Who We Are

The Louisville Community of Mindful Living is a lay community that practices and shares the Vietnamese Zen Buddhist tradition of Thich Nhat Hanh, founder of the Order of Interbeing (Tiep Hien), while remaining open to truths from all other sources.  

Our community (called a "sangha") aspires to live the Buddha's way of mindfulness, which leads to an awakened life of joy, compassion, and loving kindness for ourselves and all beings.  Our practice is to maintain mindfulness of body, feelings, mind and the world, to look deeply to see the interconnected and impermanent nature of ourselves and the world.

We use this method in sitting and walking mediation as well as in our everyday lives:  washing the dishes, cleaning the house, etc. During our Sunday sessions, we practice sitting meditation, walking meditation, share the fruits of our practice as well as other activities.

The tools for our practice include suggested methods for healthy living:  the Five Mindfulness Trainings and the Fourteen Mindfulness Trainings, which were offered by the Buddha and translated by Thich Nhat Hanh.  Other practice tools include the Full Awareness of Breathing guided meditation and other gathas (poems) and songs.

Thich Nhat Hanh practicing walking meditation, China