The Tathāgata’s Speech

So too, Prince,

(1) Such speech as The Tathāgata knows to be untrue, incorrect, and unbeneficial, and which is also unwelcome and disagreeable to others: such speech The Tathāgata does not speak.

(2) Such speech as The Tathāgata knows to be true and correct but unbeneficial, and which is also unwelcome and disagreeable to others: such speech The Tathāgata does not speak.

(3) Such speech as The Tathāgata knows to be true, correct, and beneficial, but which is unwelcome and disagreeable to others: The Tathāgata knows the time to use such speech.

(4) Such speech as The Tathāgata knows to be untrue, incorrect, and unbeneficial, but which is welcome and agreeable to others: such speech The Tathāgata does not speak.

(5) Such speech as The Tathāgata knows to be true and correct but unbeneficial, and which is welcome and agreeable to others: such speech The Tathāgata does not speak.

(6) Such speech as The Tathāgata knows to be true, correct, and beneficial, and which is welcome and agreeable to others: The Tathāgata knows the time to use such speech.

Why is that? Because The Tathāgata has compassion for all beings.

(Reference: MN 58)

In this Teaching from Gotama Buddha, he shares his choice of practicing in such a way as to ensure his words are well received in all situations and to ensure he is practicing Right Speech.

It is The Five Factors of Well Spoken Speech that provides the specific details of how one can drastically improve their practice of communicating with additional Teachings to further help a Practitioner fully understand Right Speech in other areas of his Teachings.

Five Factors of Well Spoken Speech

Monks, possessing five factors, speech is well spoken, not badly spoken, it is blameless and beyond reproach by the wise.

What five?

(1) It is spoken at the proper time;

(2) What is said is true;

(3) It is spoken gently;

(4) What is said is beneficial;

(5) It is spoken with a mind of loving-kindness.

Possessing these five factors, speech is well spoken, not badly spoken; it is blameless and beyond reproach by the wise.

Through practicing The Five Factors of Well Spoken Speech one ensures they are not causing harm through their speech and, over time, one will experience more and more successful personal and professional relationships because you will be communicating in a way that does not cause harm.

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The more you communicate using these five factors, you will observe that more and more people will respond to you in the same way that you practice. In addition to these Teachings from Gotama Buddha on The Five Factors of Well Spoken Speech, you can remember to always be polite, kind, friendly, and respectful to “all beings” to help guide you in practicing Right Speech.

The Teachings shared in this chapter can also be applied to more deeply refine one’s practice of Right Speech, but it would be suggested that you first train the mind to practice The Five Factors of Well Spoken Speech before looking to incorporate The Teachings of this chapter into your life practice.

Through practicing The Five Factors of Well Spoken Speech, one would be incorporating The Teachings of this chapter into the five factors ensuring speech is "true, correct, and beneficial” as well as knowing the “proper time” to speak. Also, remember to ensure your speech is blameless.

This Teaching is highlighting that special care needs to be taken to understand when speech is “unwelcomed and disagreeable to others” and when speech is “welcomed and agreeable to others”.

The Buddha's Teachings can be thought of as layers. He is layering more and more Teachings to help a Practitioner gradually see more and more “what is Right Speech”, for example.

The Five Precepts provides details on Right Speech along with The Eight Fold Path, The Five Factors of Well Spoken Speech, this Teaching, and others. He is gradually pulling back the layers of his Teachings for Practitioners to see more and more clearly “what is Right Speech”. The Teachings in The Pāli Canon are spread out over forty-five (45) volumes of books without any clear organization leading to the development of one’s practice. This book series provides improved organization of these Teachings by consolidating extracted versions of the forty-five (45) volumes of books found in The Pāli Canon.

What has been done as part of the book "Developing a Life Practice: The Path That Leads to Enlightenment" (Volume 1), is put Right Speech all in one place taking into consideration all The Teachings from The Buddha to make it easy for a Practitioner to understand this important Teaching and others.

