Daily Mindfulness 9/17/12

In Buddhism, we practice Right Speech.  The book The Four Agreements by Don Miguel Ruiz suggests “be impeccable with your word” as the first agreement.  Right Speech begins with mindfulness.

Our words are essentially the representation of our hearts and minds in the physical world, and we must treat them as so.  Being mindful of our words, we are able to speak truly and with love.  The wonderful Jack Kornfield reminds us to ask ourselves three things before speaking.

1.  Is it true?

2.  What is my higher intention?

3.  Does it come from a warm heart?

If we ask ourselves about the truth of our statements, we may find that we often speak only our perceptions, and they are often distorted.  Being mindful, we are able to touch the truth of our statements.  When we ask ourselves about our higher intentions, we become mindful of our true purpose in life, to be compassionate and loving beings, aiming to help others find their truth.  Finally, when we are mindful of our heart and our love, we are able to see if our words really come from a warm, loving place, or if we are seeking to hurt, feed our ego, or fuel a desire.