Right Speech is truthful speech, not creating unwholesome karma through one’s words but, conversely, using speech to create good karma. In the Noble Eightfold Path, Right Speech is the third factor and is defined as follows, as recorded in the Connected Discourses:
‘What is right speech? It is abstaining from lying, abstaining from divisive speech, abstaining from harsh words, and abstaining from idle chatter.’ (SN 45.8).
This is about avoidance in a negative sense. Positively, the Buddha also taught that we should strive to practice speaking truthfully, harmoniously, gently, and meaningfully. When we practice such speech, we become beloved and respected by many. In return, they will listen to what we have to say and will respond in a friendly and constructive manner.
What is Right Speech?
Right Speech, or Samyag-vāc in Sanskrit, constitutes one of the elements in the Noble Eightfold Path, the principal teaching of Gautama Buddha on the path to Nirvana. The Noble Eightfold Path guides practitioners towards ethical and mindful living, which ultimately leads to enlightenment. Right Speech, as one of the eight practices, specifically pertains to the conscious use of words and language in daily life.
The teaching of Right Speech is fundamentally concerned with promoting harmonious and positive communication. From the Buddhist perspective, speech is a potent tool that can either promote understanding and compassion or incite harm and suffering. It is therefore essential to exercise mindfulness, ensuring that words are chosen and delivered carefully.
Right Speech is traditionally delineated into four key precepts:
- Abstaining from false speech: Abstaining from false speech, for instance, is essentially a directive against lying or deceiving others. Truthfulness is highly valued in Buddhism as it promotes trust and mutual understanding, crucial foundations for any healthy relationship or community.
- Abstaining from slanderous speech: The precept against slanderous speech discourages the use of language that might cause discord or disharmony among individuals or groups. In this context, speech that promotes unity and fosters concord is encouraged.
- Abstaining from harsh speech: Avoiding harsh speech refers to refraining from the use of harsh words, insults, or offensive language. It encourages Buddhists to use gentle, kind, and compassionate language that is conducive to empathy and mutual respect.
- Abstaining from idle chatter: Finally, abstaining from idle chatter or frivolous talk encourages mindfulness in communication. The aim here is to engage in meaningful, thoughtful, and constructive conversation, rather than wasting words on insignificant or potentially harmful gossip.
Right Speech in Buddhism is about mindful, ethical and constructive communication. It’s a key practice in cultivating a path towards enlightenment, encouraging individuals to be conscious of their words and their impacts, promoting truthfulness, unity, respect and purposefulness in their daily interactions.
Right Speech belongs to verbal karma. Among the three types of karmic actions of humans, verbal karma is more abundant and harder to control than physical (body) karma and mental (mind) karma because speech is incredibly rich and diverse, mostly arising from psychological states, emotions, and feelings. These states are not always stable but change unpredictably, with happiness and sadness, love and hatred coming and going abruptly. Today we may be friends or allies, but tomorrow we may turn against each other.
Nature has given each person two hands and one mouth, indicating a desire for us to speak less and do more, but often we do the opposite, speaking more and doing less. We speak at all times and everywhere, from daily activities to forums, books, journalism, and later spreading across the internet, containing both good and bad, including slander. Speaking too much leads to many mistakes, so the Buddha included it in the five precepts and ten evil deeds (four are verbal misdeeds, while intention and physical deeds each have only three) to help us limit our speech, eliminate bad karma, and cultivate good karma in our practice and interpersonal relations.
Just like mental and physical karma, verbal karma can be good, bad, or neutral. Good karma includes gentle, soft, and kind words… Bad karma consists of harsh, toxic, abrupt, provocative, backbiting, deceitful, and slanderous words… Moreover, bad karma can also be hidden and camouflaged in the hearts of the deceitful with sweet, charming, flattering words, which are unpredictable and hard to detect.
Speech plays an important role in life as a means of communication, conveying knowledge, experience; expressing thoughts, psychology, emotions, and feelings of people. Its impact is also significant. The Analects state: “A single word can bring prosperity to a nation or lead to its ruin”.
The Role of Right Speech in the Eightfold Path
The Eightfold Path conceived with the aim of eliminating suffering and facilitating the attainment of Nirvana, or ultimate liberation. As one of the eight practices within this path, Right Speech contributes significantly to the overall ethos of the Buddhist moral and ethical landscape.
The role of Right Speech in the Eightfold Path is multifold. Firstly, it serves as a bridge between the path’s moral virtues—Right Understanding, Right Intention, Right Speech, Right Action, and Right Livelihood—and its meditation-related practices—Right Effort, Right Mindfulness and Right Concentration. It anchors the transition from the realm of ethical conduct to the domain of meditation and mindfulness, embodying a synthesis of ethical action and cognitive discipline.
