Skillful/unskillful action

What did the Buddha have to say about entertainment? Is it ever skillful for us? We'll consider the difference between monastic and lay lifestyles, and how the Buddha saw entertainment as part of an ordinary life. Then we'll consider ways…

How often does it happen that we know what to do and yet don't do it? In the West this is often chalked up to "weakness of the will", but the Buddha had a different diagnosis.

What did the Buddha mean by calling certain people "fools"? We'll consider what the words meant, and how we can recognize and overcome our own moments of foolishness.

How did the Buddha handle difficult discussions and debates? We will look at four ways he said we should respond to questions, as well as the key differences between skillful and unskillful discussion. Then we will turn to how we can make…

Communication is a critical life skill, particularly in the contemporary world of 24/7 social media. We'll look at what the Buddha had to say about skillful speech and apply it to communication more broadly. We will also look at examples…

What is Right Intention in Buddhism, and how can we put it into practice? We'll look at the three traditional aspects of Right Intention, and consider practices that relate to them.

The idea of "skillful means" plays a central role in much Buddhist dharma. We'll consider one of its most famous early examples and why one scholar considered it a "paternalistic" concept. We'll also look at its role in reinterpreting the…

"Skillful means" is a key concept in Mahayana Buddhist dharma. Scholar Damien Keown has identified four phases in its development, taking us from early Buddhism towards more controversial claims about practice, including deception and…

What is "skillful means" in Buddhism, particularly in early Buddhism? We'll look at its usage in the early texts, in particular in one odd text where it seems the Buddha recommends a practice of sense desire, and then turn to its more…

Is mindfulness universally wholesome, or not? I'll look at two different viewpoints, one from the Theravāda abhidhamma, and another from a recent monastic scholar.

Buddhist notions of non-self open up possibilities for reforming who we are in more skillful ways. Those are the heart of Buddhist practice. But how does it work?

Early Buddhism presents us with a conundrum around the practice of the formless attainments of deep meditation. Namely, are they skillful routes to nirvana, or are they not? We will look at evidence from the early suttas that indicates…

The Buddha recommended we practice certain wholesome states of mind, such as kindness, compassion, and sympathetic joy. Many of us find this work difficult. Why should we foster such emotions? I'll give some pointers by looking at what…

One of our unskillful underlying tendencies of mind in early Buddhism is that of clinging to rules and rituals. We'll discuss what that is, as well as its potential historical development, and how it may manifest in us today.

On an early Buddhist understanding, our minds are beset by certain "underlying tendencies" that produce in us unskillful thought and behavior. We will look at those tendencies through their most well-known list and also look at a couple…

The practice of non-attachment to all things is at the heart of Buddhism. How can we work with such a practice though when it comes to those closest to us: our friends and family? We will consider this problem and how in fact a…

Bad habits: we all have them. What does early Buddhism have to say about bad habits, and how we can deal with them? We'll look into some of the roots of bad habits and skillful methods to decrease their intensity over time.

Can unskillful emotions and mental states become skillful in practice? We will look at a few interesting texts from the early Buddhist tradition that highlight ways that some unskillful states are always so while others can become useful…

Compassion is the second of the four Brahmavihāras, or skillful emotional states. We will consider three forms of compassion meditation practice, from the early and later traditions. We will also look at its history in Buddhism, and…

Today's video looks at the meditation practice of the Brahmavihāras or "abodes of Brahma". This practice is to cultivate four emotions key to a healthy and skillful approach to the world. We will introduce these four emotions, what they…

Buddhist teacher misconduct has been in the news recently. We'll consider some ways the Buddha's teachings can point us to a more skillful and secure relationship to teachers and to the teachings themselves.

It is sometimes said that desire is the root of suffering, or that the Buddha claimed such a thing. We will look at the ways in which desire can be unskillful, including some that are very close to our hearts, and other ways in which…

What are the "sense spheres" and how do they get us attached in unskillful ways? How do we go about breaking these attachments? We'll discuss all that in this video.

It's said that all comparisons are invidious. Early Buddhism understands personal comparisons as varieties of conceit, of which there are three basic types. We'll look at those types in this video and consider why they are unskillful.

It is critical to our progress along the path that we make lucid judgments about skillful and unskillful thoughts and behaviors. At the same time though we are often enjoined to pursue a kind of non-judgmental awareness. How are these…

Bad gurus: recently we've heard of various Buddhist gurus, teachers, and leaders displaying unskillful and even illegal conduct. Google searches should display relevant names and specifics so I won't go into the sordid details in the…