Now in (Volumes 2-13), a Practitioner is pulling back the covers, or layers, to see the source and details of these Teachings filling in any areas of your life practice that needs further development.

Speech is one of the most used and influential means of interacting with others. There is significant potential to produce wholesome or unwholesome results based on our diligent application of Right Speech. Practicing these wholesome Teachings of The Five Factors of Well Spoken Speech will ensure there are wholesome outcomes.

Gotama Buddha further clarifies his purpose of practicing these wholesome Teachings at the end of this chapter as “The Tathāgata has compassion for all beings.”

Compassion is concern for the misfortune of others. So, through diligent learning, reflection, and practice of these Teachings you are improving the condition of your own life practice, and thus the mind, but also improving the world through reducing and eliminating any harm you are currently causing in the world through purifying your intentions, speech, actions, and livelihood. An Enlightened being would have loving-kindness and compassion for “all beings” among many other wholesome qualities of mind ensuring they are not causing any harm in the world through their interactions in the world.

Through eliminating any harm we cause in the world, over time, no harm will come to us. This is based in The Natural Law of Kamma - cause and effect, action and result, essentially the results of your decisions.

In this Teaching from Gotama Buddha, he shares further details on Right Speech. A Practitioner should first train the mind through The Eight Fold Path to practice The Teachings in the book “Developing a Life Practice: The Path That Leads to Enlightenment” (Volume 1) related to Right Speech. As a Practitioner advances in their life practice and is looking to refine their speech even further, this Teaching can guide you in deepening your practice.

But, the Practitioner should ensure they are consistently practicing The Five Factors of Well Spoken Speech to ensure that is a foundation before moving into understanding and practicing the Teaching shared here by Gotama Buddha.

As part of The Five Factors of Well Spoken Speech, we already understand that it is wise to not speak untruths, incorrect, or unbeneficial words at any time. This would only cause harm, thus, harm will come to us and we would be wise to not speak those words.

This Teaching adds to the practice of Right Speech that a Practitioner would be wise to know when it is the proper time to speak words which are unwelcome and disagreeable as well as words that are welcome and agreeable.

If speech is untrue, incorrect, or unbeneficial, then it would be wise to not use this speech.

But, with speech being true, correct, and beneficial, then, we need to determine if it is “unwelcome and disagreeable” or “welcome and agreeable”.

If the words are true, correct, and beneficial while being unwelcome and disagreeable, we need to know the proper “time to use such speech” so that it can be better received.

If the words are true, correct, and beneficial while being welcome and agreeable, we also need to know the proper “time to use such speech”.

Much of the training regarding speech comes through trial and error. As a Practitioner gets to know each individual and how they respond to various speech, they will better know what is unwelcome and disagreeable or welcome and agreeable. This is oftentimes discovered on a case-by-case basis as each person is different.

As you have conversations and communication with various people in your life and observe the results of your speech, you can then determine what is leading to wholesome results and what is leading to unwholesome results. This way, you can refine your speech to develop more and more skillfulness in regards to practicing Right Speech so that your communication is never harmful and only has wholesome outcomes.

You will be able to observe the improvements as you train more deeply because eventually you will get to the point where each individual conversation you have will result in wholesome outcomes. You will find that you are never shaken up or uncalm during conversations as the mind becomes more and more confident conducting conversations using Right Speech.

As you notice that countless conversations you have are leading to wholesome outcomes, then you know that your practice of Right Speech is becoming more developed. Then, if there is an occasional situation where someone becomes hostile or irate in a conversation with you, looking at the situation objectively through the wisdom of these Teachings, you can discover if it was due to your practice or if it was due to the other person’s lack of wisdom, moral conduct, or mental discipline.

Even when you are deeply practicing Right Speech when the mind is Enlightened, there will be occasional situations where a person may become angered, frustrated, irritated, annoyed, or otherwise discontent in a conversation with you. But, by that time, you will have trained the mind so well and be able to see so clearly that you will have confidence that their discontent mind and wrong speech was not a result of anything that you have done or not done. Instead, it is the lack of their own wisdom, moral conduct, and mental discipline that caused their “wrong speech”.

