I practice right speech

Every single time we open our mouths we are making a choice: to help or to harm.

Jesus explained that our words are of ultimate import when he said, “By thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned [judged].” That’s because our words come from our power center and therefore have incredible impact.

When we think back to the moments in our life that were the most traumatic and the most meaningful, they often involved what someone said to us or about us.

Right speech is a major precept of Buddhism. It is one of the keystones of Gautama Buddha’s Eightfold Path that leads to liberation. In essence, right speech means that we guard the flow of energy through our throat chakra and realize the impact it has on others.

It means we look at our ability to speak as a gift that God has given us to convey compassion, kindness and teaching.

Gautama taught that the one who espouses right speech does not bring division through gossip but uses his speech to create harmony and
unity.

Power is not revealed by striking hard or often, but striking true.
—BALZAC

“What he has heard here he does not repeat there, so as to cause dissension,” the Buddha said. Instead, such a one “delights in concord” and “brings together those that are at variance.”

He or she “has given up harsh language. . . . He speaks words that are free from rudeness, soothing to the ear, loving, going to the heart, courteous, . . . elevating many.”

Theosophist C. W. Leadbeater says that at energetic levels our words, even in casual speech, are much more potent than we realize.

“Many people think that in daily life it is not necessary to take the trouble to speak clearly,” he writes.

“It matters much more than they think, because we are all the time building our own surroundings, and these react upon us.”

He explains that if someone becomes depressed, for example, his room “becomes charged with that quality, and any sensitive person coming into it becomes conscious of a certain lowering of vitality, a loss of tone.”

In the same way, “the man who surrounds himself with unpleasant sound-forms by careless and uncultured speech produces an atmosphere in which these forms constantly react upon him.”

In fact, says Leadbeater, “each word as it is uttered makes a little form in etheric matter, just as a thought does in mental matter.”

He says the word hate, for instance, “produces a horrible form, so much so that, having seen its shape, I never use the word.”

We may say that we dislike a thing, or that we do not care about it, but we should never use the word ‘hate’ more than we can help, for merely to see the form that it makes gives a feeling of acute discomfort. . . .It is surely better that we should surround ourselves with beauty than with ugliness, even though it be in etheric matter.”

Leadbeater wrote this in 1925 and said that someday he believed “all this might be worked out scientifically.”

Until that day, he said that as a general rule of thumb, words connected with desirable qualities produce pleasant forms, and those associated with negative qualities produce ugly forms.

The lessons of the throat chakra are closely related to our ego and to our solar plexus. If we have a chip on our shoulder, it is all too easy to allow hurt feelings at the level of the solar plexus to percolate up and arc to the throat chakra.

It happens so fast, we don’t even realize it.

That’s why the sages advise us to short-circuit that emotional response. Slow down and think about the effect your words will have before you open your mouth, they urge.

“Let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath,” warns the Book of James.

“Good people should be slow to speak but quick to act,” says Confucius.

George Washington’s rules of civility

Right speech is supportive speech, kind speech, respectful speech. Someone who understood this very well was America’s first president.

In the nineteenth century, a school notebook of George Washington’s was discovered at Mount Vernon, Washington’s home.

It seems that in 1745, the fourteen-year-old George had written in this notebook more than one hundred “Rules of Civility in Conversation Amongst Men,” which he had copied from a work that dated back to 1664 or earlier.

These “rules of civility” are a delightful guideline for right speech.

Here are just a few of them:

• “In the presence of others sing not to yourself with a humming voice, nor drum with your fingers or feet.”
• “Speak not when others speak, sit not when others stand, and walk not when others stop.”
• “Be no flatterer, neither play with anyone that delights not to be played with.”
• “Let your discourse with men of business be short and comprehensive.”
• “Be not hasty to believe flying reports to the disparagement of anyone.”
• “Utter not base and frivolous things amongst grown and learned men, nor very difficult questions or subjects amongst the ignorant, nor things hard to be believed.”
• “Deride no man’s misfortunes, though there seem to be some cause.”
• “Think before you speak; pronounce not imperfectly, nor bring out your words too hastily, but orderly and distinctly. When another speaks, be attentive yourself and disturb not the audience.”
• “Whisper not in the company of others.”
• “Labor to keep alive in your breast that little spark of celestial fire called conscience.”

Self-Inquiry

• Do I think about the impact of my words on others before I speak?
• Do I use my speech to create harmony and unity?

I recognize the value of silence

One of the subtlest forms of imbalance in the throat chakra is idle chatter.

“Those who have virtue have something to say, but those who have something to say do not necessarily have virtue,” observed Confucius.

