A personal blog by a graying (mostly Anglo with light African-American roots) gay left leaning liberal progressive married college-educated Buddhist Baha'i BBC/NPR-listening Professor Emeritus now following the Dharma in Minas Gerais, Brasil.
False speech is unhealthy. Refraining from false speech is healthy. (MN 9) Abandoning false speech, one dwells refraining from false speech, a truth-speaker, one to be relied on, trustworthy, dependable, not a deceiver of the world. One does not in full awareness speak falsehood for one’s own ends or for another’s ends or for some trifling worldly end. (DN 1) One practices thus: “Others may speak falsely, but I shall abstain from false speech.” (MN 8)
When one knows overt sharp speech to be untrue, incorrect, and unbeneficial, one should on no account utter it. (MN 139)
Reflection
How much of what we say is totally useless? We often emphasize the value of expressing ourselves and of “getting things off our chest,” and this accounts for many of the expletives we utter and emotional downloads we deliver. What about the role speech plays in communicating with others? Buddhist teachings encourage us to focus on speaking what is true and what is beneficial—that is, what brings out the best in others.
Daily Practice
Pay attention to how people speak and notice speech that is sharp. One text calls it “stabbing one another with verbal daggers.” You know it when you hear it because you almost feel stabbed or wounded by the aggressive hostility of the words. Now look at your own habits of speaking and see if you can catch yourself doing the same thing. Whenever you notice the intention to speak in ways that are harmful, don’t do it.
Tomorrow: Reflecting upon Bodily Action One week from today: Refraining from Malicious Speech
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Death is our greatest challenge, as well as our greatest spiritual opportunity. By cultivating mindfulness, we can prepare ourselves for this final passage by allowing nature, rather than ego, to guide us. In so doing, we become teachers to others, and our own best friends, looking beyond the body's death at the next stage in our soul's adventure.
