Forests in Thailand are not quiet places. Birdsong can be loud and raucous. In the evening the cicadas can make such a din that it is impossible to hold a conversation. On occasions in the past I have had to end (amplified) Dhamma discourses to the Sangha because the croaking of bullfrogs made them inaudible

Recently, I was sent a beautiful vignette. It concerned the great cultural anthropologist, Margaret Mead. On one occasion she was asked what she considered to be the first sign of civilization in a culture.

On the full moon day of July, we commemorate the occasion on which the Buddha delivered his first discourse, the Dhammacakkha-pavattana Sutta, so called because it ‘set into motion the wheel of Dhamma’. It was the day the teachings first appeared in the world, and the day that Venerable Kondañño became the first person to penetrate their deep meaning.

In the first two lines of the Discourse on Blessings (Mangala Sutta), the Buddha gives his most fundamental advice for life in the world: be careful who you associate with. However, the terms he uses may need some explanation. The Buddha says that two of life’s highest blessings come from ‘not associating with the foolish, but associating with the wise.’

𝗕𝗲𝗻𝗲𝗳𝗶𝘁

We are mindful if the other person’s words are (a) relevant to the conversation, and (b) conducive to growth in wholesome or unwholesome mental states.

𝗠𝗮𝗻𝗻𝗲𝗿

We seek to be aware of the effect upon our judgement of the other person’s appearance, body language and tone of voice.

At the same time as considering these five points within ourselves, we also practice being aware of them with regard to other people.

𝗜𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻

We remind ourselves that we cannot read minds. We can never be completely sure of the other person’s intention.

We have looked at the two preliminary considerations of intention and timeliness. We have looked at the two considerations of content: truthfulness and benefit. The fifth consideration is of 𝗺𝗮𝗻𝗻𝗲𝗿.

𝗖𝗶𝗿𝗰𝘂𝗺𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲

We ask ourselves if this is the right time and place to have this conversation.

𝗧𝗿𝘂𝘁𝗵𝗳𝘂𝗹𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀

We train ourselves to speak from the heart. We tell the truth as we see it, always open to the possibility that we have got something wrong.

To speak well and communicate effectively first requires us to check on our 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 in speaking, and on the prevailing 𝘤𝘪𝘳𝘤𝘶𝘮𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘴. During the conversation itself we should keep track of the 𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘵𝘩𝘧𝘶𝘭𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴 and 𝘦𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘤𝘵 of our words and of the 𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘯𝘦𝘳 in which we speak them.

No matter how pleasant and comfortable our surroundings may be, there will always be occasions when a form, sound, odour, taste or physical sensation encourages aversion in the mind. No matter how unpleasant and uncomfortable our surroundings may be, there will always be occasions when a form, sound, odour, taste or physical sensation encourages greed in the mind.

In discussing rebirth we may either ‘zoom out’ and consider it in terms of a succession of lifetimes, or ‘zoom in’ and look at it in terms of the moment-by-moment succession of mental states in the present lifetime.

Recounting how Ajahn Chah taught a valuable lesson about praise and blame.

During a visit to my family home sometime in the mid-1990’s, I came across a dear friend under the stairs. This was not so strange as you may think. The friend was a book – as many of my best friends growing up tended to be – an old, tattered edition of Peter Kropotkin’s ‘Mutual Aid’.

We human beings have agreed that there is something called ‘time’ which can be measured by clocks and calendars. But what exactly is time in the real world of our direct experience?

1) Be mindful of anxiety as a phenomena affecting body and mind. Don’t fight it or indulge it. See the anxious thoughts as simply thoughts, like clouds passing through the sky of the mind. See the physical sensations as merely sensation, part of nature.

The more closely we contemplate our bodies and minds and the world we live in, the more profoundly we become aware of fragility and instability. When a crisis like this pandemic lays bare the unreliable and uncertain nature of the world, we are unsurprised. We know that what is happening right now is not a deviation from the norm.

Beware of words that ignore the truths of impermanence and contingency such as ‘always’ and ‘never’, especially when they follow personal pronouns e.g.