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Via Ram Dass - Love Serve Remember Foundation // Words of Wisdom - February 19, 2025 💠

There is a lovely story of a boy who goes to a Zen Master and asks, “Master, I know you have many students, but if I study harder than all the rest of them, how long will it take me to get enlightened?” The master said, “Ten years.” The boy said, “Well, if I work day and night and double my efforts, how long will it take?” The master said, “Twenty years.” Now the boy talked of further achievement, and the master said, “Thirty years.” The boy replied, “Why do you keep adding years?” The master answered, “Since you will have one eye on the goal, there will only be one eye left to have on the work. And it will slow you down immeasurably.”

Via Dhamma Wheel | Right Speech: Refraining from False Speech

 

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RIGHT SPEECH Refraining from False Speech False speech is unhealthy. Refraining from false speech is healthy. (MN 9) Abandoning false speech, one dwells refraining from false speech, a truth-speaker, one to be relied on, trustworthy, dependable, not a deceiver of the world. One does not in full awareness speak falsehood for one’s own ends, or for another’s ends, or for some trifling worldly end. (DN 1) One practices thus: "Others may speak falsely, but I shall abstain from false speech." (MN 8) Such speech as you know to be true and correct but unbeneficial, and which is welcome and agreeable to others—do not utter such speech. (MN 58)

Reflection Speaking truthfully is a habit that can be learned, even if we have previously learned the habit of speaking untruthfully. It is a matter of bringing full awareness to your speech and its consequences. Often there may appear to be a short-term benefit from speaking falsely, but the Buddha is pointing out the long-term harm that false speech does to your character. In the long run the lack of integrity is unhealthy. Daily Practice This passage is urging us to speak only when what we say is likely to have a beneficial effect on another person or on the situation at hand. It is not enough to say things that are agreeable to others, even if they are true. Flattery, for example, might have an unbeneficial effect on someone by inflating their sense of themselves. Practice speaking only those words that are going to be helpful. Tomorrow: Reflecting upon Bodily Action One week from today: Refraining from Malicious Speech Share your thoughts and join the conversation on social media #DhammaWheel Questions? Visit the Dhamma Wheel orientation page.

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Via Daily Dharma: Understanding Thought

 

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Understanding Thought Most of our suffering comes from habitual thinking. If we try to stop it out of aversion to thinking, we can’t; we just go on and on and on. So the important thing is not to get rid of thought but to understand it. Ajahn Sumedho, “Noticing Space” CLICK HERE TO READ THE ARTICLE

Working on Laziness  By Dzigar Kongtrul Rinpoche Our level of accomplishment is only as great as our level of diligence.  Read more »