When we shift from conventional language to the language of Dharma, something remarkable happens. We begin to see experience not as fixed and solid, but as a flowing stream of causes and conditions. This isn't merely philosophical - it's deeply practical.

Consider how we speak about our challenges. When anger arises, the difference between saying "I am angry" and "There is anger present" is revolutionary. The first locks us into an identity, while the second opens a space of awareness where we can work skillfully with what's arising.

Just like making a small adjustment to the rearview mirror of a car to improve visibility of hidden areas behind, this subtle shift in language reflects a profound change in understanding.

The beauty of Dharmic language lies in its precision and its power to liberate. When we speak of 'skillful' and 'unskillful' actions rather than 'good' and 'evil', we're not just changing words - we're transforming our relationship with our own development.

We begin to see our path as a craft to be mastered rather than a burden of moral judgment to be carried. This language teaches us about process rather than fixed states. It shows us that everything we experience is a result of causes and conditions.

When we understand this deeply, we naturally take responsibility for our actions and their results. There's no need for external judgment - the law of karma operates naturally, teaching us through direct experience.

The invitation of the Buddha's teaching is always "ehipassiko" - come and see for yourself. This empirical approach, embedded in the very language we use, encourages us to verify everything through our own experience.

We are not asked to believe, but to investigate. This develops a wisdom that is truly our own, not borrowed from others.

Perhaps most importantly, Dharmic language points us toward the gradual path of training. It acknowledges that awakening is a process of cultivation, like tending a garden.

We don't suddenly leap to enlightenment - we grow toward it through patient, persistent practice.

As my practice has deepened over the years, I've seen how this way of speaking and thinking naturally aligns with the deeper truths we encounter in meditation. It's not just about changing our vocabulary - it's about adopting a framework that supports our liberation.

We have embraced structures imposed by Abrahamic thinking for too long. The effects of colonialism and unbridled spread of Abrahamic faiths for many centuries have discoloured and diluted the deep essence of Dharmic understanding.

Our Eastern cultural heritage, language, and spiritual understanding have become influenced by references to an invisible deity who supposedly dictates beliefs, lifestyles, and social norms. Our daily lives are now driven by the compulsion to compete and dominate, where the principle of survival of the fittest prevails.

Our understanding of existence has become confined within the parameters of creation and apocalypse - a definite beginning and end - with promises of eternal paradise conditional upon accepting these prescribed beliefs.

Throughout each moment of our lives - every hour, day, and year - our existence has become defined by a framework that contradicts the natural law of Dhamma. It is time - through mindfulness and right speech - for us to untangle ourselves from this undharmic valour.

When we speak the language of Dharma, we speak the language of freedom.

Each word becomes a reminder of the path; each phrase, an invitation to awaken. This is the profound gift of the Buddha's teaching — a way of seeing, speaking, and understanding that naturally leads to liberation.

Let us, then, beginning from this very moment, be mindful of our words, for they shape our understanding.

And from our understanding, framed through Dharma communication, shapes our path.

Read also: An Endless Stream Instead of Beginnings and Ends

-----------

Kooi F. Lim is the Founder and Managing Editor of the Buddhist Channel. He is also founder of the NORBU Buddhist AI (https://norbu-ai.org)