The Various Kinds of Pointless Talk

Monks, do not engage in the various kinds of pointless talk, that is, talk about Kings, thieves, and ministers of state; talk about armies, dangers, and wars; talk about food, drink, garments, and beds; talk about garlands and scents; talk about relations, vehicles, villages, towns, cities, and countries; talk about women and talk about heroes; street talk and talk by the well; talk about those departed in days gone by; rambling chitchat; speculation about the world and about the sea; talk about becoming this or that.

For what reason?

Because, Monks, this talk is unbeneficial, irrelevant to the fundamentals of the holy life, and does not lead to fading away of strong feelings, to freedom from strong feelings, to elimination, to peace, to direct knowledge (experience), to Enlightenment, to Nibbāna.

(Reference: SN 56.10)

In this Teaching from Gotama Buddha, he shares that Ordained Practitioners would be unwise to discuss topics such as those mentioned in this Teaching.

Gotama Buddha’s objective for Ordained Practitioners was to keep them focused on learning, practicing, and sharing these Teachings so that they could eliminate the discontent mind for themselves and guide humanity in eliminating their discontent mind. Therefore, Ordained Practitioners who discuss these topics of “pointless talk”, would be taking away from their effectiveness to share these Teachings with the widest audience possible.

Ordained Practitioners are sustained through offerings by Household Practitioners. So it is important that they develop their own practice of these Teachings and then share The Teachings with Household Practitioners so they can benefit from The Teachings and improve their life. If Ordained Practitioners are speaking in ways that is unbeneficial to those who are interested to learn, reflect, and practice these Teachings using “pointless talk”, it detracts from one’s ability to be an effective Teacher.

Through an Ordained Practitioner or Teacher eliminating these topics of conversation from what they choose to speak about, they will be of more benefit to those who seek to understand these Teachings through staying focused on sharing The Teachings, not “pointless talk”.

Additionally, if an Ordained Practitioner or Teacher is looking to have the widest audience possible to be interested in learning with them, if they did speak of these topics, it would alienate a large segment of a population based on having opposing views.

The unEnlightened mind is oftentimes uncomfortable with disagreement and can become angry when an individual disagrees with their point of view or opinion. So if an Ordained Practitioner or Teacher is discussing things like politics, a topic that can draw heated discussion due to one’s own craving/desire/attachment, there will be Students who adamantly disagree with a Teachers opinions and this will create a roadblock to their ability to receive guidance on The Path to Enlightenment. The unEnlightened mind will be angered and frustrated that a Teacher does not share their same perspective and, therefore, they will decide to not continue forward to learn and practice these Teachings to experience the results of an Enlightened mind. The Student’s unEnlightened mind will falsely attribute their painful feelings of anger, frustration, irritation, etc. to the Teacher and then have aversion distancing themselves from the Teacher based on thinking this will solve their mind’s difficulties.

The best approach an Ordained Practitioner or Teacher could take is, to not discuss these topics at all to develop their practice, such that, they only ever discuss The Teachings with their Students rather than politics or other irrelevant topics that do not relate to The Path to Enlightenment and the Student’s attainment of Enlightenment.

The goal of an Ordained Practitioner or Teacher should be to openly and freely share these Teachings with all those who seek guidance. In doing so, through one’s own practice being developed, they can focus solely on sharing these Teachings rather than having discussion on irrelevant topics that can produce arguments and hostility directed to the Teacher detracting from the goal of sharing these Teachings openly and freely for the benefit of all those who seek guidance.

Political views, discussion of specific criminal court cases, military, wars, and other topics are “irrelevant to the fundamentals of the holy life, and does not lead to fading away of strong feelings, to freedom from strong feelings, to elimination, to peace, to direct knowledge (experience), to Enlightenment, to Nibbāna”.

These topics and others do not lead to Enlightenment and could only serve for Students to choose to distance themselves from a Teacher should the Teacher choose to discuss these types of topics. Discussing irrelevant topics diminishes one’s effectiveness and benefit to the Students. A Teacher needs to develop the ability to share these Teachings in a way that focuses only on these Teachings rather than “street talk and talk by the well; talk about those departed in days gone by; rambling chitchat; speculation about the world and about the sea; talk about becoming this or that”.

This will assist a Teacher in being beneficial to those who are seeking guidance rather than giving reasons for Students distance themselves from a Teacher and, thus, The Teachings that are going to ultimately benefit one’s life through the attainment of Enlightenment.