I find speech to be a very rich area of practice. Observing the ways in which we speak can be a guide to observing what is going on in our minds. What comes out of our mouths may be quite different from what we want to come out, or may be very different from what we think is coming out. We can use awareness of speech as a guide to the inner life, as a vehicle leading to self-understanding. It is also an essential area in which to express harmlessness. In the Buddha's discourses there are four … [Read more...]
Buddhist Roots & Ethics
Mindfulness-Based Interventions (MBIs) have become a wide-spread treatment because of their secular nature. MBSR (mindfulness-based stress reduction) has been extremely successful in introducing large numbers of people to the value of mindfulness practice in coping with common sources of suffering, such as chronic pain. In removing these practices from their original context, Buddhadharma, much was left behind. The role of sīla or ethics, for example, in the cultivation of well-being, is being … [Read more...]
Unburdened With Duties & Frugal In Our Ways
The Personal Economy Of Right Livelihood For contemporary western lay practitioners of the Buddha's way, Right Livelihood (samma ājīva) is hardly the most compelling factor on the Eightfold Path. For us, livelihood is most often simply equated with our job, with what we do for a living, how we make our money. In the midst of our practice, we might pause for a quick mental check to confirm that we aren't supporting ourselves through any particularly egregious line of work, but we then move right … [Read more...]