam.