Bad Words: the Karma of Talking

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[On the subject of karma and talking, the Buddha said:] I declare that [physical, verbal, or mental] actions willed, per-formed, and accumulated will not become extinct as long as their results have not been experienced, be it in this life, in the next life, or in subsequent future lives. And as long as these results of actions willed, performed, and accumulated have not been experienced, there will be no making an end to suffering, I declare.

...And how is tainted failure in living fourfold in verbal acts?

There is one who is a "liar." When one is in the council in one's community or in another assembly, or among one's relatives, one's guild, in the royal court, or when one has been summoned as a witness and is asked to tell what one knows, then,

• though one does not know, one will say, "I know";
• though one does know, one will say, "I do not know";
• though one has not seen, one will say, "I have seen"; and
• though one has seen, one will say, "I have not seen."

1. One utters deliberate lies in that way, be it for one's own sake, for the sake of others, or for some material advantage.

2. One utters divisive speech: what one hears here one reports elsewhere to foment conflict there; and what one hears elsewhere one reports here to foment conflict here.

Thus one creates discord among those united, and one incites still more those who are in discord. One is fond of dissension, one delights and rejoices in it, and one utters words that cause dissension.

3. One speaks harshly, using speech that is coarse, rough, bitter, and abusive, that makes others angry and causes distraction of mind. It is such speech that one utters.

4. One indulges in frivolous chit chat: one speaks what is untimely, unreasonable, and unbeneficial, having no connection with the Doctrine or the Discipline [the Dharma or the Vinaya]. One's talk is not worth treasuring; it is inopportune, inadvisable, unrestrained, and harmful.

In this way, tainted failure in living is fourfold in verbal acts.*

*NOTE: On the threefold ripening of karma, see Text 24 and Chapter III, Note 13. The Buddha's statement -- that there is no making an end to suffering without experiencing the results of all actions performed -- must be understood with the reservation (which [the commentary] makes explicit in connection with "karma ripening in future lives") that reference is to "karma that is actually capable of yielding a karmic result" (vipakaraha-kamma).

But under certain circumstances karma can be annulled by a counteractive or destructive karma, and the arhat, by terminating the conditions for rebirth, extinguishes the potential for ripening of all one's past karma. The statement in the present text must also be understood in the light of the following sutra passage:

"If one says that in whatever way a person performs a karmic action, in that very same way one will experience the result -- in that case there will be no (possibility for) the holy life [brahmacarya or a life leading to enlightenment], and no opportunity would appear for making a complete end to suffering.

"But if one says that a person who performs a karmic action (with a result) that is variably experienceable, will reap its result accordingly -- in that case there will be (a possibility for) the holy life, and an opportunity would appear for making a complete end to suffering" (AN III, 110).

• Excerpts from "The Extinction of Karma" discourse (AN X, 206) translated by Bhikkhu Bodhi, from the book The Numerical Discourses of the Buddha, Chapter of the Tens, Discourse 206.