You will need to have a well developed and consistent practice of Right Speech to attain Enlightenment and be able to view your conversations objectively to determine where you can improve your practice of Right Speech. You no longer need to obsess over whether you are speaking in a wholesome way but instead, learn, reflect, and practice what The Buddha shares as his Teachings are based on The Natural Law of Kamma and as long as you develop your life practice to practice these Teachings, you will be gradually improving to ensure you are always practicing Right Speech.

Through constant refinement of your practice of Right Speech using the guidance from Gotama Buddha, you can realize increased amounts of successful conversations and interactions where relationships will be easy and smooth. No longer will you find relationships difficult and a struggle because you will be deeply practicing these Teachings.

With that said, there will still be occasional situations where the other person is not deeply practicing these Teachings and their untrained mind will result in “wrong speech”. If your mind is Enlightened, even someone else’s “wrong speech” will not result in your using “wrong speech” but instead, you will be able to maintain your contentedness and joy while continuing to practice to potentially bring the conversation towards a successful conclusion.

You will need to train to the point where there is never a time that another person’s choice to use “wrong speech” influences you to use “wrong speech”. Instead, a wise Practitioner will choose not to use wrong speech even when interacting with others who are choosing to use wrong speech.

No matter how deeply you are practicing these Teachings, there is no such thing as permanently being able to have 100% of everyone you interact with to never speak impolite, unkind, unfriendly, or disrespectful. They are an individual who is making their own decisions and you are unable to control how others choose to speak to you. There are going to be situations where people are impolite, unkind, unfriendly, or disrespectful due to their own lack of wisdom, moral conduct, and mental discipline. But, even though you cannot control others, you can train to control your own mind and speech.

You can train the mind to the point where you do not react to others who are using “wrong speech” with a lack of wisdom, moral conduct, and mental discipline, but rather, you can respond politely, kindly, friendly, and respectfully no matter what is or is not happening around you. This is how an Enlightened mind will function but will require deep training and practice that will result in gradual progress.

You will see the truth for yourself that you are improving your practice with Right Speech as conversations and relationships become more easy and smooth. While there will be challenges, the Enlightened mind will always be able to find a solution to the situation.

There are millions of “right” answers to any given challenging situation. And, there are “wrong” answers to a given challenging situation. The “right” answer is to always use Right Speech. The “wrong” answer would be to use “wrong speech” that is impolite, unkind, unfriendly, and disrespectful speaking at the improper time, untrue, harsh, unbeneficial, with a mind of hatred, and being blameful.

Instead, actively deepen your practice through training of the mind using the entire Eight Fold Path refining your speech each and every conversation always looking to improve. Through slowing down the mind using meditation as taught in “Developing a Life Practice: The Path That Leads to Enlightenment” (Volume 1) in Chapter 11, a Practitioner can then reside with a mind in the present moment making wise decisions to practice Right Speech realizing the results of ease and smoothness in all relationships. Why did The Buddha actively work to train his mind so deeply to ensure he was not causing harm to others? “Because The Tathāgata has compassion for all beings”.

Through your practicing compassion for all beings, you can then decide to train your mind deeply so that you are not causing harm through your speech and, thus, no harm will come to you.

Compassion (Pāli: karuṇā) is concern for the misfortunes of others.

While others may choose to speak with you using “wrong speech”, there is no need to be judgmental or irritated at their lack of wisdom, moral conduct, and mental discipline. Instead, observe how you too, at one time, use to speak this way but have chosen to improve your life practice through learning, reflecting, and practicing these Teachings.

Every unwholesome aspect of someone else’s practice that you observe, you too have done those same things in this life or some prior life. Judging others will only harm your own mind and how could you judge others when you too did those same things?

