WHAT IS WAKE UP?

Wake Up is an active global community of young mindfulness practitioners, aged 18-35, inspired by the teachings of Zen Master and peace activist Thich Nhat Hanh. We come together to practice mindfulness in order to take care of ourselves, nourish happiness, and contribute to building a healthier and more compassionate society. There are Wake Up groups in many cities all around the world.

We want to help our world which is overloaded with intolerance, discrimination, craving, anger and despair. Seeing the environmental degradation caused by our society, we want to live in such a way that our planet Earth can survive for a long time.

Practicing mindfulness, concentration and insight, enables us to cultivate tolerance, non-discrimination, understanding and compassion in ourselves and the world.

Our Practice

We follow the Five Mindfulness Trainings, which are ethical guidelines that offer concrete practices of true love and compassion, and a path towards a life in harmony with each other and the Earth. These guidelines are the foundation of our lives and represent our ideal of service.

Our practice is based on cultivating awareness of the breath and living deeply in the present moment, aware of what is happening within us and around us. This practice helps us to release the tension in our bodies and feelings, to live life profoundly and more happily, and to use compassionate listening and loving speech to help restore communication and reconcile with others.

Roots of Wake Up: Inclusiveness

The Wake Up movement is inspired by Buddhism’s long tradition of wisdom and practices which help cultivate understanding and love; it is not based on beliefs or ideology. The spirit of our practice is close to the spirit of science; both help us cultivate an open and non-discriminating mind. We honor everyone’s diverse spiritual and cultural roots. You can join as a Christian, a Jew, a Muslim, as an agnostic or atheist, or member of any other spiritual or religious tradition.

We aim to be a place of refuge, nourishment and support for all those who aspire to transform their own suffering and contribute to a healthy and compassionate society.