Mindfulness is commonly promoted as a way to feel better mentally and physically — less stressed, anxious, or depressed and more focused, productive and resilient. 

There’s absolutely nothing wrong with practicing mindfulness for these ends.
 
But what if you could elevate your practice of mindfulness and make it kinder, more compassionate, and more profound? 

Would you consider taking it further?
 
After all, mindfulness is simply a way of directing your attention. On its own, it doesn’t make you a better person.

• An assassin needs to be mindful, but most people consider his actions abhorrent.

• A successful business person can use mindfulness techniques and increase his profit, but it won’t necessarily diminish his greed.

• A race car driver can’t win without the capacity for meticulous attention, but this ability won’t automatically stop him from belittling his partner.

If you want to be mindful and be a better person, there is a way. 

In Buddhism, it’s called the Three Trainings. In this approach, mindfulness is wedded to ethics and wisdom to make it a more righteous way to live. 

This time, let’s look at the practice of ethics and how it can enhance your practice of mindfulness.

Doing the Right Thing

Does the word “ethics” make you cringe? 

These days, most people want to be free to do whatever they want, whenever they want without being constricted by rules and regulations. 

Being virtuous or moral has fallen out of fashion. If you adhere to a code of ethics, you may be considered uptight instead of upright.

But what if your ethics were rooted in a deep sense of not wanting to harm others rather than a rigid set of external decrees? 

You know how much you suffer when harmed, don’t you? So, you decide you don’t want others to suffer due to unpleasant thoughts, words, or actions on your part. 

Your ethics come from a good heart rather than a desire to be a goody-goody superior to everyone else.

The idea of doing the “right thing” is embedded in Hawaiian culture and expressed in the word “pono,” which can be translated as “righteousness.”

“In life, pono stands for righteousness and balance. In Hawaiian, if a person is living pono, it means that they have struck the right balance in their relationships with other things, places, and people in their lives. It also means that they are living with a continuous conscious decision to do right by themselves, by others, and by the world in general.”

This is the essence of mindful living, isn’t it? You make conscious decisions to do the right thing given the particulars of a given situation. That requires mindfulness in the moment.

One the other hand, when we practice ethical behavior, we become more peaceful in our heart and in our mind, which makes it easier to be aware in the present moment.

Because unethical behavior typically stirs up the mind and distracts you from the here and now.

For example, if you tell a lie, you may worry about getting caught. If your lie is revealed, you may suffer consequences—your relationship may fall apart or you might lose your job. 

That can fill your mind with many more thoughts, distracting you from the present moment.

Ethics provide an important foundation for successful mindfulness practice. And mindfulness in the moment allows you to make better choices, which supports ethical action. The two are beautifully inter-connected.

“Mindfulness meditation should be more than just watching what you are doing. What you really need to watch is your motivation.”– Thubten Zopa Rinpoche

How to Practice Ethics

A simple way to practice ethics is to weigh each action you take in relation to whether it will cause harm.

Often, the potential outcome is obvious. But sometimes, it’s not easy to know what will or will not be harmful. You need to consider both the short and long term consequences of an action. 

For example, telling a lie may avoid causing pain on the short term. But will it cause harm if revealed on the long run?

Sometimes, you’ll get it wrong. None of us are perfect so don’t be hard on yourself. Learn from your mistakes, make adjustments, and keep going, always aspiring to engage in the least harm possible.

Most spiritual traditions offer an ethical code to help guide you. Buddhism suggests the practice of five precepts for lay practitioners, but the approach to ethics is very different from other traditions.

The Five Precepts are not “commandments,” but recommendations that will help you refrain from harm and create a mind more conducive to spiritual growth. 

You’re encouraged to use your own intelligence and apply the guidelines in appropriate and relevant ways. This requires the use of discriminating awareness and taking into account the specifics of each situation, the context, and the mitigating circumstances.

Below are The Five Precepts in short form and an updated version for modern times from Zen Master, Thich Nhat Hahn called the “Five Mindfulness Trainings.”

