The Buddhist Path to Enlightenment (study)
by Dr Kala Acharya | 2016 | 118,883 words
This page relates ‘Right Speech (Samma-vaca or Samyag-vac)’ of the study on the Buddhist path to enlightenment. The Buddha was born in the Lumbini grove near the present-day border of India and Nepal in the 6th century B.C. He had achieved enlightenment at the age of thirty–five under the ‘Bodhi-tree’ at Buddha-Gaya. This study investigates the teachings after his Enlightenment which the Buddha decided to teach ‘out of compassion for beings’.
2.3. Right Speech (Sammā-vācā or Samyag-vāc)
[Full title: The Noble Eightfold Path (Ariya-aṭṭhaṅgika-magga)—(3): Right Speech (Sammā-vācā or Samyag-vāc)]
Right speech (sammā-vācā) is placed first of the sections classifyed under right conduct (sīla), for if the tongue is well controlled, all conduct will be curbed. In the noble eightfold path, under the factor of right speech, four abstentions are mentioned:
Abstention from:
- falsehood (musāvāda),
- slander (pisuṇa-vācā),
- harsh speech (pharusa-vācā) and
- idle chatter (samphappalāpa).
Though these training precepts are worded negatively, it should not be thought that the Buddhist code of conduct is mere negative prohibition. It is necessary first to remove the weeds and prepare the field before sowing. Similarly it is very necessary for man first to strive to purify his speech and bodily actions and then to do well. We must admit that our mind is often tainted with unwholesome thoughts. It burns with the three fires of greed (lobha), hate (dosa) and delusion (moha) and is in an unhealthy state. Naturally the manifestations of such unhealthy thoughts in the form of verbal and physical acts, cannot be healthy, hence the need first to check the evil, to abstain from loose behavior. Abstention urges a man to do well, to be pure in speech and deed. Often people, who are fond of doing much good to others, find it difficult to abstain from doing certain unbecoming things. This needs great strength of mind, effort and determination. On the other hand, it is because of one‘s pity and sympathy, which are not negative virtue that one abstains from harming others and from lying because of one‘s love for truth, and so on. Sīla (virtue) which guards verbal and physical actions is the starting point of the path, it is nonetheless so essential to man‘s develop-ment and purification.
With this brief general introduction to the Buddhist moral code, let us now consider Right Speech. What a wonderful thing is speech, for just a word can change a man‘s whole outlook towards good and evil. Much trouble and misunderstanding could be avoided if only people would be more thoughtful and gentle in what they say and more accurate and sincere in what they write.
Speech is a gift of great value through it we can express thoughts and ideas which can be shared with others. But if the tongue, which is boneless and pliable, is allowed to become unruly, it can play confusion. Speech should not be dominated by unwholesome thoughts -by greed (lobha), anger (dosa), jealousy (issā), pride (māna), and selfishness (diṭṭhi) and so on. Much talk certainly prevents calmness and right thinking, and a smooth tongue leads to all four types of wrong talk. Says the Buddha: ‘Monks, there are these five disadvantages and dangers in talkative speech: the glib talker utters falsehood, slanders, speaks harsh and idle words, and after death is reborn in an evil state of existence.’[1]
Footnotes and references:
[1]:
AN III, p. 254