Thich Nu Tinh Quang
The next stage
of the Eightfold Path is considered to be ‘Right speech’ (samyag-vāc /
sammā-vācā). Right Speech is especially important in the teachings of Buddha.
As we know, it is one of the significant differences between man and animal. It
is believed that due to the emergence of oral language and later writing,
humanity has evolved so fast, because the opportunity to share their personal
experiences among the descendants and transferring useful knowledge from
generation to generation. In addition, speech-this is one of those things that
everyone uses on a daily basis: we use it to communicate, thus it constitutes
the main part of the tools that humanity uses to communicate in whatever field
it was. Without speech it would be impossible to achieve such a development of
art, science and other institutions, which are the main constituent parts
necessary for the development of mankind.
In most of western philosophical and religious
systems, human divided into two different parts -- body and soul that
symbolizes and points us to the equivalent importance, significance and value
of these two main parts. On the other hand, in same oriental systems,
especially in those who have a particular attitude to Buddhism, it accepted the
division of man into three parts: body, speed and mind. In this partition, each
of these parts corresponds to one of the three parts of human body: the heart,
head and neck, respectively. Because ‘speech center’ is located between the
other two - the head and the heart – in human’s throat, it serves as a kind of
bridge between them, and combining the features of both -- the first and the
second one. With the speech center, we express our emotions feelings and
thoughts, sharing them with others.
As it seen from above, the speech in Buddhism
is paid a lot of attention, and therefore, there are some instructions that
regulate this sphere of our existence. One of these rules has already been
discussed above in the analysis of the five sacred precepts of Buddhism-the
fourth of which teaches us to avoid deception. However, just to avoiding the
lie is always not enough to reach the level of truly ‘right speech’. As a
start, we should determine clearly, which things are really worth to talk
about, and which ones in some cases should better remain silent. The following the
Buddha’s instructions will help us to understand how to say much better:
1. ‘In the case of words that the Tathagata
knows to be unfactual, untrue, unbeneficial (or: not connected with the goal),
unendearing & disagreeable to others, he does not say them.’
2. ‘In the case
of words that the Tathagata knows to be factual, true, unbeneficial,
unendearing & disagreeable to others, he does not say them.’
3. ‘In the case
of words that the Tathagata knows to be factual, true, beneficial, but
unendearing & disagreeable to others, he has a sense of the proper time for
saying them.’
4. ‘In the case
of words that the Tathagata knows to be unfactual, untrue, unbeneficial, but
endearing & agreeable to others, he does not say them.’
5. ‘In the case
of words that the Tathagata knows to be factual, true, unbeneficial, but
endearing & agreeable to others, he does not say them.’
6. ‘In the case
of words that the Tathagata knows to be factual, true, beneficial, and
endearing & agreeable to others, he has a sense of the proper time for
saying them. Why is that? Because the Tathagata has sympathy for living beings.”[1]
(Tathāgata - one of the Buddhas names, which
translation means 'one who has thus gone' (tathā-gata) or 'one who has thus
come' (tathā-āgata):
It is noticeable
that the set of rules above is seems to be more suited for the self-controlling
rather than for self-development, but this is only a small part of what is
meant by ‘right speech’. The concept is much broader; it covers a lot of
important areas of human being, helping us to streamline the relationship
between people in general. The Buddha describes right speech as follows: “And
what is right speech? Abstaining from lying, from divisive speech, from abusive
speech, and from idle chatter: This is called right speech. It is spoken at the
right time. It is spoken in truth. It is spoken affectionately. It is spoken
beneficially. It is spoken with a mind of good-will.”[2]
Thus, on the assumption of the Buddha’s words,
we can highlight the following essential elements of the right of speech: it
must be completely truthful, has to express affectionateness, and has to be
helpful and useful for the interlocutor, as well as it has to promote harmony
and eliminating disagreements between people. Each of those things is a
standard measure of correct speech; they knowingly placed in such order to show
us different stages of communication between people, which one of them follows
from the previous one, complementing and deepening its meaning.
The first criterion, of course, is the
truthfulness of speech. The truth in this context means not only an accurate
statement of the facts, but also the lack of unsaid things, which could be
important, and complete sincerity. Thus, unsetting forth the facts and attempts
to hide anything, will lead to deviation from right speech principles. It seems
to be uneasy task to match those criteria, but it is quite possible to do; however,
to perform this step for each person should be honest with oneself.
We have to understand clearly what we think
and what we feel, especially, because in the modern world, this thing is
constantly coming from outside information and constantly puts pressure on us
with creating chaos and confusion. Each of us has a lot of ideas and thoughts,
but many thoughts in our minds; if we analyze are not our own, but imposed on
us by various authorities, and sometimes to get to the real root is not so
simple. On the other hand, we have feelings that are totally individual and
come from within, but often we can not understand and entangled in their own
emotions, because often do not even know how to cope with them. Most of the
principles guiding our behavior in different situations and have an impact on
decision-making, imposed on us by education and ambient pressure, thus are not
always right or even necessary. Honesty requires constant awareness and
analysis of their actions, thoughts and feelings. Based on this, it is enough
difficult to meet the truth and to be really honest, as required by Buddhism.
In order to achieve the veracity of our
speech, we need only to follow along, then to reach the next stage of
"right speech" we have to think of others before saying. The
friendliness of our speech, in the modern sense, again, moved away far enough
from the initial value, and in particular on the values attributed to this
criterion Buddhism. Friendliness is not just a set of polite cliche or kind
words, which it is accepted to use if you want to express to anyone with respect
or just seem polite. Often, talking to people we perceive them through the
prism of their own beliefs, and evaluate them only based on our own experience;
respectively, the feelings that we feel for the people depend only on our own
preferences and desires rather reflecting our inner world. True friendliness is
a manifestation of love for the other person, but guided by generally accepted
views; our love the most is from our attitude to the behavior of people than
the people themselves. The manifestation of true friendliness implies the
awareness of the other person as same as yourself objectively and separate from
yourself.
Only after realization and acceptance of the
demands and needs of other people as our own, we will be able to interact with
them, going to the third stage of the Right Speech, which is helpfulness.
Speaking about the helpfulness of speech, we are talking primarily about how
what we say will help a person to get back on the right path, and to ascend to
a higher level of awareness and to being closer to enlightenment. In this context,
the ability to properly convey certain information is very important. We must
learn to see the good side in everything because for interlocutor the mood he
gets while talking with someone is always important, and this will always
effect to cheer a person. On the other hand, in the modern world, aggressive
criticism is used far more often, and criticism that confuses and breaks the
connection between human beings and; as practice shows, this path leads to the
opposite side by the harmony among people.
So we got to the last stage of Right Speech - the
need for harmony and understanding among people. In fact, this aspect of speech
combines the three previous ones, because if we go through them, if we
understand, recognize and love other people, we will understand the needs and
demands of other people to help each other to grow spiritually that based on
truthfulness, awareness and love. How can such state of collective
consciousness not lead to a complete harmony and understanding?
Higher aspect, The Buddha advised
practitioners to stay away funny words, useless words, and just focus on the
ten destinations following in conversation: desireless, contentment,
renunciation, away from the bondages, diligence, discipline, concentration,
wisdom, liberation, and liberation out of knowledge.[3]
To achieve fully liberation, might be everyone should be based on ten criterias
above to know what point of his (her) right speech is reached.
%20-%20Copy%20-%20Copy.png)
No comments:
Post a Comment