More on this book
Community
Kindle Notes & Highlights
A Buddha is someone who is mindful all day long.
Unless our love is made of understanding, it is not true love. Mindfulness is the energy that brings the eyes of a Buddha into our hand. With mindfulness, we can change the world and bring happiness to many people. This is not abstract. It is possible for every one of us to generate the energy of mindfulness in each moment of our daily life.
“Aware of the suffering caused by unmindful speech and the inability to listen to others, I am committed to cultivating loving speech and deep listening in order to bring joy and happiness to others and relieve others of their suffering. Knowing that words can create happiness or suffering, I am determined to speak truthfully, with words that inspire self-confidence, joy, and hope. I will not spread news that I do not know to be certain and will not criticize or condemn things of which I am not sure. I will refrain from uttering words that can cause division or discord, or that can cause the
...more
The classical explanation of Right Speech is: (1) Speaking truthfully.
(2) Not speaking with a forked tongue.
(3) Not speaking cruelly.
(4) Not exaggerating or embellishing.
The practice of Right Speech is to try to change our habits so that our speech arises from the seed of Buddha that is in us, and not from our unresolved, unwholesome seeds.2
Deep listening is at the foundation of Right Speech. If we cannot listen mindfully, we cannot practice Right Speech.
Deep listening nourishes both speaker and listener.
So if you really love someone, train yourself to be a listener.
use loving speech.
We have lost our capacity for speaking with kindness. This is the Fourth Mindfulness Training.
You have to listen in such a way that compassion remains with you the whole time you are listening. That is the art.
It may be the truth, but if our way of speaking causes unnecessary suffering, it is not Right Speech. The truth must be presented in ways that others can accept. Words that damage or destroy are not Right Speech. Before you speak, understand the person you are speaking to. Consider each word carefully before you say anything, so that your speech is “Right” in both form and content.
Open your mouth and speak only when you are sure you can use calm and loving speech. You have to train yourself to be able to do so.
A letter can sometimes be safer than speaking, because there is time for you to read what you have written before sending it.
Writing is a deep practice.
Words can travel thousands of miles. May my words create mutual understanding and love. May they be as beautiful as gems, as lovely as flowers.
This gatha expresses the determination to practice Right Speech.
Confucius said, “The heavens do not say anything.” That also means, the heavens tell us so much, but we don’t know how to listen to them.
To practice social justice and non-exploitation, we have to use Right Speech.
Right Action (samyak karmanta) means Right Action of the body. It is the practice of touching love and preventing harm, the practice of nonviolence toward ourselves and others. The basis of Right Action is to do everything in mindfulness.
The First Training is about reverence for life:
We may be killing every day by the way we eat, drink, and use the land, air, and water. We think that we don’t kill, but we do. Mindfulness of action helps us be aware so we can stop the killing and begin saving and helping.
The Second Mindfulness Training is about generosity:
The Third Mindfulness Training is about sexual responsibility:
When Right Mindfulness shines its light on our daily life, we are able to keep this training steadily.
The Fifth Mindfulness Training encourages mindful eating, drinking, and consuming.
Right Action means bringing into our body and mind only the kinds of food that are safe and healthy.
We have to practice mindful consumption to protect our body and consciousness and the collective body and consciousness of our family and our society.
That is the work of a bodhisattva, doing it not for herself alone but for everyone.
You look at his Right Action and see all the things that are contained in it.
“The tree is known by its fruit.” — Lord Jesus Christ
Right Diligence (samyak pradhana), or Right Effort, is the kind of energy that helps us realize the Noble Eightfold Path.
The four practices usually associated with Right Diligence are: (1) preventing unwholesome seeds in our store consciousness that have not yet arisen from arising, (2) helping the unwholesome seeds that have already arisen to return to our store consciousness, (3) finding ways to water the wholesome seeds in our store consciousness that have not yet arisen and asking our friends to do the same, and (4) nourishing the wholesome seeds that have already arisen so that they will stay present in our mind consciousness and grow stronger. This is called the Fourfold Right Diligence.
“The practice of the Way is the same,” the Buddha said. “Maintain your health. Be joyful. Do not force yourself to do things you cannot do.”2 We need to know our physical and psychological limits. We shouldn’t force ourselves to do ascetic practices or lose ourselves in sensual pleasures. Right Diligence lies in the Middle Way, between the extremes of austerity and sensual indulgence.
Right Diligence does not mean to force ourselves. If we have joy, ease, and interest, our effort will come naturally.
The practice is to smile as soon as we wake up, recognizing this day as an opportunity for practicing. It is up to us not to waste it.
Suffering can propel us to practice.
The path that does not run away from but embraces our suffering is the path that will lead us to liberation.
The practice of mindful living should be joyful and pleasant.
Examine your practice. See what brings you joy and happiness of a sustained kind.
That is Right Diligence.
The practice of Right Concentration (samyak samadhi) is to cultivate a mind that is one-pointed.
two kinds of concentration, active and selective.
When we practice active concentration, we welcome whatever comes along. We don’t think about or long for anything else. We just dwell in the present moment with all our being. Whatever comes, comes. When the object of our concentration has passed, our mind remains clear, like a calm lake. When we practice “selective concentration,” we choose one object and hold onto it.
Right Concentration leads to happiness, and it also leads to Right Action.
There are nine levels of meditative concentration.
Formless concentrations are also practiced in other traditions, but when they are practiced outside of Buddhism, it is generally to escape from suffering rather than to realize the liberation that comes with insight into our suffering. When you use concentration to run away from yourself or your situation, it is wrong concentration.
Worldly concentration seeks to escape. Supramundane concentration aims at complete liberation.
