The Buddhist Path to Enlightenment (study)
by Dr Kala Acharya | 2016 | 118,883 words
This page relates ‘Abstention from Harsh words (pharusa-vaca)’ of the study on the Buddhist path to enlightenment. The Buddha was born in the Lumbini grove near the present-day border of India and Nepal in the 6th century B.C. He had achieved enlightenment at the age of thirty–five under the ‘Bodhi-tree’ at Buddha-Gaya. This study investigates the teachings after his Enlightenment which the Buddha decided to teach ‘out of compassion for beings’.
2.3.3. Abstention from Harsh words (pharusa-vācā)
[Full title: The Noble Eightfold Path (Ariya-aṭṭhaṅgika-magga)—(3): Right Speech—(c): Abstention from Harsh words (pharusa-vācā)]
He avoids harsh language and abstains from it. He speaks such words as are gentle, soothing to the ear, loving, such words as go to the heart, and are courteous, friendly, and agreeable to many.[1]
The next virtue is to abstain from harsh words and be pleasant and courteous. What we say can bring gain or loss, praise or blame, good repute or ill, misery or happiness. A gentle word can melt the hardest heart, while a harsh word can cause untold pain.
The three components of harsh speech are:
We should think twice before we speak ill of anyone, for it is an attempt to damage his character, his good name. But it does not matter if, when praising another, we slightly over paint the picture, for this does not lead to unpleasantness and heart-burning.
As the Buddha says:
“In man‘s mouth a hatchet grows
With which fools will cut themselves
When they utter evil words.’[3]
Man‘s speech often indicates his character. A harsh word, an unpleasant sign, a crooked smile, may turn a good-natured man into a criminal, a friend into a foe.
Speak not harshly to anyone,
For those accosted will retort;
Painful is bitter talk,
You may receive blows in exchange.[4]
Footnotes and references:
[1]:
AN X, p. 176
[2]:
DN I, p. 25
[3]:
SN II, p. 149
[4]:
Dhammapada,Ver. 133