No matter how plain a woman may be, if truth and honesty are written across her face, she will be beautiful. ~Eleanor Roosevelt
The Buddha said that the past is gone and the future is not yet here. Let us not regret the past. Let us not worry about the future to the present moment and live deeply the present moment. Because the present moment is the only moment where you can touch life. Life is available only in the present moment. That is why walking meditation is to go back to the present moment, in order to be alive again and to touch life deeply in that moment. In order to be able to touch the earth with our feet and enjoy walking, we have to establish ourselves firmly in the present moment, in the here and the now.
In walking meditation, we walk like a free person. This is not political freedom. This is freedom from afflictions, from sorrow, from fear. Unless you are free you cannot enjoy walking. ~Thich Nhat Hanh
Right Speech is the third of the eight path factors in the Noble Eightfold Path, and belongs to the virtue division of the path.
The definition
“And what is right speech? Abstaining from lying, from divisive speech, from abusive speech, & from idle chatter: This is called right speech.”
— SN 45.8
Five keys to right speech
“Monks, a statement endowed with five factors is well-spoken, not ill-spoken. It is blameless & unfaulted by knowledgeable people. Which five?
“It is spoken at the right time. It is spoken in truth. It is spoken affectionately. It is spoken beneficially. It is spoken with a mind of good-will.”
— AN 5.198
The danger in lying
“For the person who transgresses in one thing, I tell you, there is no evil deed that is not to be done. Which one thing? This: telling a deliberate lie.”
The person who lies,
who transgress in this one thing,
transcending concern for the world beyond:
there’s no evil
he might not do. Continue reading
How does the dhamma teach the proper way of life? It shows us how to live. It has many ways of showing it – on roots or trees or just in front of you. It is a teaching but not in words. So still the mind, the heart, and learn to watch. You’ll find the whole dhamma revealing itself here and now. At what other time and place are you going to look? ~Ajahn Chah
Photo credit: Randy Neufeldt
Whenever we feel that we are definitely right, so much so that we refuse to open up to anything or anybody else, right there we are wrong. It becomes wrong view. When suffering arises, where does it arise from? The cause is wrong view, the fruit of that being suffering. If it was right view it wouldn’t cause suffering. ~Ajahn Chah
In order to make yourself a person of the world, you have had to fight for every inch. Even when you are pressing your clothes or busy organizing a cocktail party, there is always an undercurrent of trying to prove something, trying to achieve something. Whatever you do involves some kind of chauvinism, which in fact could be one definition of ego. However, individual chauvinism can be overcome. The achievement of mindfulness and awareness gives you tremendous freedom: that is the idea of individual salvation. You realize that there is no need to fight or wage warfare. In this way, the development of awareness leads to tremendous relaxation, gentleness, and peace. ~Chögyam Trungpa
The virtuous man delights in this world and he delights in the next. ~Buddha, The Dhammapada
Now may every living thing, young or old,
weak or strong, living near or far, known or
unknown, living or departed or yet unborn,
may every living thing be full of bliss.
~Dhammapada
Kind hearts are the gardens,
Kind thoughts are the roots,
Kind words are the flowers,
Kind deeds are the fruits,
Take care of your garden
And keep out the weeds,
Fill it with sunshine,
Kind words, and Kind deeds.
~Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
The butterfly counts not months but moments, and has time enough. ~Rabindranath Tagore