So instead, have concern for their misfortunate. Be pleased that you have discovered these Teachings and have the ability to improve your life practice and the outcomes that produces.

While a person whose mind is lacking wisdom, moral conduct, and mental discipline has not come into contact with these Teachings and has not had the good fortune to train in these Teachings, you have had the good fortunate and are training in these Teachings.

So be an example, a role model, one who people understand is actively working to deepen your practice out of compassion for all living beings.

There is no benefit to speaking unwisely but there are many benefits to training the mind to use Right Speech at all times. You will find that you will be more successful in all your personal and professional relationships through developing your ability to communicate using Right Speech that is not harmful to anyone. People will feel more comfortable to associate with you and be involved in the various personal and professional activities that you choose to participate in. Develop your ability to have Right Speech using wisdom, moral conduct, and mental discipline and people will be more interested to listen to you because they find benefit in doing so. You can be more helpful to those close to you and more influential in your community.

But, choose to learn, reflect, and practice Right Speech because it is the “right” thing to do, not because you “want” something from others.

Unsolicited Guidance vs. Sharing Teachings When There is a Request for Guidance

The Path That Leads to Enlightenment requires learning, reflecting (i.e. independently verifying), and practice of The Teachings of The Buddha with guidance from a Teacher to train the mind to eliminate the defilements, or taints, (i.e. The Ten Fetters - the pollution of the unEnlightened mind).

The Enlightened mind is a peaceful, calm, serene, and content mind with joy -permanently. The mind will no longer experience discontent feelings such as sadness, anger, frustration, irritation, annoyance, guilt, shame, fears, boredom, loneliness, shyness, jealousy, resentment, stress, anxiety, etc.

The Enlightened mind is unshakable.

To accomplish this goal, a Practitioner will need guidance as only a true Buddha would be able to attain Enlightenment without the guidance of a Teacher, and the last Buddha currently known to the world lived over 2,500 years ago. A Practitioner will be unable to ask questions to a book, video, podcast, etc. and will need to develop their intellectual understanding and practical experience to attain Enlightenment. This is accomplished by applying The Teachings of The Buddha in daily life while seeking guidance, ideally, through a well developed relationship with a Teacher.

The Path That Leads to Enlightenment does not involve forcing unsolicited guidance, advice, or Teachings onto others because a person feels they “know more than another” and they feel the urge to ensure another Practitioner understands The Teachings of The Buddha, or any other aspect of life, in the same way as you.

At the very core of Buddhist Teachings that lead to Enlightenment is the understanding that craving/desire/attachment (i.e. mental longing with a strong eagerness) leads to discontent feelings of sadness, anger, frustration, irritation, annoyance, guilt, shame, fears, boredom, loneliness, shyness, jealousy, resentment, stress, anxiety, etc.

It is only through training the mind to eliminate craving/desire/attachment (i.e. mental longing with a strong eagerness) that the mind will experience Enlightenment where the mind will reside peaceful, calm, serene, and content with joy - permanently.

If a Practitioner has “longing with a strong eagerness” to share Teachings with others, this will lead to discontentedness for the Practitioner and the mind will remain unEnlightened. Additionally, sharing unsolicited guidance comes from one’s own ego, the arrogance, pride, and boastfulness of the mind’s pollution described by The Buddha as “conceit”, which is one of The Ten Fetters.

If a Practitioner is not seeking guidance through asking a question and a person shares unsolicited guidance as Teachings, this is to do so with craving/desire/attachment and the ego, this will create conditions that lead to discontentedness of one or both persons.

It is suggested that Practitioners choose to learn and practice Teachings with a dedicated Teacher whom they actively seek guidance from, ideally through a well developed relationship with a Teacher.

Nowadays, many people use online groups as a way of discussing The Teachings of The Buddha. If you have been online at all, you have seen, in some cases, the overwhelming inflammatory and harmful speech that these discussion forums will often descend into over simple disagreements.

