This week, we dive into the next section of the “recipe” for inner peace (aka “The Eightfold Path”): Ethics, or Sīla — the foundation for how we live, speak, and work in the world.
Wise Speech, Wise Action, and Wise Livelihood can seem simple on paper but they are actually some of the deepest practices we’ll encounter, because this is where the rubber meets the road.
It’s one thing to meditate on compassion.
It’s another thing entirely to live compassion when your coworker drives youbatshit crazy or when your political rage flares up.
So let’s get into it.
The Buddha said that ethics – sīla – isn’t about being “good” in the moralistic sense.
It’s about LIVING IN HARMONY WITH REALITY.
When our words and actions are out of alignment with our values and our truth, we feel it as guilt, shame, anxiety, worry…we feek it in our gut, our chest, our nervous system. We can’t rest very easily when we’re torn up inside. Let alone meditate well!
But when our speech, actions, and livelihood are aligned with our values – with compassion and kindness – we experience ease pretty naturally.
So these suggestions for how to live in integrity aren’t about doing things a certain way for a ticket to some happy place in the future. It’s about freedom from the inner turmoil that comes when we’re out of sync with our deepest values.
As my teacher Philip Moffitt puts it, “Ethical conduct is not about rules – it’s about living in a way that leads to peace.”
That’s what this episode is really about: peace. Not just external peace for those around us, but also an internal peace, inner wellbeing.
This inner well-being matters because without a felt sense of harmony with our own actions, we are not creating causes and conditions that support our awakening, the liberation of ourselves or others. Our meditation doesn’t go very deep. Any insights we have can’t stabilize. Compassion can’t flow as freely.
So inner peace and ethical conduct go hand in hand, especially when it comes to liberation for ourselves AND others.
And honestly, I think this part of the path – ethics – might be one of the most forgotten in our times right now.
Look around. There’s so much unnecessary suffering created every day by unmindful speech, harmful actions, and exploitative systems. Online shaming, greed in business, and capitalist burnout culture that glorifies overworking.
It’s like we’ve normalized the lie of separation.
We can see it in politics, media, and even the way the algorithms actually reward anger. It shapes how we see one another, how we speak, and how safe we feel to even care about others, which is scary AF right now.
So when we talk about ethics, it isn’t “old school.” It’s about what it means to stay human in a world that literally profits from our disconnection.
Remembering our humanity and how we want to show up in the world – ethics – is how we begin to reclaim sanity.
Remembering that awakening isn’t just about what happens inside of us, but our impact on the world around us.
So, let’s start with Wise Speech, because I don’t know about y’all, but this is one of my weaknesses when I’m activated. Danielle LaPorte said, “Words are arrows. Take aim.” Well, when I’m activated, I can shoot me some arrows! I think we can all relate to having had challenges with wise speech.
Now, Buddha said that wise speech means not engaging in four kinds of “unskillful communication:” lying, divisive speech, harsh or abusive speech, and idle chatter. Aren’t we seeing a whole lot of that right now? We need to be the antidote.
I want to emphasize that Wise Speech doesn’t mean being silent all the time so we don’t hurt anyone’s feelings, or pretending to be nice when we’re pissed, or sugar-coating everything.
It’s about speaking the truth with care.
So the next time we catch ourselves about to speak out of irritation or anger, we can pause and ask, Is it true? Is it necessary? Is it kind?
We might still say what we were going to say, but just the act of pausing changes everything.
The next concept we dive into is Wise Action, which is all about our behavior – what we do, how we treat others, how we move through the world.
Traditionally, Buddha described five precepts — not like commandments (“do this or else”), but as invitations to live in ways that reduce harm and increase peace. I dive into these in detail in the podcast, so be sure to listen there. But what I want to say here is that wise action is about responding from clarity and skillfulness instead of reactivity. And this goes for self-action too.
One of my fave parts of this is Right (or Wise) Livelihood, which is about how we make a living without causing harm to ourselves or others.
This one is huge for our modern world, because most of us spend half our waking lives working.
In fact, the Buddha originally taught not to monks or nuns, but to kids and people with jobs and families and bills. He understood the challenge of finding balance between surviving and living ethically, despite his bougie background 😉
So Wise Livelihood isn’t about having the “perfect” job. It’s about alignment, intention and awareness in the work we do.
Now, maybe your job isn’t 100% aligned with your values right now. That’s OK. Some of us also have more choice in the matter than others due to privilege or life experience, and resources.
The practice is to notice where we have agency and where we can plant seeds of integrity and compassion in those areas. We can do this no matter what job we have.
Like Thich Nhat Hanh said, “Our work can be our prayer.”
Wise Livelihood also includes how we sustain ourselves energetically. Are we working in a way that’s destroying our health, our relationships, or our spirit? Sometimes the harm we cause is to ourselves by ignoring our limits and not having healthy boundaries
The take-home is that when we speak truth with care, act from compassion, and align our work with our values, we get a taste of freedom in the here and now. We sleep better at night. Our practice deepens. We feel more … aligned in how we show up in the world.
Freedom isn’t just something we find on a meditation cushion. It’s in how we practice in our daily lives, our messy AF lives. It’s in the email we send, the argument we keep from escalating, the career choice we make from our heart instead of fear, the apology we offer despite the shame we feel.
So again, these teachings aren’t about rules that we shouldn’t break to avoid some kind of punishment. They’re based on thousands of years of observation about what brings about a peaceful heart/mind/spirit.
It’s about living with wholeness and integrity so we can sleep at night knowing we didn’t betray others – or ourselves.
You will learn:
// How ethics and inner peace go hand in hand
// Why cultivating and committing to your own set of ethics is so critical in today’s world
// An exploration of Wise Ppeech, Wise Action, and Wise Livelihood
// How our work can be our prayer
// 4 questions we can begin to ask ourselves to help us stay in alignment
// 2 practices around wise speech and wise action to try out in our daily lives.
Resources:
// Episode 34: How to Forgive
// Episode 194: Work – Survival Dance or Sacred Offering
// Episode 253: Forgiveness and the Art of Beginning Again
// Episode 274: The Ripple Effect (And the Story of Bruce)
// Episode 278: Off the Cushion and Into the World – Part 1 Intro and the Three Jewels
// Episode 279: Reality Check – Off the Cushion + Into the World Part 2
// Episode 281: Wisdom In Action – Off the Cushion Part 3
// If you’re new to the squad, grab the Rebel Buddhist Toolkit I created at RebelBuddhist.com. It has all you need to start creating a life of more freedom, adventure, and purpose. You’ll also get access to the Rebel Buddhist private group, and tune in every Wednesday as I go live with new inspiration and topics.
// Want something more self-paced with access to weekly group support and getting coached by yours truly? Check out Freedom School – the community for ALL things related to freedom, inside and out. We dive into taking wisdom and applying it to our daily lives, with different topics every month. Learn more at JoinFreedomSchool.com. I can’t wait to see you there!
// Have you benefited from even one episode of the Rebel Buddhist Podcast? I’d love it if you could leave a 5-star review on iTunes by clicking here or on Spotify by clicking here.