Gautama taught that the person who has mastered right speech “bears in mind the injunction which says: ‘In meeting one another, Brothers, there are two things that ought to be adhered to: either conversation about the Truth or holy silence.’”

Idle chatter or argumentation is an obstacle to our self-mastery because it drains our energy. It fritters away the vitality of our power center. If we speak only when we need to speak, we preserve our vitality.

The Tao Te Ching bluntly describes the “strong silent type” who has mastered that prescription: “Those who know do not talk. Those who talk do not know. . . . Keep your mouth shut, guard the senses, and life is ever full. Open your mouth, always be busy, and life is beyond hope.”

This doesn’t mean that we should never say anything.

Gautama, for instance, said that the one who has mastered right speech “speaks at the right time, speaks in accordance with facts, speaks to the point.”

There is a time to speak and a time to remain silent. One practical rule of thumb is that if what you are going to say doesn’t add something of value to a conversation, why say it?

The Quakers build their worship meetings around this entire principle. When they come together to worship, they take their seats and wait in silence. Placing themselves and their affairs in the presence of God, they open their minds and hearts to the divine Spirit.

If someone feels moved by the inner Spirit to say something, he does so without anyone interrupting him. Those who listen receive with charity what is said and the spirit behind what is said.

The American Quaker Rufus Jones, born in 1863, witnessed to the wonder of these silences and the words of power they gave birth to. He wrote, “We never ate a meal which did not begin with a hush of thanksgiving; we never began a day without ‘a family gathering’ at which mother read a chapter of the Bible, after which there would follow a weighty silence.”

These silences, wrote Jones, were important features of his spiritual development. “There was work inside and outside the house waiting to be done, and yet we sat there hushed and quiet, doing nothing.

I very quickly discovered that something real was taking place. We were feeling our way down to that place from which living words come, and very often they did come. Some one would bow and talk with God so simply and quietly that He never seemed far away.

I have often regretted my speech, never my silence.
—ANONYMOUS

“The words helped to explain the silence. We were now finding what we had been searching for. When I first began to think of God I did not think of Him as very far off.”

How powerful and authentic our words can be when they have first been steeped in the silence of our spirit. As Anne Morrow Lindbergh once said, “A note of music gains significance from the silence on either side.”

Self-Inquiry

• Do I allow myself to remain silent if I have nothing valuable to say at the moment?
• Do I take time to get in touch with my inner spirit before I speak?

I stand up for and speak the truth

Gautama Buddha taught that a person who embraces right speech “speaks the truth, he is devoted to the truth, he adheres to the truth, he is worthy of confidence.”

Speaking the truth involves speaking the facts without distortion. It means not exaggerating and not jumping to conclusions. It means overcoming passivity to stand up for what we know is right, regardless of what others think.

“You do not need to justify asking questions,” historian Jacob Neusner once said. “But if you think you have found answers, you do not have the right to remain silent.”

On the subject of exaggerating, my father had this habit when he was telling stories—and he loved to tell stories. So I too developed that habit when I was young.

Later, my spiritual teachers called me on that. They taught me that exaggeration is little more than a lie because it is a misrepresentation of the facts. They also taught me that it is important never to make a promise if there’s a chance you won’t be able to keep it. These seem like small details, but they make a world of difference in our interaction with others.

It can be quite an interesting exercise to note how many times during the day you deviate from the truth—even if it’s just by a millimeter. It is even more interesting to figure out why. Is it just a habit pattern? Is it a sense of insecurity or fear or concern about what other people will think of you?

Confucius once said that by being honest and by supporting those who are honest, we can raise up an entire nation.

“Promote the honest, placing them over the crooked,” he said, “and you can cause the crooked to straighten out. . . . If leaders are trust-worthy, people will not dare to be dishonest. . . . It is said that if good people work for a country for a hundred years, it is possible to overcome violence and eliminate killing. This saying is indeed true.”

Children imitate those they look up to—and so do adults. Each one of us is a role model for someone. We reflect the inner workings of our hearts and souls to those around us through our speech patterns—by what we don’t say, what we do say and how we say it.

Self-Inquiry

• Do I consistently speak the truth, or do I exaggerate at times?
• Do I make assumptions and speak before I know the facts?
• Can I be depended on to speak up when I need to?

I exercise the power of the spoken word for transformation

Just as there is a time to speak and a time to remain silent, there is a time to meditate and a time to take the fruit of our meditation and send it forth in the Science of the Spoken Word.

The creative power of sound is at the heart of the world’s spiritual traditions East and West, whether as the Jewish Shema and Amidah, the Christian Our Father, the Muslim Shahadah, the Hindu Gayatri or the Buddhist Om Mani Padme Hum.

