Buddha’s Life Coaching in the P?li Canon

Abstract

This study aims to examine the coaching methods of the Buddha that appear in the P?li canon, specifically how the Buddha used the tool of coaching to help people awaken, which contributes massively to the overall well-being of the coachee in daily life. Coaching is a partnership with clients in a thought-provoking and creative process that inspires them to maximize their personal and professional potential. For life coaching, the study found that it is a process in which the coach seeks to move the client from where they are to where they want to be. The life coach uses the power of engagement to enable clients to achieve positive and measurable results in all areas of their lives. There are a variety of coaching techniques such as listening, questioning, clarifying, and providing feedback to help a willing client identify and achieve their goals or the outcomes they hope to achieve from coaching. In addition, the study examines the Buddha's coaching in the P?li canon and finds that the Buddha uses various coaching techniques to help people awaken, such as listening, questioning, and feedback techniques. However, if we compare the goal of life coaching in modern theory with the Buddha's coaching, we find a slight difference. The modern theory of life coaching seeks to help people maximize their personal potential, solve problems in their daily lives, and achieve their desired goal. In addition to these goals, the coaching of the Buddha seeks to help people eliminate the root of suffering and achieve liberation (nibbana) by encouraging the coachee to observe the moral precepts and do mindfulness exercises that lead to the attainment of wisdom.