Thich Nhat Hanh opens a session of questions and answers, inviting young people to ask the first five questions after listening to the bell and mindful breathing, then welcomes questions from the rest of the sangha.

1. Have you reached enlightenment, and if so, how?
2. Why are we here on earth, and why do people believe in God?
3. What’s it like in Plum Village?
4. What do you do to defend yourself?
5. Why do monks wear brown robes when they could choose other colors?
6. A friend at school isn’t nice to me—how should I respond?
7. When are you happiest?
8. Do lay practitioners following the Five Mindfulness Trainings show more focus and strength in their Buddhism than monastics, given worldly distractions?
9. How can we act wisely to disarm structural violence, such as nuclear weapons and energy policies?
10. In the Fourth Mindfulness Training, can “utter words that can cause the family to break” include an exception “unless it is in their best interest” for toxic or abusive couples?
11. How can I act wisely on global warming when governments and institutions aren’t preventing enormous suffering quickly enough?
12. How can I take refuge in the Buddha, the Dharma, and the Sangha on a daily basis?
13. As a sculptor in the West, should I make Buddhas and Bodhisattvas or let the natural world or global issues speak through my art?
14. As a medical student, how can I best help those who are suffering or approaching death and manage my own distress?
15. A friend who found God tells me I’m going to hell—should I speak up or remain silent?
16. As a yoga teacher, what’s the best way to prepare the body for practice to prevent stress?
17. How do you transform hurt from embracing it to letting it go when the person who hurt you refuses any communication?
18. In the Third Mindfulness Training, what do the terms “love” and “long-term commitment” mean, and why use “long-term commitment” instead of “marriage”?
19. As a single parent whose children have no memory of their deceased father, how can I help them connect with and keep alive his memory?
20. Is there a danger for a musician or artist in expressing deep emotion that may water negative seeds in listeners’ store consciousness?