The past couple of months we’ve been exploring the ethics section (sila) of the Noble Eightfold Path, which offers instruction on how to live our everyday lives.  Tonight will be the last talk in the series before we move onto the meditation section of the Path.

While we’ve covered all the traditional topics, one thing I’ve often thought might be included in a hypothetical *Ninefold* Path is Right Friendship (or maybe more broadly, Right Relationship).

In turn, I enter this talk with the basic question, “How to be a good friend?”

It turns out the Buddha has quite a bit of advice on this topic, such as the types of people to avoid, the types of people to lean into connection with, how the whole Noble Eightfold Path informs our ability to be a good friend, the role of boundaries, the importance of friendship, and much more.

Most of all, our inquiry will be pragmatic in nature: how to use these teachings to show up more fully in our relationships; or, to be a better friend.

Talk for streaming or download: