I saw this quotation in a friend’s daily email, “Lord, keep your arm around my shoulder and your hand over my mouth.” My friend said it was from an email message. The author was not identified. It reminded me of Right Speech, in Buddhism, also called Wise Speech or Virtuous Speech.
According to Wikipedia, Right Speech is abstaining from lying, from divisive speech, from abusive speech, and from idle chatter.
As I walk in my neighborhood now (Glen-Aire, a Manufactured Home Community for 55+), I see yard signs announcing the resident’s candidate of choice. Next door, across the street… opposing political views blatantly expressed for all to see.
One neighbor asked me what my political views are. I told him I am apolitical. I suggested we vet everyone who wants to play the game called “running for public office.” We can put their names on those little balls they use for the lottery numbers and let the machine spin. Someone will be President, Vice President, Senator, Congressman, Governor! We can save so much money and eliminate so much madness….
In “Right Speech Reconsidered” (published in the October 13, 2017 edition of Tricycle: The Buddhist Review, Beth Roth writes: The teaching about Right Speech assumes imperfection. Our “mistakes” are a vital part of our learning. We need to lie, exaggerate, embellish, use harsh and aggressive speech, engage in useless banter, and speak at inappropriate times, in order to experience how using speech in these ways creates tension in the body, agitation in the mind, and remorse in the heart. We also discover how unskillful speech degrades personal relationships and diminishes the possibility of peace in our world.
Recently I overheard a phone conversation between my husband and one of his brothers. The brothers all have a habitual pattern of backbiting (talking about someone who isn’t present), especially the youngest brother. He is definitely the black sheep of the family with a different style of living — chronically late and often missing important events. After my husband hung up, I asked him if he felt he had been kind toward this brother.
“Am I kind to him?” he asked with a slight defensive tone.
I explained that I know him to be kind to this brother, when he is with him. I clarified that what I was curious about was whether or not he considered the things he had just been saying about this brother to have been kind.
He admitted his words had not been kind.
That brought to mind for me a mnemonic device about Right Speech:
Before you speak, T.H.I.N.K.
T – is it True?
H – is it Helpful?
I – is it Inspiring?
N – is it Necessary?
K – is it Kind?
After November 3, 2020, as after every other election, a candidate some people wanted will have won, while a candidate other people wanted will have lost.
The truth is, we will even more so have opportunities to practice Right Speech….