Eightfold path: Wise Speech

Whereas Wise Speech obviously has to do with what one says, it is perhaps more importantly a way of viewing the world and those in it. One of the most vital teachings of the Buddha is that we are all so thoroughly interconnected and interdependent that to do harm to one is to do harm to all, including ourselves. To lie, to speak ill of another, to gossip, all of these are ways of driving a wedge between others and ourselves. This division is entirely artificial and therefore cannot be otherwise than harmful, a source of suffering.

In all parts of the path we can begin at a very basic level but when the goal is to create the greatest harmony between ourselves and the world, the layers begin to fall away and our actions become ever more subtle and attuned to the true meaning of what it is to be wise within the Eightfold Path. In terms of speech, the most basic level of Wise Speech is truthfulness. This accords with what we were told as children, that to lie is wrong. But it doesn't take much thought to realize that absolute truthfulness is not only a very difficult assignment but is often neither kind nor judicious. One famous example is this: if you know that a man intends to kill your brother and your brother is hiding in your house, if the potential killer comes to your door and asks, "Is your brother inside?", what should you answer? It is clear that there are gradations to the morality of truthfulness.

However, in most instances it is best to frame our answers so they are both truthful and skillful. It is sometimes necessary, I have found, to simply say, "I choose not to answer that question." Not that such an answer would help defend my poor brother from the murderer; in that case a lie is the moral choice. But in everyday commerce, when I am faced with the opportunity to lie or tell the truth, I always choose to tell the truth or warn the questioner that the answer may not be to their liking and then give them the choice to hear the answer. Sometimes I don't even provide that choice if I feel it would create a situation of unhappiness that would have no usefulness.

The truth can also be used as a weapon and must be skillfully applied. When speaking of someone not present, what is our motive, even if we are speaking the truth? If we speak the truth maliciously with the intent of spreading bad news in order to denigrate the person being spoken of, we are not being skillful in our speech. Gossip often falls into this category of speech even when truthful, which often it is not. Rare is the occasion where we have enough information to be certain that the gossip we are repeating is entirely true. Even more rare (and almost nonexistent) are the times when we both have access to the truth and that such speech is entirely necessary and helpful. By these standards, we can see that gossip is never skillful speech, for if it is both entirely truthful and entirely useful, it is no longer gossip but some other form of speech altogether.

Sayadaw U Pandita lists four kinds of "crooked" speech (he draws a contrast between the straightness of the Eightfold Path and the crookedness or actions that are in opposition to the Path): lying; speech which causes disharmony; crude, profane, or coarse speech; and frivolous speech.

It seems to me that this last one, frivolity in speech, is particularly relevant in today's world of nearly nonstop chatter. Facebook posts, tweets, You Tube videos, text messages, emails; all of these are forms of speech and quite often entirely trivial. It is easy to conclude that these are also entirely harmless, but Wise Speech would disagree. When we are distracted by such frivolous speech, we cannot dwell on what is wholesome and beneficial. It is quite clear that often such speech is a blatant attempt to escape the need to focus on what is important because doing so can be frightening. Just as some people in a dark forest cannot help chattering on and on to escape their fear so, on a more subtle level, we often chatter to hide the fear in our day-to-day lives.

Where speech has the potential to do harm, there is another layer of subtlety wherein the harm to be avoided is greater than the harm done. This is a very difficult judgment to make and requires great wisdom. It is better to avoid such speech than to be wrong in speaking in such a way. But it is not acceptable or wise to avoid speech when a greater harm can be averted by speaking honestly, even if the honest speech might cause a lesser harm. A simple example is when you become aware of abuse; to report the abuser (which will undoubtedly cause that person harm) is not evil when the greater evil of abuse can be averted. This level of moral speech has been much in the news lately with the scandal in the Ohio State athletic department. The protective silence of the Catholic church around the sexual abuses of a small minority of priests has served to irreparably harm not only the children who were abused but the credibility of the church itself.

At work, I find myself often in the position of speaking truth to power. I feel this is essential because one of the most subtle forms of unwise speech is to allow false assumptions to take hold which then create the conditions for further falsehood or unwise actions. At the same time, though, I have a reputation for being something of a malcontent, which means that many of my challenges are dismissed as the ravings of the same old lunatic. It is clear that Wise Speech in this context would be to limit my opposition to those things which truly have the potential to cause harm rather than every cockamamie scheme, many of which are clearly smoke and mirrors with absolutely no potential to have any effect, good or bad, on the operation of my clinic. These I could as easily just leave alone and I am learning, quite slowly, to do so.

One mnemonic I was taught that is sometime helpful is T.H.I.N.K. In this paradigm, all speech should be thoughtful, honest, intelligent, necessary, and kind. If it cannot satisfy all five of these criteria, the words are better left unspoken. Of course, we must be wise in applying these standards or we will allow some potentially injurious actions to go unchallenged. (Would it be kind to unmask an abuser? Perhaps not in a very narrow sense, but the greater kindness is to harm the abuser). Nonetheless, when I truly apply the THINK principle, I find that I am silent much of the time. How much of what is say is truly necessary? Is my sarcastic wit kind? Do I think intelligently before I speak? Is my honesty truly thoughtful and necessary, or am I hiding behind a mask of honesty in order to seek revenge or a feeling of superiority?

It is clear that Wise Speech is extraordinarily subtle. Silence is an important form of Wise Speech and is better resorted to than error. But, as described above, silence can also be unskillful speech. There is no one right answer to questions of Wise Speech, but the heart most often knows what is right to do. Even if it requires courage, to speak wisely when the heart says it is right is an important step on the straight path of real wisdom.

The next part of this discussion is here.