This will help you deal with Trump’s Toxic Speech

the importance of cultivating right speech according to the Buddha’s Noble Eightfold Pathway

This is what Ajahn Viradhammo has to say about right speech in his book “The Contemplative’s Craft”:

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“Right Speech refers to speech that is truthful, harmonious, soothing, and worth taking to heart. Difficulties around speech come up a lot for most people. For this reason, the capacity to be mindful of speech, to pause speech, and to see the result of speech in our hearts is very edifying. As we become aware of the effect that our speech has on ourselves and on others, we gain a better understanding of our inner life and once again abandon some of the causes of our suffering. It’s extremely important to develop awareness of speech, since speech can be very reactive and quite easily misunderstood.”

I find it hard to practice rigth speech myself. But I can recognize the importance of this factor of the Eightfold Pathway. It’s also the fourth percept of the Buddha’s preconized five precepts, it goes like this:

“I undertake the precept to refrain from false and harmful speech.”

So what we say has resonance not only in our mind-body state but it affects others as well. When we are attuned to mindful awareness we begin to notice the smallness of reactivity habits and the challenge to hold the reactions.

So Donald Trump has a very divisive speech, he does not speak in concord or harmoniously. So what can we do ? I can just wish for him to be happy. Not that he continues with harmful speech, I wish that he would stop, because it would make him happy. A little bit of meta (loving-kindness). Remember meta is not to be practiced only with beings that we like, it’s towards people that we don’t like too. And although I don’t agree and I find unethical or even criminal some of the things he does, I will not harbor in myself that hatred. It’s the inner reaction that matters, and wishing meta is good for the inner world.