This is an AI-generated transcript from auto-generated subtitles for the video above. It likely contains inaccuracies, especially with speaker attribution if there are multiple speakers.

Guided Meditation: Wholesome Breathing

Good day, and I offer this greeting partly as a sound check. Let's see if a few of you could say, do you hear me? Wonderful. It's wonderful to be here with all of you and to share this time.

The general topic for this week and next week is kusala^[1]. It's a Pali^[2] word, often translated into English as "wholesome," and for this meditation, I want to use that translation. The other one is "skillful." Mindfulness is understood to be a wholesome practice. It's sometimes said that mindfulness of the body brings with it, or includes within it, all the wholesome qualities of mind and heart that a person could have. That's quite a powerful statement about the value of mindfulness of the body—that it just seems to be all good in some certain kind of way, or promotes what's really good.

Meditation practice is meant to be wholesome, healthy, conducive to health and nourishment. When we sit down to meditate, we bring with us our minds. Our minds are very variable and contain a lot of different things. Some of it is not so wholesome, not so beneficial for us or for the world around us. That's the way it is sometimes. But the practice of meditation, the practice of mindfulness, is different than the momentum, the tendencies, and the variability of what lives in our mind.

The idea is that mindfulness is wholesome. The simple act of being present is to bring this wholesome engagement with even what's unwholesome. That's our job: to bring the wholesome, or be wholesome in the engagement we have. One of the simplest ways to do this, that doesn't require us dredging up good qualities or being wholesome in some artificial or forced way, is a very simple practice of mindfulness. No matter how it's practiced, to have this clear mindfulness of the moment: "Oh, that's what's happening."

In particular, mindfulness of breathing. I think of mindfulness of breathing as being a place where things begin working themselves out, a place where we begin finding, adjusting, or relaxing into having a wholesome attitude and approach to the meditation practice. Just settling in with the breathing. Then we begin being able to meet all the different parts of the mind—including the parts which are not so exemplary, or which have a lot of suffering, struggle, or conflict in them—and hold them in an attention which is kind, supportive, and wholesome.

As we do this meditation, don't worry too much about any unwholesome tendencies you have, any painful trains of thought you have, or any negative self-judgments you have. Simply don't try to be involved in them, but don't try to stop them either. There can be simple letting go, but just keep coming back to mindfulness of breathing and finding how to have this wholesome awareness of everything, including what is unwholesome.

Entering into a supportive meditation posture, gently closing your eyes. Slowly, gently taking a few long, deep breaths. Breathing in deeply and relaxing as you exhale. Breathing in, and softening on the exhale.

Letting your breathing return to normal. Going through your body and relaxing on the exhale. Relaxing, letting go as you exhale. Softening in the face. As you exhale, softening in the shoulders. As you exhale, softening the belly. Sometimes a good softening of the belly will also soften the shoulders. Softening the belly can also involve softening of the whole lower torso. Relaxing into the seat if you're sitting. Then gently, calmly letting your awareness meet the body's experience of breathing.

As we continue this meditation, gently, relaxedly see if you can have a wholesome attitude in being mindful of breathing. Wholesome in that it maybe has a quality of caring, acceptance, or gentleness. Perhaps it's not so ambitious or greedy for it to be a certain way, without expectations, but an attitude which is more generous to how it is. A willingness to trust the simplicity of breathing in and breathing out. Allowing the breathing to be the pathway to a more settled, wholesome state of mind that comes as we settle and relax into just breathing. Not being so troubled by the variability of the mind. Just beginning again and again with your breathing. Trusting mindfulness of breathing.

In what way would trusting breathing, trusting mindfulness of breathing, shift things for you in a more wholesome direction? Wholesome partly means nourishing. If you feel the nourishing quality of meditation, might that help you to stay present?

As we come to the end of this sitting, an expression of a wholesome state of mind and heart are things like generosity, care, compassion, kindness, and concern for the welfare of others. There's this wonderful movement called dedication of merit. On one hand, we dedicate all the benefits that we've received from our meditation practice for the welfare and happiness of others. But because this is an act of generosity and care, it generates more merit—great merit. Or to say it differently, if we dedicate the benefit of this meditation for the sake of others, we benefit as well. We don't end up with less benefit; we end up with more.

So may it be that this meditation, practically done on this first day of the week, spread benefit out into the world for the rest of the week. Wherever we go, whoever we talk to, whoever we think about, may we do so with greater care and concern for their welfare. May this practice we've done today support us in spreading kindness, welfare, and happiness out into the world. May all beings be happy. May all beings be safe. May all beings be peaceful. And may all beings everywhere be free.

Dharmette: Kusala (6 of 10) Ten Wholesome Actions

The topic continues to be on wholesomeness and skillfulness. There's a single Pali word that we translate into English in both these ways. The Pali word is kusala. It probably had a singular meaning in the ancient Buddhist world, but it just happens to be that in English, the two primary translations that we've settled on now are "wholesome" and "skillful." The opposite is unwholesome and unskillful.

Some of it depends on the context in which the term is being used. With things that have an interpersonal nature—relating to other people, for example, or maybe relating to ourselves as if we're another person—"wholesome" seems to be the better translation. But when it has to do with personal spiritual development, personal meditation development, then it seems like a better translation is "skill."