The unEnlightened mind is most often uncomfortable with those who are disagreeable, craving and desiring for “all people” to agree with them, and when that is not experienced, anger, hatred, and ill will arises in the mind typically followed by hostile, bitter, and harsh speech (i.e. unskillful moral conduct) where the mind then has aversion.

This leads to all sorts of challenges including, people being blocked or banned from groups, inhibiting a Practitioner from further investigation and exploration of The Teachings of The Buddha to improve the condition of their mind.

The very Teachings they are seeking to share teaches harmlessness, to include harmless speech but yet, some find it challenging to have conversations conducive to open sharing where disagreement does not result in hostility.

Hostile, aggressive, bitterness, impolite, unkind, unfriendly, and disrespectful speech is a sure indication that there is not yet a well developed practice of The Teachings of The Buddha that lead to Enlightenment, and that person is not yet Enlightened. It could be suggested that these types of comments be ignored then deleted, because if one is not practicing The Teachings of The Buddha, how could what they are sharing as Teachings be helpful to anyone?

When one unEnlightened mind speaks with hostility it is often hurtful to another unEnlightened mind due to their own cravings/desires/attachment and, therefore, fighting ensues and conversations descend into bickering that is a clear indication that all parties involved could truly benefit from more intellectual learning and practical understanding of The Teachings of The Buddha that lead to Enlightenment with guidance from a Teacher.

Those who argue the most are in the need of more intellectual and practical understanding of The Teachings. But, they will only get that help when the ego is lowered and they choose to seek guidance with a Teacher.

The ego of the unEnlightened mind resorts to sharing unsolicited guidance thinking, “I know better than you”.

This is all hindering an individual from experiencing Enlightenment. As long as there is craving/desire/attachment and ego in the mind, among other unwholesome qualities, the mind will not experience Enlightenment.

Arguing will not allow you to experience Enlightenment as the constant hostility will only inhibit your growth and progress on The Path to Enlightenment.

Sharing unsolicited guidance will not allow you to experience Enlightenment because, the ego still exists in the mind.

Sharing unsolicited guidance with others will not lead to your Enlightenment as in doing so, there is still craving/desire/attachment and conceit (i.e. ego) in the mind. An Enlightened being does not have craving/desire/attachment nor conceit. The ego of an Enlightened being has been completely dissolved so that there is no longer any arrogance, pride, measuring and comparing of others to put yourself above or below others.

The Buddhist tradition of sharing Teachings that leads to awakening to Enlightenment “do not” involve unsolicited sharing of Teachings that one Practitioner feels would be helpful to another Practitioner. A Practitioner needs to choose for themselves to ask questions and seek guidance instead of, Teachings being forced onto others. This will only turn people away from The Teachings of The Buddha when people are pushing Teachings onto others.

The Buddhist tradition of sharing Teachings that lead to Enlightenment “do not” involve fighting over who is “right” and who is “wrong”. So when you receive unsolicited guidance, it is suggested that you ignore it and/or delete it. This will help the individual who is sharing unsolicited guidance understand, they are unwise for sharing unsolicited guidance and people are not interested in unsolicited guidance, thus, you do not respond.

The Buddhist tradition of sharing Teachings that lead to Enlightenment “do not” involve attempting to “save others” from themselves but instead, The Path to Enlightenment involves Practitioners choosing to learn, reflect, and practice The Teachings of The Buddha that lead to Enlightenment through asking questions and seeking guidance through their own free will to an individual they have confidence in and trust.

Unsolicited guidance is not part of The Path to Enlightenment.

There is nothing anyone can do to force another person to attain Enlightenment.

There is no way to “save” anyone.

And if you have not yet attained Enlightenment, you do not yet know the truth to be able to share Teachings with anyone at all.

The sooner a Practitioner understands this and directs their time, effort, and energy towards their own growth and progress on The Path to Enlightenment, the better off for everyone involved.

The Path to Enlightenment is to realize, among other things, that it is through your own wise decisions that lead to wholesome results and outcomes (i.e. wholesome Kamma).

