Cultivating Conscious Communication

Hello,

This is davidji and welcome to today's meditation.

Most of the suffering that we experience in our life comes from a break in communication.

We speak to ourselves in voices that are non-nourishing and it leads to pain.

We speak to others in ways that do not truly bring us closer and it leads to pain.

Since the goal we all truly seek is peace,

Love,

Happiness and connection,

We should practice behaviors that move us closer to those outcomes.

And yet this isn't always the case.

So let's get comfortable right now.

Let's close our eyes,

Take a long,

Slow,

Deep breath in and gently let that go.

Just connect right now with your breath.

Connect to this sacred,

Precious,

Present moment.

The third teaching of the Noble Eightfold Path is Right Speech.

Right Speech is a virtue which means it can be cultivated.

Right Speech,

Known in Pali as sama-vaka deals with the way in which one would best make use of their words.

And what is Right Speech?

According to the ancient teachings,

Right Speech is abstaining from lying,

From divisive speech,

From abusive speech and from idle chatter.

This is called Right Speech.

If we can cultivate Right Speech through our thoughts,

They will lead to our inner dialogue.

And when our inner dialogue is nourishing,

What we say and do is an extension of that.

So in essence,

That is the moment when our inner dialogue becomes our outer dialogue.

So let's start this process by absorbing the ancient teachings of Right Speech.

Place your hands on your heart or one hand on your heart.

And as you breathe,

Feel your chest rise up to touch that hand.

Know that you are connected to the universe right now.

Allow these words to ripple into you.

Abandoning false speech,

I speak the truth.

I hold to the truth.

I am firm.

I am reliable.

I am not a deceiver of the world.

I am not a deceiver of myself.

I abandon divisive speech.

What I have heard in one place,

I do not tell in another place to break those people apart from these people here.

My words bring people together.

My words unite.

My words harmonize those who have broken apart.

I love harmony.

I delight in harmony.

I enjoy harmony.

I speak words that create harmony.

I abandon abusive speech.

I speak words that are soothing to the ear.

I speak words that are affectionate,

That go to the heart,

That are polite.

I speak words that are appealing and pleasing to people at large.

I am the hole in the flute through which the Christ breath flows.

I abandon idle chatter.

I speak in season.

I speak what is factual.

I speak words worth treasuring,

Seasonable,

Reasonable,

Relevant,

And connected with the goal.

There are five keys to right speech,

And every statement we make should include all five factors,

And would be considered a skillful verbal act.

The five factors are,

It is spoken at the right time,

It is spoken in truth,

It is spoken affectionately,

It is spoken beneficially,

And lastly,

It is spoken with a mind of good will.

My words are timely,

Truthful,

Affectionate,

Beneficial,

And with a mind of good will.

We have an opportunity to reflect on our words before,

During,

And after speaking.

Right before we're about to perform a verbal act,

We should reflect on this one statement.

This verbal act I want to perform,

Would it lead to self-affliction,

To the affliction of others,

Or to both?

Is it an unskillful verbal act with painful consequences,

Painful results?

If on reflection,

You know that it would lead to self-affliction,

To the affliction of others,

Or to both,

Then it would be an unskillful verbal act with painful consequences,

Painful results,

And any verbal act of this sort is unfit for you.

You're better than that.

But if upon reflection,

You know that it would not cause affliction,

Then it would be a skillful verbal act with happy consequences,

Happy results,

And then any verbal act of that kind is perfect.

While you are in the midst of flowing words,

Reflect on this question.

These words I am sharing,

Do they lead to self-affliction,

To the affliction of others?

If so,

It's an unskillful verbal act with painful consequences,

Painful results.

And as those words are leaving your lips,

If you realize that they are not leading to self-affliction,

Or the affliction of others,

Then keep flowing them.

And once the words have left your mouth,

Having performed this verbal act,

Reflect on it again.

And if you realize it led to self-affliction,

Or to the affliction of others,

That it was an unskillful verbal act,

And the painful consequences are now rippling,

Then confess it,

Reveal it,

Lay it open in that moment,

Call a time out.

Once you have confessed that,

You can change the trajectory.

And then you realize that's certainly something you wouldn't want to flow again in the future.

But if it was a skillful verbal act,

With happy consequences,

Happy results,

Then stay mentally refreshed and joyful.

Celebrate the fact that you flowed such harmony out into the world.

We can always ask ourselves these five questions before we speak.

Am I speaking at the right time?

Am I speaking facts?

Am I speaking gently?

Am I speaking words of value?

Am I speaking with a kindly heart?

Bring your awareness right now to a recent communication you've had with another human being and replay it in your mind's eye.

Did you speak at the right time?

Did you speak only facts?

Did you speak gently?

Did you speak words of value?

Did you speak with a kindly heart?

If the answer is yes,

Then you are flowing the love of the universe.

And if the answer to any of those questions was no,

Now is the perfect time to reflect on how we'd like to communicate going forward.

Let's take a long,

Slow,

Deep breath in.

And gently let that go.

And let's commit to speaking only truth.

Take a long,

Slow,

Deep breath in.

And let it go.

Let's commit to speaking only words of value.

Take a long,

Slow,

Deep breath in.

And release it.

Let's commit to speaking kindly.

Take a long,

Slow,

Deep breath in.

And let it go.

And now let's take it a bit deeper.

That speech in the Pali language is called sama-vaka.

And subtle intention in Sanskrit is sankalpa.

Let's merge these two worlds and combine them into a mantra.

Sankalpa sama-vaka.

And as you repeat the mantra,

Silently,

You may drift away to thoughts or sounds or physical sensations.

That's okay.

When you realize you're not repeating the mantra,

Sa-n,

Kalpa,

Sama-vaka,

Ever so gently drift back to it.

As you repeat the mantra,

It may change.

It may get louder or fainter,

Faster or slower.

It may become jumbled or distorted.

However it changes,

Don't resist.

When you realize you've drifted away from the mantra,

Ever so gently drift back to sa-n,

Kalpa,

Sama-vaka.

I'll watch the time.

And when you hear me ring the chime,

Just sit gently with your eyes closed.

So let's begin.

And as you repeat the mantra,

Silently,

You may drift away to thoughts or physical sensations.

As you repeat the mantra,

Softly,

Drift back to sa-n,

Kalpa,

Sama-vaka.

You Sun,

Kalpa,

Sama,

Vaka.

Sit gently with your eyes closed and let the stillness and silence settle in.

And now let's take a long,

Slow,

Deep breath in.

And let that go.

Let's do that one more time.

Long,

Slow,

Deep breath in.

And gently release.

And let's seal this meditation.

Let's seal our connection.

And let's seal our Sama,

Vaka.

Our right speech.

By chanting the hymn of the universe,

Aum,

Just one time together.

Take a long,

Slow,

Deep breath in.

Aum.

And when it feels comfortable,

You can slowly open your eyes.

You can look around at those who you share this collective consciousness with.

Namaste.

I honor the divine light in you that's also in me.

And when you're in that space,

And I'm in that space,

We are one.

From the sweet spot of the universe,

This is davidji wishing you a beautiful day,

Beautiful week,

Beautiful lifetime of cultivating your right speech.

I'll see you in the gap.

Namaste.

Thank you.