this fathom-long body

It is in just this fathom long body that one makes known the world, the origin of the world, the cessation of the world, and the way leading to the cessation of the world

By resting more fully in our own world of experience (right now, not by traveling), it is possible to see how the world of experience is composed, how it comes to be, and how it can fall away completely.

Above are excerpts from Entering the Path

integrity in conversation

A basic skill in developing wisdom and personal integrity, not to mention peace of mind, is speaking and listening skillfully, often remaining quiet, and limiting the topics we discuss.

Gotama Buddha lists several topics to avoid (AN 10:69):

Conversation about kings, robbers, & ministers of state; armies, alarms, & battles; food & drink; clothing, furniture, garlands, & scents; relatives; vehicles; villages, towns, cities, the countryside; women & heroes; the gossip of the street & the well; tales of the dead; tales of diversity, the creation of the world & of the sea;talk of whether things exist or not

Topics he recommends:

Talk on modesty,on contentment, on seclusion, on non-entanglement, on arousing persistence, on virtue, on concentration, on discernment, on release, and on the knowledge & vision of release.

highest blessing 10

Sutta Nipāta   the Maṅgla Sutta  258-272


With a mind that does not waver
Even among the worldly things—
Sorrowless, stainless, and secure.
—This is the highest of blessings.