It is through each person’s individual choices to learn, reflect (i.e. independently verify), and practice The Teachings of The Buddha that, they themselves, will navigate The Path to Enlightenment with guidance from a dedicated, supportive, encouraging, and motivating Teacher who patiently shares without any expectation of anything in return.

You can’t force someone to learn. You can’t force someone to reflect. You can’t force someone to meditate. You can’t force someone to practice The Teachings that lead to Enlightenment.

So why would you try?

Could a person whom has never driven a car teach another person how to drive a car?

No, of course not.

A Practitioner would need to attain Enlightenment before they would be capable of guiding others to attain Enlightenment.

And to attain Enlightenment, a Practitioner will need to eliminate all craving/desire/attachment (mental longing with a strong eagerness) including the craving/desire/attachment to Teaching those who have not asked for your guidance.

Providing unsolicited guidance is an advertisement that you have not yet attained Enlightenment as there is still craving/desire/attachment to teach others when no one has asked you a question. And, there is still conceit (i.e. ego) in the mind where it arrogantly attempts to push Teachings onto others with the assumption that, you know more than others, as no one has sought your guidance.

It is best to focus on your own Enlightenment and in doing so, you will then be best prepared to share the wisdom of how you attained Enlightenment when someone asks you a question.

An Enlightened being only needs to walk with “wisdom and a smile”.

An Enlightened being does not have the uncontrollable urge to force others to understand The Teachings of The Buddha that lead to Enlightenment in the same way as they do.

An Enlightened being’s mind is peaceful, calm, serene, and content with joy -permanently. The mind is unshakable.

An Enlightened being knows the truth, with deep wisdom, and has no interest or urge to force others to do anything at all, but may instead, decide to make themselves available to those who choose to seek guidance and understanding so that they can experience the same life affirming improvements to the mind and one’s life that are realized on The Path to Enlightenment by attaining Enlightenment.

The next time you feel the urge to give unsolicited guidance, recognize that as your craving/desire/attachment and conceit (i.e. ego), which will need to be eliminated from the mind for you to attain Enlightenment.

Otherwise, the unEnlightened mind will continue to experience discontent feelings, never experiencing peacefulness, calmness, serenity, or contentedness with joy that is permanent in the Enlightened mental state.

Gotama Buddha never attempted to force anyone to learn and practice his Teachings, so why should you?

You will know someone is soliciting guidance because they will ask you a question. But, if they did not ask you a question and you give someone guidance, that is unsolicited guidance, coming from the mind’s craving/desire/attachment and ego. You will not attain Enlightenment, nor will anyone else, through unsolicited guidance.

Can you resist the urge to give someone unsolicited guidance through restraining the mind? If so, you are that much closer to Enlightenment.

Actively Listening and Being Supportive of New Thoughts and Ideas

Whether you are talking with your family, friends, or colleagues, etc. it is always wise to be open to other people’s ideas.

It is only one’s own ego, which is based in craving/desire, that would shut down others thoughts and ideas. Instead, it is wise to be open and inviting for people to share their thoughts and ideas with you but, you will not be able to get to that, if you shut them down, telling people how something will not work.

When presented with a new idea, the unEnlightened mind will typically look at all the reasons why this thing will not work, rather than, look at how to overcome the potential obstacles to implement something new, that is better. Remember, the unEnlightened mind craves permanence, and is typically highly complacent. It is not truly interested in doing the work to consider something new and different, due to its craving for permanence.

Also, keep in mind, that one of the things that The Teachings of The Buddha help you accomplish, is navigating a world of unEnlightened beings.

So, when someone comes to you with new thoughts and ideas, be it family, friends, or colleagues, they are typically going to have craving/desire with excitement. When their mind is not getting their craving/desire fulfilled, it will experience painful feelings, attribute those painful feelings to you, and then either push you away with aversion, become bitter/harsh/hostile with you, or put their expectations on you. This is going to promote disharmony in relationships.

