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Noble Eightfold Path: Difference between revisions
→Right speech
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The ''Abhaya Sutta'' elaborates: | The ''Abhaya Sutta'' elaborates: | ||
In the case of words that the Tathagata knows to be unfactual, untrue, unbeneficial, unendearing and disagreeable to others, he does '''not''' say them. | In the case of words that the Seeker (Tathagata) knows to be unfactual, untrue, unbeneficial, unendearing and disagreeable to others, he does '''not''' say them. | ||
In the case of words that the | In the case of words that the Seeker knows to be factual, true, yet unbeneficial, unendearing and disagreeable to others, he does '''not''' say them. | ||
In the case of words that the | In the case of words that the Seeker knows to be factual, true, beneficial, yet unendearing and disagreeable to others, he has a sense of the proper time for saying them. | ||
In the case of words that the | In the case of words that the Seeker knows to be unfactual, untrue, unbeneficial, yet endearing and agreeable to others, he does '''not''' say them. | ||
In the case of words that the | In the case of words that the Seeker knows to be factual, true, but unbeneficial, yet endearing and agreeable to others, he does '''not''' say them. | ||
In the case of words that the | In the case of words that the Seeker knows to be factual, true, beneficial, and endearing and agreeable to others, he has a sense of the proper time for saying them. Why is that? Because the True Seeker has sympathy for living beings. | ||
In every case, if it is not true, beneficial nor timely, one is '''not''' to say it. The Buddha followed this, for example, when asked questions of a purely ''meta''physical nature, unrelated to the goal, path or discipline that he taught. When asked a question such as "Is the universe eternal?", the Buddha dismissed the topic with the response: "It does not further." (or: "The personal possibilities (goals) assigned you are not furthered by an answer to an ultimate question about the universe's fate.") | In every case, if it is not true, beneficial nor timely, one is '''not''' to say it. The Buddha followed this, for example, when asked questions of a purely ''meta''physical nature, unrelated to the goal, path or discipline that he taught. When asked a question such as "Is the universe eternal?", the Buddha dismissed the topic with the response: "It does not further." (or: "The personal possibilities (goals) assigned you are not furthered by an answer to an ultimate question about the universe's fate.") | ||