Wholesomeness has the idea in English of something which is nourishing, something which is healthy. The dictionary definition that I've seen is "promoting health and well-being of mind, spirit, and body." Whereas skillfulness has to do with proficiency, one's ability to do something well. Wholesomeness can imply the goodness of something in and of itself; just doing it is its own reward because it feels so good to do. Whereas skillful has a little bit more sense that you're doing it for a purpose, and it supports a purpose. It might support the growth of wholesome qualities, the growth of what's good, but it's still skillful for a purpose. You can ask, "For what purpose?" or "In what way?"

These distinctions are not absolute, but there's a tendency to divide these two different translations. One has to do with interpersonal relationships, and the other with personal development and promoting health and well-being in a direct way for oneself. Acting in ways that benefit other people—if it's done wholesomely, it's nourishing and supportive.

It's interesting that another definition of wholesomeness in the dictionary is "conducive to or promoting moral well-being." This particularly relates to how kusala sometimes refers to interpersonal relationships. In fact, the word kusala is probably the closest match for the English word "moral" or "ethics." But rather than having some kind of authoritarian feeling or moral obligation feeling around the concept, it has this warm internal feeling of upswelling of what is nourishing, supportive, and good within us. So it has an inner source for ethics, rather than an external source of right and wrong, should and shouldn't.

To keep using this wholesome inner experience, to be connected to it, is a reliable reference point. It can be eclipsed if we're too much caught up in abstract cognitive ideas of what is and isn't ethical, what we should and shouldn't do, or what is right and wrong coming from our society or religious textbooks. Those are very different than this welling up of a reference point inside of what really feels nourishing and healthy. That's different than using the experience of pleasure as a reference point. If it's simply what we enjoy or what brings pleasure, then we might go astray a little bit. But if we use what's wholesome, the Buddhist idea is that it's a really reliable reference point for ensuring that we act well and generously in the world.

Staying for a moment with this translation of "wholesome" and how it relates to the interpersonal world, probably the most common reference to this wholesome quality in the teachings of the Buddha is a list of ten ethical guidelines. They are called the ten courses or practices of wholesome action, and the opposite are the ten courses of unwholesome action. Action here is karma^[3]—so wholesome karma and unwholesome karma. Because the word kusala is there, these ten kind of look like precepts^[4]. Maybe they shouldn't be seen as precepts in some of the associations we have with the word; they are more like the ten wellsprings of wholesome actions that we can act on and live by.

There is a longer description of each one in the suttas^[5], but for now, I'll say the ten are: not killing, not stealing (not taking what is not given), not engaging in sexual misconduct, not lying, not speaking maliciously, not speaking harshly, not speaking frivolously, not being avaricious, not having ill will, and having a right, skillful view and understanding. One of the skillful views is to distinguish between what is wholesome and unwholesome, to understand how to come from what is wholesome as we engage in our life.

They're mostly talking about what not to do, but it turns out that not killing, stealing, engaging in sexual misconduct, lying, and so forth just clears the decks, in a sense, for the wholesome to come out. It also provides a tremendous sense of safety and room for other people to thrive and to do well. Violence against others, hostility, and meanness can close people down or cause challenges for people in a community. For centuries, it has had an impact. It was very touching to read about the survivors of the Tulsa massacre who went to Congress recently. Today is the 100th anniversary of that massacre. To have someone who is 107 years old speaking about the legacy of what happened a hundred years ago—that violence, and how every day and every night of her life she relives and is troubled by what happened to her. A hundred years is a long time.

The impact of our negative actions is huge. But what we're trying to do is live a wholesome life. For me, that's a very different feeling than living an "ethical" life. A wholesome life just feels like it's wholesome. It feels good, relaxing, softening, warm, and heartening for ourselves.

Examples of what's most wholesome are these ten wholesome actions. As I said, there's a paragraph-long description of each one. I'll give you an example of the first one, though it's actually relatively short compared to the others:

"Abandoning killing of living beings, one abstains from killing living beings. With weapons laid aside, gentle and kindly, one abides compassionate to all living beings."

Here we have not just a matter of avoiding killing; there are also these positive wholesome qualities that are being encouraged and allowed to develop and grow. It's not simply a prohibition for something. Because it's focusing on what's wholesome, it says, "Yes, and these beautiful qualities as well, let's live by them as well." With weapons laid aside, gentle and kindly, one abides compassionate to all living beings.

In abstaining from malicious speech, one reunites those divided and promotes friendship, and unites those who are not yet united. In avoiding harsh speech, one speaks gently and courteously. In abstaining from frivolous speech, one speaks what is factual and useful. And in abstaining from ill will, one wishes that others be free of affliction.

These ten wholesome qualities get talked about over and over again in the suttas, much more, in my impression, than the five precepts. It seems that in the teachings of the Buddha, these ten skillful actions, while they overlap with the five precepts, are richer and more heartfelt in nature in terms of these positive qualities. But more importantly, they're presented as important stepping stones on the path to liberation. Whereas the five precepts have a lot of benefit, they're not so directly tied to the purposes for liberation. Their purposes are to create a better society, help other people feel safe, and not create bad karma for ourselves.

The ten courses of wholesome action lead to both liberation and the growth of wholesomeness in ourselves. What a wonderful thing to do with one's life—to develop wholesome qualities that support and protect others, for the benefit of others, right on the path to liberation. What a nice thing that these two things coincide.

These ten courses of skillful or wholesome actions are found repeatedly in the suttas and the Middle Length Discourses^[6]. I see there's a note asking for the source. It may be a relatively easy place to find if you have access to it. The Middle Length Discourses, discourse 9, has a list of them, but I don't know if it's the full description. The full description might be in something like Middle Length Discourse 41^[7].

Thank you, and may your day be wholesome.