Axe

Jan. 1 | Every fool who is born has an axe within his mouth with which he cuts himself when he uses wrong speech… The worse of the two is he who, when abused, retaliates. One who does not retaliate wins a battle hard to win. The fool thinks he has won a...

Just Your Thinking So Does Not Make It So

Dec. 19 | Praise and blame, gain and loss, pleasure and sorrow come and go like the wind. To be happy, rest like a giant tree in the midst of them all. – Buddhist Saying   While Right Speech conventionally means abstaining from lying, gossip, vain talk, and...

How Sariputra Spoke The Dharma

Aug. 1 | In the case of words that the Tathagata  knows to be factual, true, beneficial,  and endearing and agreeable to others,  he has a sense of the proper time for saying them.  – Sakyamuni Buddha (Abhaya Sutta) Of all the Buddha’s disciples,...

Verse On Pond

Nov. 29 | 若见池沼， 当愿众生， 语业满足， 巧能演说。 – 文殊菩萨 (华严经: 净行品: 第70偈) If seeing a pond,* [reflect that] ‘May sentient beings’ karma of speech be [completely] perfect, [with] skilful ability [in]...

Speech Haiku

Jul. 20 | The said is said… There is never ‘just saying’

The Buddha’s Perfect Fatherly Speech

Feb. 24 | Those not aware that they can be mindfully firm and not unmindfully harsh harm by choosing anger. – Stonepeace | Books “Sariputta the chief disciple said, ‘The Tathagata [Sakyamuni Buddha] is perfect in speech, there is no fault in the Tathagata...

Three Kinds Of Loving Speech

Sep. 26 | How you think conditions how you speak later. How you speak conditions how you think later. – Stonepeace Loving speech means to communicate and discuss with pleasant speech. There are three types of loving speech: (1) Comforting speech: We should communicate...

Chat On Idle Talk

Jul. 12 | Question: Sometimes I engage in useless speech for social reasons. For example, when colleagues or friends get together, someone starts a so-called useless topic and I might agree or disagree along for the sake of joining in.  An alternative would...

Are Vulgarities Okay?

Oct. 25 | Question: Buddhists shouldn’t use vulgar language as this leads to negative imprints on our mind? What can they lead to? Answer: The very fact that they are vulgarities means that they are spoken out of hatred, with harshness from a mind not at...