For this retreat on wise speech, mindfulness, and non-violent communication, we begin with examining the place of wise (or "right") speech in the Eightfold Path, and how it is linked to training and development in wisdom, ethics, and meditation. We then reflect on the importance for this path of speech, and the four ethical guidelines for speech given by the Buddha: (1) truthfulness, (2) helpfulness, (3) warmth/kindness, and (4) appropriateness.

Right Livelihood, as the culmination of the virtue, or sila, steps of the Eightfold Path, concerns all aspects of how we sustain our life. It is far more than just our job. This talk examines how we can practice toward a fuller alignment of all aspects of our life.

What did the Buddha teach that was distinctively his own view? This talk attempts to answer this question. I start to define three cardinal tenets of the Buddhist teachings: the Principle of Conditionality; the Process of the Eightfold Path, and the Practice of Mindfulness. I then examine a passage from the Ariyapariyesana Sutta in which the Buddha describes his awakening as a shift from a Place to a Ground. NOTE: The quality of the recording of this talk may be improved after 11/15

Unlike the three Western monotheistic religions, Buddhism is not a religion of the book. Rather, Buddhism is based on the Buddha’s enlightened experience. More specifically, among other things, the Buddha was an early scientist. He said that if you reproduce his experiment by cultivating the Eightfold Path, your can replicate the same enlightenment result in yourself. There is no need for any beliefs, cosmology, dogma or creed. Indeed, all sentient beings are endowed by the luminous Buddha nature. The Buddha merely serves as a mirror for us to see our own enlightened nature. However, this means that we need to have the wisdom to see our true nature as it really is. This wisdom is described as the “right view” in the first step of the Eightfold Path. The problem is how can we see things as they really are when our attention is so scattered and our view is so obscured by poisons such as greed, hatred, delusion, pride and jealousy? The answer is through mindful awareness. Indeed, mindful awareness is something that we can learn even the first time we meditate. Eventually, we can reach a state of effortless awareness. This clear seeing allows our mindfulness to create some space between the stimulus and our response. Instead of knee-jerk, blind response, our mind has more time to choose a more skillful, intelligent response, thus, leading to more freedom and proactivity.

Having entered the stream of the eightfold path, one becomes 'independent of the views of others'. This autonomy is the ground for a new way of being with oneself and the world. It deepens insight and expands empathy, leading to compassion and social engagement.

Right livelihood, one of the factors of the Eightfold Path, is primarily focused on the ethical qualities of our work. We explore this factor, as well as the related sense of vocation or calling – to have one’s life and work express one’s gifts while contributing and providing a path to universal Dharma.

Much anguish and insecurity results from a sense of being separated from our fellow beings and from the world. The strategies we use to try to overcome this often involve the fabrication of additional partitions (e.g.; "us vs. them"), and thus backfire. The Noble Eightfold Path offers a better way.