3. Right Speech
DN 22 What now is right speech? Right speech is refraining from lying, from malicious gossip, from harsh speech, and from useless chatter.
Abstaining from Lying
AN 10.176 You abandon lying and abstain from false speech. If you are asked to tell what you know, then you tell only what you know, as accurately as you can. So you do not intentionally speak a lie or deceive, for your own benefit or for the sake of another or for some other reason.
Vin, Parajika 4 To tell a deliberate lie, you must be mindful before speaking: “I am going to speak falsely,” while speaking be aware that “I am telling a lie,” and afterwards be aware that “I have misrepresented the truth.”
Abstaining from Malicious Gossip
AN 10.176 You abandon malicious gossip and abstain from talk that causes division. Having heard something, you do not repeat it in order to divide people from one another. Instead, you are one who reunites those who are divided, a promoter of unity, who enjoys, rejoices and delights in concord, a speaker of words that promote concord.
Abstaining from Harsh Speech
AN 10.176 Having abandoned harsh speech, you abstain from coarse speech. You only speak words that are gentle, pleasing to the ear, and lovable—words that go to the heart, are courteous, desired by many, and agreeable to many.
MN 21 Even if terrorists were to torture you, such as by savagely cutting off your head with a sharp serrated knife, if you allowed hatred to develop in your mind towards them, then you would not be carrying out my teaching.
Instead you should train yourself thus: “My mind will remain unaffected, and I shall speak no bad words; I shall abide compassionate for their welfare, with a mind of loving-kindness, without inner hate. I shall abide pervading them with a mind imbued with loving-kindness; and, starting with them, I shall abide pervading the all-encompassing world with a mind imbued with loving-kindness—abundant, exalted, immeasurable, without hostility and without ill-will.” That is how you should train.
Abstaining from Useless Chatter
AN 10.176 Having abandoned useless chatter, you abstain from unbeneficial talk. You speak at a proper time, speak truth, speak what is beneficial, speak on the Dhamma and the discipline; at a proper time you speak words that are worth recording, reasonable, succinct, and beneficial.
Right Way to Criticise Someone
AN 10.44 Before you criticise someone, you should be mindful with respect to five things and carefully establish five things:
- “Is my bodily behaviour blameless? Do I possess bodily behaviour that is pure, flawless and irreproachable? Does this quality exist in me or not?” If your bodily behaviour is not beyond blame, there will be those who say of you: “Please train your own bodily behaviour first.”
- “Is my behaviour of speech blameless? Do I possess behaviour of speech that is pure, flawless and irreproachable? Does this quality exist in me or not?” If your behaviour of speech is not beyond blame, there will be those who say of you: “Please train your own speech first.”
- “Have I established a mind of loving-kindness without resentment to my associates? Does this quality exist in me or not?” If you have not established a mind of loving-kindness without resentment to your associates, there will be those who say of you: “Please establish a mind of loving-kindness without resentment to your associates first.”
- “Am I learned, and do I remember and understand correctly what I have learned? Have I learned about those teachings on Dhamma that are good in the beginning, good in the middle, and good in the end, which proclaim the perfectly complete and pure spiritual life? Have I remembered them accurately, investigated them thoroughly, and understood them properly? Does this quality exist in me or not?” If not … there will be those who say of you: “Please learn your own tradition first.”
- “Have both (monks’ and nuns’) Monastic Codes been well learned and understood by me? Does this quality exist in me or not?” If not … there will be others who say of you: “Please learn the monastic rules first.”
- You resolve to speak at an appropriate time, not an improper time.
- You resolve to speak truthfully, not falsely.
- You resolve to speak gently, not harshly.
- You resolve to speak in a beneficial way, not in a way that causes harm.
- You resolve to speak with a mind of loving-kindness, not while harbouring ill will.