Hindu yogis have used mantras for protection and wisdom, to enhance their concentration and meditation, and to help them achieve enlightenment and oneness with God.

In Jewish mystical tradition, Kabbalists taught that by calling and meditating on the names of God, we could tap into an infinite source of power to restore peace and harmony to this world. In Catholic tradition, the rosary and other prayers are repeated to invoke divine intercession.

Both scientists and sages tell us that the spoken word can literally create change and transformation. For instance, Dr. Herbert Benson, president and founder of the Mind/Body Medical Institute at Harvard Medical School, found that those who repeated Sanskrit mantras for as little as ten minutes a day experienced physiological changes—reduced heart rate, lower stress levels and slower metabolism.

Subsequent studies showed that repeating mantras can benefit the immune system, relieve insomnia, reduce visits to the doctor and even increase self-esteem.

When Benson and his colleagues tested other prayers, including “Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me,” they found that they had the same positive effect. In short, repetitive prayer energizes.

In terms of our chakra initiations, prayer and affirmation can also provide a boost to our personal growth because they can help us undo the false mental programming that may be lodged in our subconscious.

Our subconscious is like a recording machine. It records every impression we have absorbed throughout our life and our past lives—the good and the bad. And, to our detriment, that includes the negatives we have heard and believed about ourselves.

Every time you think something negative about yourself, every time someone criticizes or intimidates you, your subconscious records the event. Sometimes we don’t realize how much we’ve been influenced by another’s thoughts or words, especially a parent, sibling or authority figure.

These negatives are booby traps that can undermine our success. All too often we limit ourselves—our job, our income, our educational level, our goals in life—by what we believe about ourselves.

The subconscious not only records negative impressions but, like a tape player on automatic replay, it plays back the recordings of the past. That’s why positive affirmations have been found to be so helpful. When used properly, they can help us align our subconscious as we affirm the innate beauty and positive potential of our soul.

I have had the best results in clearing the subconscious of negatives by using mantras and affirmations to the violet flame. You can ask your Higher Self to direct the violet flame into the specific thoughts, actions and words that produced the negative recordings in your subconscious. Visualize the violet flame literally burning up these records, one by one.

Handle them carefully, for words have more power than atom bombs.
—PEARL STRACHAN HURD

Stephen Covey in his best-selling Seven Habits of Highly Effective People says that affirmations and visualizations can be extremely helpful. He reminds us that “in effective personal leadership, visualization and affirmation techniques emerge naturally out of a foundation of well thought through purposes and principles that become the center of a person’s life.”

He says these techniques “are extremely powerful in rescripting and reprogramming” as we seek to align our life with the purposes and principles that are most important to us.

Affirmations, especially those using “I AM,” are a potent form of spoken prayer. I AM affirmations use the name of God “I AM” to access spiritual power.

“I AM” comes from “I AM THAT I AM,” the name God revealed to Moses when he said, “This is my name forever, and this is my memorial unto all generations.”

The Jerusalem Bible translates this passage as “This is my name for all time; by this name I shall be invoked for all generations to come.”

What does “I AM THAT I AM” mean? To me it means simply but profoundly “as above, so below.” God is affirming, “I am here below that which I AM above.”

When you say, “I AM THAT I AM,” you are affirming that God is where you are. In effect, you are saying: “As God is in heaven, so God is on earth within me. Right where I stand, God is. I am that ‘I AM.’”

In an I AM affirmation, you are summoning the inner power of your throat chakra and God’s power within you to bring about constructive change. You can create your own short, powerful I AM affirmations, tailored to your own needs, such as “I AM forgiveness acting here,” “I AM the light of the heart,” or “I AM the power of peace.” I AM affirmations are generally given with determination and power.

Every time we say, “I AM ,” we are really saying, “God in me is.” And whatever we affirm following the words “I AM” will become a reality in our world—whether we say “I am sick,” “I am tired,” “I am having a great day” or “I am healthy.”

This is because the state of our body is influenced by what we think and by what we say. The light of God flowing through us will obey our direction.

Simply put, spoken words command energy. The creations of our powerful throat chakra are self-fulfilling prophecies.

When you come to the place where you realize that the tremendous energy of God is flowing through you every moment, you begin to have a sense of reverence and awe.

You say to yourself, “Here is God’s energy. What will I do with it today? Will I use God’s energy to reinforce the negative side of life? Or will I use it to affirm something beautiful, something real, something that matters to my spiritual progress and that benefits others?”

Self-Inquiry

• What circumstances have I created in my life by affirming either negatives or positives about myself?
• What are the negative beliefs I have about myself that undermine my success in life?
• How can I incorporate into my life the power of the spoken word through prayers, affirmations or mantras to transmute these negatives?