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 apart.

What makes slander so serious is that it carries with it an intention to harm. You don’t slander someone on accident. It is a willful act. For this reason, Bhikkhu Bodhi says slander carries a particularly heavy karmic weight, because it is deliberate. When we slander, we are choosing to create suffering. And that goes against everything a bodhisattva stands for.

In our polarized political climate, slanderous speech shows up often, unfortunately. I’m always grateful when people take the time to call out slander as unnecessary. We can disagree with someone, even criticize someone, without attacking their inherent dignity. Slander is hateful because it aims at the image of the Divine in a person, and seeks to undermine it or denigrate it. There’s no need to call out someone’s physical appearance, for example, in a disagreement. That’s just below the belt.

For this reason, Bhante Gunaratana describes avoiding slanderous speech as this simple lesson: words are not weapons. (Or, more specifically, they can be, but not when we’re using them well.) I’m reminded of the verse in the New Testament book of James that warns the tongue can create a world of evil and set the whole course of things on fire.

The opposite of slander is harmonious speech. Words that are harmonious bring people together, offer loving-kindness. When we speak them, people feel safe, and they feel valued.

Harmonious speech honors the dignity of others.

Where can you offer harmonious speech this weekend?

And can you practice holding your tongue when you want to speak something that would create division?

This post is part of my series on the Eightfold Path, and you can read all my posts on Right Speech here.