Instead, what you can do, rather than shutting down the new thoughts and ideas based on the obstacles you see, you can ask questions, show interest to understand a person’s idea, and if they need your involvement to implement the idea, let them know you would like to think over what they have shared as you can see they have some interesting thoughts and ideas that may be helpful.

If you see certain obstacles with the idea, as part of your questions, ask them questions of how they see to overcome those obstacles, in more of a consulting and teamwork type of conversation, rather than as an adversary. Brainstorm the obstacles, in a positive way, to solicit thoughts and ideas of how to overcome the obstacles, rather than, attempt to shut down the idea due to the obstacles you see.

In this way, you stay open to what others have to say, show them that you are listening, and that you do not think “you know it all”. Asking questions to understand, goes a long way to show them that you are working to understand them and considering what they are thinking. Because, someone sharing new thoughts and ideas with you, is trying to help you. But, if you shut that down, you do not get that help. Also, a person usually does not fully articulate their new idea clearly and followup questions are needed to fully understand it. And, you typically will not see all the same angles and benefits that they are seeing, when they first present the new idea to you. Therefore, by asking questions, you can flush all that out.

When people are first communicating their ideas, you may not be understanding it fully so you would like to provide the individual an opportunity to fully explain it, and for you to ask questions to fully understand it. It would be wise to even repeat back to the person what you think their idea is, to ensure you understand it, before giving it further thought.

This will help them to understand you are taking the time to consider their idea, by first understanding it. Then, even if you ultimately consider to not go forward with their idea and get involved with it, they at least know you fully understood it and gave it proper consideration. And, you might be able to offer that person support without getting involved with the effort yourself, which can also be wise in some situations.

Because, truth be told, every single new thought or idea has obstacles. There are barriers to every “new” thing coming into existence. And if all you do is verbalize all those obstacles, it appears to that person, who is eager to share with you, that you are not giving their new thought or idea the time of day, and you will appear to be a very close minded person.

This will produce disharmony in your relationships and you will see that you are not going to be very successful as a wise leader because, you are not giving the team an avenue to share their new thoughts and ideas.

A leader needs to be open to all ideas, listening and understanding what people are looking to contribute.

And while some ideas are not something that one would choose to go forward with, team members will respect and appreciate that at least their leader listened and considered their ideas. They will continue to respect that leader. But, for someone who regularly shuts them down, they will ultimately turn away from that leader because they are not open to their thoughts and ideas, and when you come to them with something you would like them to implement, they will tend to not give it any consideration. It is your Kamma (the results of your decisions) that people will do the same thing to you, that you do to them. So, guiding and leading a team becomes more and more challenging.

In the past, there are countless times when, ideas people brought to me where unwise and I ultimately decided not to go forward with them. But, through listening and asking questions, they felt I heard and understood, and took the time to consider their ideas, thus, a harmonious relationship was maintained. But, it was that 99th idea that I listened to, despite all the other unwise ideas that would not work, that I was able to get that golden nugget that changed everything in a significant way. I regularly implemented this approach when I was a businessperson, and employees, customers, business partners all regularly contributed to the growth of my business. I would not have experienced that same growth without being a good listener to others new thoughts and ideas, and showed them that I truly considered what they had to share, and was appreciative of them sharing.

Being open to listen and understand others ideas, without just verbalizing all the obstacles you see, is the way to be a successful and harmonious leader who values teamwork and team problem solving.

Enlightened beings will be able to listen and understand others ideas, not assuming they “know it all”. They will be interested and intrigued to know what others think and how they are considering to do something new. People will feel listened to and that an Enlightened being considers their ideas, even if they do not go forward with them. And, an Enlightened being can be supportive in someone else progressing towards their ideas, even if they are not involved themselves.

So, whether you are interested in being a leader or a valuable member of a team, listening to new thoughts and ideas from others is highly important and wise, it will promote continuous improvement in your life and harmony in your relationships.