[THE BUDDHA EXPLAINS:] "Householders (ordinary laypersons), there are...four kinds of wholesome verbal conduct, conduct in accordance with the Dharma....
"And, householders, how are there four kinds of wholesome verbal conduct, conduct in accordance with the Dharma?
(1) "Here someone, abandoning false speech [perjury, bearing false witness], abstains from false speech: When summoned to a court, or to a meeting, or into the presence of one's relatives, or to one's guild, or to the royal family's presence, and questioned as a witness thus: 'So, good person, tell what you know,' not knowing, one says, 'I do not know,' or knowing, one says, 'I know'; not seeing, one says, 'I do not see,' or seeing, one says, 'I see'; one does not in full awareness speak falsehood for one's own ends, or for another's ends, or for some trifling worldly end.
(2) Abandoning malicious speech, one abstains from malicious speech; one does not repeat elsewhere what one has heard here in order to divide [those people] from these, nor does one repeat to these people what one has heard elsewhere in order to divide [these people] from those; thus one is one who reunites those who are divided, a promoter of friendships, who enjoys concord, rejoices in concord, delights in concord, a speaker of words that promote concord.
(3) Abandoning harsh speech, one abstains from harsh speech; one speaks such words as are gentle, pleasing to the ear, and lovable, as go to the heart, are courteous, desired by many, and agreeable to many.
(4) Abandoning idle chatter, one abstains from idle chatter; one speaks at the right time, speaks what is factual, speaks on what is good, speaks on the Dharma and the Discipline; at the right time one speaks such words as are worth recording, reasonable, moderate, and beneficial.
That is how there are four kinds of wholesome verbal conduct, conduct in accordance with the Dharma.
(1) "Here someone, abandoning false speech [perjury, bearing false witness], abstains from false speech: When summoned to a court, or to a meeting, or into the presence of one's relatives, or to one's guild, or to the royal family's presence, and questioned as a witness thus: 'So, good person, tell what you know,' not knowing, one says, 'I do not know,' or knowing, one says, 'I know'; not seeing, one says, 'I do not see,' or seeing, one says, 'I see'; one does not in full awareness speak falsehood for one's own ends, or for another's ends, or for some trifling worldly end.
(2) Abandoning malicious speech, one abstains from malicious speech; one does not repeat elsewhere what one has heard here in order to divide [those people] from these, nor does one repeat to these people what one has heard elsewhere in order to divide [these people] from those; thus one is one who reunites those who are divided, a promoter of friendships, who enjoys concord, rejoices in concord, delights in concord, a speaker of words that promote concord.
(3) Abandoning harsh speech, one abstains from harsh speech; one speaks such words as are gentle, pleasing to the ear, and lovable, as go to the heart, are courteous, desired by many, and agreeable to many.
(4) Abandoning idle chatter, one abstains from idle chatter; one speaks at the right time, speaks what is factual, speaks on what is good, speaks on the Dharma and the Discipline; at the right time one speaks such words as are worth recording, reasonable, moderate, and beneficial.
That is how there are four kinds of wholesome verbal conduct, conduct in accordance with the Dharma.
No comments:
Post a Comment