Right Speech and Realistic Intention : The Buddha’s Eight Fold Path Explained with Robert A.F. Thurman & Mark Epstein M.D. from the Annual Tibet House US Buddhism and Psychotherapy Program, Recorded at Menla in Phoenicia, New York August 2016
In this short video Robert A.F. Thurman & Mark Epstein M.D. discuss the Buddha’s Four Noble Truths & 8 Fold Path. Includes a discussion of the translation of the terms “Right Speech” VS “Realistic Speech” when discussing Speech and Intention in regards to the 8 Fold Path.
“Conventionally, right speech refers to how we speak to others, but I also believe it can help us pay attention to how we speak to ourselves. There are grievances we cling to and narratives we weave to try to understand ourselves. There is often a desire for retribution or a need to blame, and there are certainly many occasions when this is completely justified.
Validation of suffering is really only the beginning of a successful therapy. Affirmation is important— there are many times when people have suffered but are unwilling to admit the extent of their pain—but so is the discovery that one is more than one’s story.
This is not advice I could actually give many people in the midst of therapy—but it is my version of right speech nonetheless. The point of telling one’s story in therapy is to be released from the hold it has over you, to set yourself free, not to reinforce the way it defines you.
If there is one thing I have learned from my years as a Buddhist therapist, it is that we need not be limited by our stories. We are much more mysterious than they are.”
Mark Epstein M.D. from www.tricycle.org.
“Blown Away By Nirvana and the Buddha’s Eight Fold Path” is an archive recording from the “Addiction, Depression & Recovery: Buddhist Psychological Insights for Mental & Spiritual Health in the Modern World” with Robert A.F. Thurman & Mark Epstein M.D. Tibet House US Weekend Retreat, recorded at Menla’s Nalanda Conference Center in Phoenicia, New York, August 2016.
To listen to an audio recording from this weekend retreat at please visit www.bobthurman.com. Episode #124 of the Bob Thurman Podcast “Buddhism 101: Four Noble Truths” can be downloaded via iTunes or your favorite podcasting platform.
Full Session includes guided meditations, dialog with participants, providing the context of the Buddha’s Nirvana, The Four Noble Truths & The Eight Fold Path.
Additional previews are available on the Tibet House US YouTube Channel + Full Archive Recordings in the THUS Member Archives. Access starts at $2 a Month. To watch the full videos please visit:
First Session with Bob Thurman + Mark Epstein M.D.
Second Session with Bob Thurman + Mark Epstein M.D.
To learn more about upcoming programs in the heart of the Catskills with Bob Thurman & Mark Epstein M.D. please visit: www.menla.us.
“Right Speech” Photo, Created with love by Ryan McGuire. via www.gratisography.com.
About Mark Epstein, M.D
Mark Epstein, M.D. is a psychiatrist in New York City and the author of a number of books about the interface of Buddhism & psychotherapy, including Thoughts without a Thinker, Going to Pieces without Falling Apart, Going on Being, Open to Desire, Psychotherapy without the Self & The Trauma of Everyday Life. He received his undergraduate and medical degrees from Harvard University and is currently Clinical Assistant Professor in the Postdoctoral Program in Psychotherapy and Psychoanalysis at New York University.
Connect with Mark Epstein M.D.
Website | Twitter | Instagram | Facebook
About Robert A.F. Thurman
Robert Thurman is Professor of Indo-Tibetan Buddhist Studies at Columbia University as well as co-founder and President of Tibet House US and it’s Menla Retreat & Dewa Spa in service of HH Dalai Lama & the people of Tibet. To listen to his free weekly podcasts please visit: www.bobthurman.com.
Suggested Books & Audio by Robert A.F. Thurman:
Man of Peace: Illustrated Life Story of Tibet’s Dalai Lama (Book), Infinite Life: Awakening to Bliss Within (Book), Anger: The Seven Deadly Sins (Book), Inner Revolution (Book), Circling the Sacred Mountain : A Spiritual Adventure Through the Himalayas (Book), Essential Tibetan Buddhism (Book), The Tibetan Book of the Dead: The Great Book of Natural Liberation Through Understanding in the Between (Book) The Jewel Tree of Tibet: The Enlightenment Engine of Tibetan Buddhism (Book), The Central Philosophy of Tibet (Book), The Holy Teaching of Vimalakirti: A Mahayana Scripture (Book), Life & Teachings of Tsong Khapa (Book), Why the Dalai Lama Matters: His Act of Truth as the Solution for China, Tibet, and the World (Book) & Liberation Upon Hearing in the Between: Living with the Tibetan Book of the Dead (Audio).
