Right Speech.

Speech is a very profound subject.

We humans are a problem, when we speak.

We humans are a problem when we ignore.

These problems are also our teacher.

Speech may be used to bring about harmony or separation, by disturbing the natural inner peace of our mind, and that of others. In the normal run of life, talk is cheap, and our mouth just runs away with assumptions. In the spiritual life of inner awareness, the use of speech is a direct expression of our inner state, and this can teach us everything about our own obscurations, or spaciousness.

 Speech can easily and frequently bring us into conflict. It all depends how responsible we are.

 Talking dharma to another student (we are all students) can be a delicate matter, as we can easily talk at cross purposes. The outcome can set an opinion for life, or become our greatest teacher.

 Even though we may receive teachings from the same teacher at the same retreat, we may see things differently from others. To just take Buddhism, there are several sects with slightly different approaches and within those sects are nine levels or vehicles. Each one is complete and correct in itself. The same words are used at each level, but the meaning changes as we proceed. So one has to tread very carefully in discussions, as I have learnt to my astonishment.

 I’m writing this because, when talking to others who are, let’s say, strong minded, we may assume that we are wrong…which may not be the case. We may get disheartened at this ‘put down’ or by being ignored, but as in ordinary life, there are many who make assumptions, and dismiss others, especially if they consider themselves more learned. My astonishment comes from this lack of compassion!

 The dharma considers awarenesses of body, speech and mind as equally important.

 Here is a case in point:

 At the end of an intensive month-long silent retreat with 10 hours of meditation a day, a fellow student asked me what I had learnt. I was enthusiastic to reply, as I genuinely realised an answer to a inner question regarding the “Yidam” practice I was doing. This was that the three Kayas (empty essence, cognisant nature and unconfined compassion) were in fact the three poisons (three negative emotions of desire, aversion and ignorance). This is a essay in itself…and the basis of the creation of this blog.

 He merely replied, “That’s a bit far fetched,” and dismissed me…forever, it seems. He is a very diligent, serious, intelligent man, yet we could not communicate, so we just drank tea. I so wanted to explain this to him, but it would only have sounded like lecturing and would have caused an even greater gap between us.

 Sometimes wanting to be right can be wrong!

 Never lose inner peace through wrong speech. We can recognise this by the inner wind rising to the gut, heart, throat or head areas, and we feel anxious and tense…we become hot headed, just in time for the emotions to explode! 🙂

 When speaking, be aware of the inner wind, and take the breath down to below the navel. In the enlightened activity of pacifying, speech is not about gossip or projection: it’s about dissolving the activity and involvement of the ego.

 It is only when we are advanced practitioners, and feel responsible, that we can use the other three enlightened activities of magnetising, enriching and destroying ego’s activities. These four are varying degrees of compassion. However, caution is needed if applied to the wrong person at the wrong time – it can backfire!

Right speech is right compassion.

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