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In this final post on practicing Right Speech, I want to talk about noble silence. Noble silence is a term used originally to describe when the Buddha simply refused to answer what he considered unanswerable or unknowable questions. (Contrast this to the endless blather we often…
There’s an old Buddhist folktale about a gentle elephant who belonged to a king. Everyone praised the elephant for its kind disposition. But gradually, the noble elephant began to become more aggressive and difficult. It wouldn’t allow anyone to work with it, and lashed out in…
To continue our theme this week, here are another four levels, this time of perfect speech. They come from the teachings of Sangharakshita. I find these helpful because while abstaining from four kinds of speech gives us clarity, practicing four positive kinds of speech does, too.…
When we practice Right Speech, the mindfulness we bring to our words creates harmony on four levels. First, Right Speech creates social harmony. When we use thoughtful language, we bring harmony to our relationships. When people feel heard and affirmed, peacefulness grows. And as an added…
Idle Chatter is the last of the four kinds of speech we want to avoid when practicing Right Speech. Which is hard, because so much of our day is made up of idle chatter. Think about your social media feed! People sharing what they had for…
Harsh speech is the third kind of speech we want to avoid when practicing Right Speech on the Eightfold Path. The first two, as you recall, are false speech and slander. I know slander and harsh speech sound similar; so how do we distinguish them? Both…
Practicing Right Speech means refraining from four kinds of speech. The first is lying, and the second is slander. Buddha defined slanderous speech as anything that creates enmity and division. It can destroy a friendship. It creates violence. Rather than bringing people together, slander tears us…
As I mentioned in the introductory post, practicing Right Speech means abstaining from four kinds of speech. The first is false speech. Here’s what the Buddha said: [A person practicing Right Speech] speaks the truth, is devoted to truth, reliable, worthy of confidence, not a deceiver…
This month’s step on the Eightfold Path is Right Speech. And from what I’ve studied so far, the wisdom of Right Speech is going to bring up some powerful (and likely difficult) things as we seek to practice it. But: really good things. Worthwhile things. First,…
