Right Speech listens

Read John 16:7-16 When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth; for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you. All that the Father has is mine; therefore I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you. John 16:13-16

The Eightfold Path is the thoughtful path. Before we can come to the Right View we must have considered many aspects of a situation. Right Judgment does not occur when we decide if a situation pleases us but rather, when we ask: how or why has this come about? Right Speech means that we accept the responsibility to carefully consider what we say.

Idle chatter is very destructive to our developing spiritual organs. To gossip and criticise others allows the astral to displace the “I”. Instead, if we must discuss a person’s actions it can be only from the point of trying to lovingly understand why they act the way they do. At this stage in our evolution past-life memories bubble up into our consciousness in a dream-like way. For this reason situations can flare up which we don’t fully understand. They could arise out of past-life deeds.

Reality Television is the enemy of Right Speech. It feeds an idle curiosity, encouraging people to live their lives through other people’s experiences. This in turn provokes conversations of little or no significance as these so-called real-life situations are rehashed. This is a victory for the anti-forces because individuality could never arise out of such voyeurism.

In the text John reminds us that Christ has sent an adviser who will “guide us into all truth.” The paraclete, the expression of the Holy Spirit, is available to us. We are called to listen; only when we are still can the paraclete speak. If we talk quickly, and respond quickly, we leave no room to hear the paraclete? By creating a space for the paraclete our speech has the best chance of being Right Speech.

It is not always easy to know how unconscious we are; our physical mind, our earthly intellect mostly gropes in the dark. We attempt to speak on our own authority, yet without clairvoyance – clear seeing – we cannot know everything about the situations we find ourselves in.

It is comforting to know that we don’t have to rely on our own authority while wearing this evolutionary blindfold. John says that the paraclete “will declare to you the things that are to come”. In the Greek it really says ‘coming things’. Not foretelling the future but that the future continually comes towards us. In every situation in our life the future approaches us – we do not approach the future. As this future comes towards us we continually have the opportunity to speak. The more we are able to listen to the coming things that are declared by the paraclete the less we have to worry about knowing what to say in a situation.

On the other hand, Right Speech creates the right future. The responsibility to create the future rests on our own tongues. Every word we utter carves our future world. What kind of future will be created from all the anger that is freely spoken today?

Another aspect of Right Speech has to do with being understood. It is our responsibility to choose words wisely - not too few or too many. Thoughtfully to choose words because they will mean something to those to whom we speak. Consider also the effect on the future of the prolific use of jargon today. This babble, often referred to as information overload, also makes it harder to listen.

Furthermore, we should only speak about things for which we have the Right Understanding. Speaking about subjects that are only partially understood can mislead others. That information is then further distorted like a Chinese whisper. As a result society is built on many misconceptions and Right Speech is continually eroded.

While seeking the path to Right Speech there can be a tendency for our communication to become minimal, perhaps hard and cold. Joining head and heart will warm our speech.

If we continually remind ourselves to listen by not speaking too soon then we have accepted the responsibility for Right Speech. Silence during our conversations is no longer an awkward moment but communion with the paraclete.