Secondly, Right Speech is integral to the Buddhist concept of ethical conduct (Sīla). Together with Right Action and Right Livelihood, it forms a triad that governs moral behavior. By promoting truthful, harmonious, gentle, and meaningful communication, Right Speech encourages an ethic of non-harm and compassion, both fundamental to the Buddhist ethos.
Thirdly, Right Speech plays a crucial role in the cultivation of wisdom (Prajñā) and concentration (Samādhi). Mindful and ethical communication, both internally (with oneself) and externally (with others), contributes to a clearer understanding of reality and fosters mental focus. These are prerequisites for the development of insight, the ultimate goal of Buddhist practice.
Moreover, Right Speech supports the cultivation of harmonious relationships and healthy communities. By encouraging honest, respectful, and constructive communication, it helps to create an environment conducive to mutual understanding, peace and spiritual growth.
From an interpersonal perspective, Right Speech is a practical tool for conflict resolution. By abstaining from false, slanderous, harsh, and idle speech, practitioners can effectively mitigate conflicts, fostering reconciliation and harmony. This approach to communication not only benefits the practitioner but also has a broader social impact, contributing to peaceful coexistence.
Benefits of Practicing Right Speech
The practice of Right Speech carries significant benefits both on an individual and communal level. These benefits can be categorized broadly into three key areas: personal development, interpersonal relationships and societal harmony.
Personal development: The practice of Right Speech contributes to personal growth and self-awareness. It encourages individuals to be more mindful of their thoughts, words, and actions, promoting introspection and self-understanding. By fostering truthfulness, it strengthens integrity and personal authenticity. Avoiding slanderous and harsh speech cultivates compassion and empathy, leading to emotional maturity. Abstaining from idle chatter encourages mental clarity and focus, reducing unnecessary cognitive clutter. Furthermore, the practice of Right Speech contributes to inner peace by reducing internal and external conflicts.
Interpersonal relationships: Right Speech plays a vital role in fostering healthy and meaningful relationships. By promoting honesty and trust, it strengthens the bonds between individuals. Abstaining from slanderous speech helps prevent misunderstandings and conflicts, nurturing harmony in relationships. Refraining from harsh speech promotes respect and understanding, fostering a safe and supportive environment for communication. By encouraging meaningful conversation over idle chatter, Right Speech helps deepen connections and enrich interactions.
Societal harmony: On a communal level, the practice of Right Speech contributes to social cohesion and peace. It discourages divisive or harmful speech that can disrupt social harmony. By promoting truthful and respectful communication, it fosters mutual understanding and collaboration among community members. It encourages the resolution of conflicts in a peaceful and respectful manner, contributing to social stability. Moreover, by cultivating mindful and constructive communication habits, Right Speech can influence societal norms and values, fostering a culture of respect, honesty and empathy.
How to Practice Right Speech in Daily Life
The practice of Right Speech in daily life is an ongoing, mindful endeavor that involves a conscious commitment to ethical communication.
Abstaining from false speech: This precept involves a commitment to truthfulness. In practice, this means refraining from lying or deceiving others in any form. Honesty should be upheld in all interactions, whether they are significant or trivial. This principle extends beyond verbal communication to include written and non-verbal communication.
Abstaining from slanderous speech: This guideline encourages avoiding speech that could cause discord or create divisions among individuals or groups. To apply this precept, one must be mindful of not spreading rumors, gossip, or misinformation that could harm relationships or foster discord. Instead, speech should be used to promote understanding, unity and harmony.
Abstaining from harsh speech: This principle discourages the use of offensive, aggressive, or demeaning language. In practice, this implies speaking kindly and respectfully to others, even in challenging or conflict-ridden situations. It also involves being mindful of the tone and volume of one’s voice, ensuring that communication is gentle and non-threatening.
Abstaining from Idle chatter: This precept encourages the avoidance of frivolous, meaningless, or potentially harmful talk. Instead, conversations should be meaningful, purposeful, and contribute positively to one’s self and others. This doesn’t mean that every conversation needs to be deeply philosophical or serious; rather, it encourages mindful and considerate conversation, where words are chosen with care and thought.
In addition to these specific precepts, the practice of Right Speech involves cultivating mindfulness of one’s communication habits. This includes paying attention to the motives behind speech, the emotional state while speaking, the choice of words, and the impact of one’s speech on others. Such mindfulness can help identify unskillful speech patterns and replace them with more constructive ones.
Furthermore, the practice of Right Speech extends to internal dialogue. Paying attention to how one talks to oneself is also an important part of this practice. This involves fostering a kind and compassionate internal voice, thereby promoting self-understanding and self-acceptance.
In summary, speech has an immensely important influence, not only affecting the happiness of each individual’s life but also impacting the activities of society. If there is mindfulness and good orientation, words used in discussions and daily communications can bring many benefits to the practice of us Buddhists. That is why the Buddha included Right Speech in the Noble Eightfold Path, the sacred path of eight practices leading to enlightenment and liberation.
