Blessing Ten:
Artfulness in Speech
Artfulness in Speech
A.INTRODUCTION
Some might think the words coming from our mouths are relatively unimportant when compared to the artfulness in “knowledge”, ”application” and “usage” discussed in the previous blessings of this grouping. However, when it comes to “making oneself useful to society” one cannot avoid communicative skills for team-building and for passing one’s knowledge on to others.
A.1 Buddhism founded on the tenet of correct speech
Furthermore, it is only due to the care taken in “communicative skills” that the Buddha’s Teaching can have been passed down across the space of 2,500 years to the present day and still inspire people. Words can be true but they may not be pleasant to listen to. If words are both true and polite, the ancients said that they were both worth listening to and also worth hearing. If words, apart from being both true and polite were also useful, the ancients said that such words apart from being worth believing and worth hearing are also worthy of respect — it is hard to find any religion which analyses speech to such depth.
A.2 Verbal karma easier to produce than Physical karma
If you compare the possibilities for doing and saying good things, you find that the possibilities for good speech are almost unlimited, more than what we can do with the body. You can really do many more good deeds with your speech than your actions or if you make the mistake of doing evil, you can do much more evil with your speech than with your body. This is the reason why the Buddha had to give the art of speaking its own separate blessing, because of all there is to be studied.
A.3 Why one mouth is ample
Without understanding the principles of artful speech, we are wont to say too much. The people of old would teach small children the way to look at yourself in the mirror. They would say, don’t go looking at how beautiful or handsome you are — because before long old age will rob you of all these things. Take a good look at your own face. You will notice that even though your eyes have only one function, to look, nature has given you two. You will notice that even though your ears have only one function, to hear, nature has also given you two. You will notice that even though your nostrils have only one function, to breathe, nature has given you two. However, your mouth has two functions, to eat and to talk, but nature has given you only one mouth. It is as if nature is telling us to use our mouth in moderation — not to eat too much and not to say too much!
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