Thank you for being here.
Before we begin,
Take one slow breath in,
Let your shoulders drop,
Let the noise of the day fade a little.
Feel yourself land right where you are.
Alright,
Let's talk.
Take a breath,
Let the world fall quiet for a moment.
Right view isn't about being right,
It's about seeing clearly.
In a world that tells you what to think before you even breathe,
Clarity itself becomes an act of rebellion.
This talk is for the moments you realize the story in your head isn't the truth.
The moment you stop performing peace and actually start seeing,
Right view,
The Buddha called it the foundation of the path,
The understanding that everything rises and falls because of causes and conditions,
That suffering has a source,
That freedom has a way out.
But here in modern America,
Right view means seeing the invisible hands that shape your mind,
The scroll feeds,
The outrage economy,
The algorithms that reward judgment more than wisdom.
It's learning to pause before you decide,
To ask is what I'm seeing real or just my own projection.
Every time we assume,
Every time we speak before we listen,
We throw another ripple into the storm.
Right view begins when we realize we don't have to add to it.
It's not about perfect vision,
It's about honest seeing,
The courage to say I don't know yet,
The wisdom to wait before reacting,
The compassion to remember everybody's carrying something unseen.
A student once asked the Buddha,
How do I see the truth?
When you look through this,
He said,
You see the world.
Then he placed a thin layer of silver behind the glass.
Now you see yourself.
The student asked,
Why is that?
The Buddha smiled,
Because a little silver,
He said,
Is enough to turn a window into a mirror.
When the mind is coated in self,
Clean the glass each day,
And the world returns to you.
Not polished,
Just clear.
Here's your tool.
It's called the echo pause.
When something hits you,
A headline,
A text,
A tone,
Don't move yet.
Take three breaths.
On the first breath,
Feel your body,
Shoulders,
Jaw,
Heart.
On the second breath,
Listen to the echo that rises,
The reaction,
The heat,
The story trying to form.
On the third breath,
Let it fade.
Don't fix it.
Don't feed it.
Just notice what's left when the noise burns off.
That's your raw view.
That's the truth before you name it.
From that place,
You can speak,
Move,
Or stay silent,
But it'll come from wisdom,
Not from the storm.
Try it once a day this week,
With small things first,
A glance,
A message,
A disagreement.
Start to feel the storm soften around you.
When you practice right view,
You stop being a mirror for the world's confusion.
You become a window for its truth.
May you see clearly,
Speak gently,
And walk with eyes unclouded by fear.
Stillness is rebellion.
Compassion is a weapon.
Stillness is rebellion.
