Use code SUMMERPRACTICE for a 25% discount on all On Demand Courses through August 31.

Citta and Right Speech: Cultivating the Voice of Kindness and Wisdom

With Dave Smith recorded on July 31, 2022.

Found our teachings useful? Help us continue our work and support your teachers with a donation. Here’s how.

Dharma practice encourages us to transform our thoughts, words and actions. The primary mechanism for how this is accomplished is vague. What often goes unnoticed is that the use of the term mind has undergone a radical psychologization from the time of the Buddha into present day. During this session we will explore the many nuances of the pali term citta and how it can be utilized as a voice for personal and global transformation.

Listen to the audio version below, or click here to download the mp3.

Discussion

One thought on “Citta and Right Speech: Cultivating the Voice of Kindness and Wisdom

  1. Excellent and inspiring, as expected. Just want to add; the Buddha experienced monkeys first hand. I think the term “monkey mind” may be misunderstood by current westerners. Monkeys don’t “jump from one thing to the next” pointlessly. They are searching for food, looking for stimulation, etc., and when satisfied they lay around, sleep, or groom each other and socialize. All done without mindful purpose, but purposefully nonetheless, from the position of monkey culture. I think a better term would be “bored monkey mind” and we should recognize that the best way to settle down a monkey’s mind is to provide it with “right activity”. A little food for thought.

Leave a Reply

Discover more from the Dharma Library

  • Daily Meditation Recordings, with Ulla Koenig – Week of Nov 15, 2022

    This week’s topic is Kindle the Flame. Metta practice, which nourishes the heart’s capacity for friendliness, brings many benefits. It softens our relationship to ourselves, nourishes us with a sense of connection, puts challenges into perspective and offers a safe ground from which we can meet life with a sense of care. We dedicate this week to (re)ignite the flame of metta, using as an inspiration the Karaṇīyamettā Sutta, a famous discourses of the Buddha.

    Read More

  • Cultivating Wise Energy

    Everything we do in life depends on energy, but the modern world has a destructive and exploitative relationship with energy. What is wise, balanced energy in spiritual practice? How can we establish this in the face of societal pressure and norms, and how can it be a resource in our daily life?

    Read More

  • Glimpse of Being

    There are many ways to practice mindfulness, from the focused and deliberate to the expansive and relaxed. In this session, Diana teaches about natural awareness, which is a wide open, spacious, effortless awareness of awareness. Learn simple meditative shifts and ‘Glimpse Practices’ to connect with our radiant awareness and the innate capacity we all have…

    Read More

  • The Spectrum of Awareness Practices

      This session will explore different ways in which attention works and associated meditation practices: from focused awareness, to flexible awareness, to natural awareness. We’ll do a number of fun experiential practices in hopes of understanding a variety of ways to meditate and how we can refine our own practice. Diana draws from her latest…

    Read More

  • Kaira Jewel Lingo

    Entering the flow of generosity: giving and receiving are one.

    In this class we explore the practice of generosity, both in giving and receiving. We investigate how we can give and receive from our heart, with wisdom and discernment. We learn how to allow the three kinds of gifts–material resources, the gift of the Dharma, and the gift of non-fear–to flow abundantly through all aspects…

    Read More

  • Dave Smith

    Mindfulness and the Four Noble Truths

    Across all Buddhist lineages and traditions, the four noble truths hold the utmost importance. They are the Dharma’s most fundamental teaching. In modern society, the focus of Buddhism often shifts to meditation, particularly mindfulness, as the practice continues to be integrated into contemporary culture. How can we bring the teachings of the four noble truths…

    Read More