Reflections on Wise Communication with Noah Levine

November 23, 2020 I’m going to talk about Sila. Buddhist ethics; the teachings, the suggestions, the guidance on how to live, how to behave, how to speak, how to act in a way that is supportive of our intentions for happiness and for awakening.

Tonight: Wise communication. Abstaining from lying, tale bearing, harsh language and vain talk is ‘right speech’. The avoidance of wrong speech, the abstaining, the resisting, the refraining. And then developing not just what we don't do, “I don't lie. I don't gossip. I don't try to cause harm with my words”. But actually acknowledging that our human communication is so powerful.

You know this right?

Just from the way that we affect each other, we do have the ability to bring a smile to each other’s face. To make each other feel good. To feel heard. To feel supported. To feel loved, and to actually practice that kind of positivity, that kind of perspective, “I want to speak to you in a way so that you feel good. I want to speak the truth, in the appropriate time, and the appropriate place, but in a way that hopefully supports you, even if it's sometimes uncomfortable.”