1. To abstain from taking life (human and animal)

“Aware of the suffering caused by the destruction of life, I am committed to cultivating compassion and learning ways to protect the lives of people, animals, plants, and minerals. I am determined not to kill, not to let others kill, and not to condone any act of killing in the world, in my thinking, and in my way of life.”—Thich Nhat Hahn

2. To abstain from taking what is not given

“Aware of the suffering caused by exploitation, social injustice, stealing, and oppression, I am committed to cultivate loving kindness and learn ways to work for the well-being of people, animals, plants, and minerals. I am committed to practice generosity by sharing my time, energy, and material resources with those who are in real need. I am determined not to steal and not to possess anything that should belong to others. I will respect the property of others, but I will prevent others from profiting from human suffering or the suffering of other species on Earth.”—Thich Nhat Hahn

3. To abstain from sexual misconduct

“Aware of the suffering caused by sexual misconduct, I am committed to cultivate responsibility and learn ways to protect the safety and integrity of individuals, couples, families, and society. I am determined not to engage in sexual relations without love and a long-term commitment. To preserve the happiness of myself and others, I am determined to respect my commitments and the commitments of others. I will do everything in my power to protect children from sexual abuse and to prevent couples and families from being broken by sexual misconduct.”—Thich Nhat Hahn

4. To abstain from lying

“Aware of the suffering caused by unmindful speech and the inability to listen to others, I am committed to cultivate loving speech and deep listening in order to bring joy and happiness to others and relieve others of their suffering. Knowing that words can create happiness or suffering, I am committed to learn to speak truthfully, with words that inspire self-confidence, joy, and hope. I am determined not to spread news that I do not know to be certain and not to criticize or condemn things of which I am not sure. I will refrain from uttering words that can cause division or discord, or that can cause the family or the community to break. I will make all efforts to reconcile and resolve all conflicts, however small.”—Thich Nhat Hahn

5. To abstain from intoxicants that cloud the mind

“Aware of the suffering caused by unmindful consumption, I am committed to cultivate good health, both physical and mental, for myself, my family, and my society by practicing mindful eating, drinking, and consuming. I am committed to ingest only items that preserve peace, well-being, and joy in my body, in my consciousness, and in the collective body and consciousness of my family and society. I am determined not to use alcohol or any other intoxicant or to ingest foods or other items that contain toxins, such as certain TV programs, magazines, books, films, and conversations. I am aware that to damage my body or my consciousness with these poisons is to betray my ancestors, my parents, my society, and future generations. I will work to transform violence, fear, anger, and confusion in myself and in society by practising a diet for myself and for society. I understand that a proper diet is crucial for self-transformation and for the transformation of society.”—Thich Nhat Hahn

The Five Precepts aren’t meant to be employed in a moralistic way as a means to judge or punish others. Rather, they’re provided as a guideline for examining your own behaviors and making it more conducive for spiritual growth.

Closing Thoughts

It’s not easy to practice mindfulness when your mind is stirred up because you’ve cheated on your partner, lied to your boss, or tied one on last night.

The practice of ethics helps you engage in positive behaviors and avoid harmful ones. That means you’ll have less to fret about when you sit down to practice mindfulness meditation.

Conversely, the practice of mindfulness will help you be more cognizant of your behavior in any given moment. You’ll be more likely to catch yourself before you engage in a hurtful action.

The two practices are interconnected and support one another.

I don’t doubt you’re a good person who tries to do the right thing. But could you be even more intentional about your practice of ethics? It could boost your mindfulness practice in wonderful ways.

“The undisciplined mind is like an elephant. If left to blunder around out of control, it will wreak havoc. But the harm and suffering we encounter as a result of failing to restrain the negative impulses of mind far exceed the damage a rampaging elephant can cause.” ― the Dalai Lama, Ethics for the New Millennium

[Photo by André Noboa on Unsplash]

Thank you for your presence, I know your time is precious!  Don’t forget to  sign up for Wild Arisings, my twice monthly letters from the heart filled with insights, inspiration, and ideas to help you connect with and live from your truest self. 

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