Good morning, good day. And so this is the second talk on the five criteria that Buddha used for why speech? And these five criteria can be taken as questions that we ask ourselves before we speak. And yesterday I talked about, the question is, is it timely? Is it the right time? To say what we want to say to ask what we want to ask? Today, the topic is there. The question is, is it truthful? Are we speaking the truth? And I kind of like it that this the second that we ask is a timely first, that's kind of like the high end like, even the truth might not be timely might not be the right time to speak the truth. If we start with truth, then maybe we are. We speak inappropriately at times when it doesn't help maybe even harms makes things more difficult. So is it timely than today? Is it truthful? And of course, the topic of what is true and how do we recognize the truth is, can be philosophically or linguistically complex. But a simple way of understanding it is that it's that the minimum that the truth is, involves the absence of the seat. There's no intention, no effort to deceive anybody with what we're saying what we're doing, and because if with deception, we're clearly not speaking the truth. Other times, we might be attempting to say what's true, or we think we say, what's what's true, but it might not be true, but there's not intentionally trying to be deceitful, we're trying to be truthful. And one of the ways to strengthen our capacity or heighten their capacity to be true, is when we say something, to follow up immediately with the basis upon which we think it's true. Why do we think something is true? So for example, if you know, rather than saying that, you know, you know, today is a great day, it's not going to you can say today, it's my interpretation, that it's a great day. So we're saying that on what basis we're making the claim, it's an interpretation. Or it's a great day for me, rather than making a blanket statement for everyone. So build a more specific and say, what's the basis is for something? The Buddha emphasized this, he said, if you haven't read, especially with religious statements, that you say, when the basis of what do you make a claim, a religious spiritual claim? Is it based on your faith? Is it based on your reasoning? Is it based on the tradition you're in? Or a teacher where the teacher has said, Is it based on something you've experienced? And because even experience is interpreted, and it's personal. So as soon as you make these caveats, or these these explanations, then people will, then it's not a declarative statement. And declarative statements are questionable how truthful they are. But if you specify or contextualize how you come to this conclusion, then then it's easier to participate in a conversation with others. And it's also easier to stay closer to what's true. So to be truthful, is this truthful? What I'm going to say? How can I say it, so it's truthful? And so this is my interpretation. That's to be truthful today. To you, all of you, I can say that I value this idea of truth. And the Buddha emphasized it. And I would like to try to explain my interpretation of why this is important. So you know, that's, you know, that that now, I'm just speaking the truth. And I'm contextualized in what I'm going to say. So you don't have to automatically assume that I'm making declarative statements of what's absolutely true in the universe. But rather, it's my interpretation, and you'll have to hear it and Now see what's true for you as you hear it than what works for you. Speaking the truth is a way to heal. It's the way to grow. It's a way to mend relationships. It's a way of finding a way to connect more deeply to others. We connect more deeply when we're truthful, when we're deceitful, we're actually creating barriers between connectivity between people, and the kind of alienation of separation. And the, it's probably true to say that, spiritually, there's no spiritual growth, there's no growth in the dharma, without a dedication to being truthful to the truth. That truth is that important. And, and ultimately, maybe what we're looking for, is to become not just truthful, but becoming a true person, a person who is true in how they live their lives, how they express their lives, how they speak. And so asking yourself the question before speaking, is this true? Or how can I speak this that I want to say, in a way that feels truthful to me? The and then, it's also a very powerful practice to to the to this, I think of truth, speaking the truth, as being mindfulness out loud, that mindfulness meditation or mindfulness practice for oneself, is really a continual act of saying the truth to ourselves, saying the truth of what's happening in our experience, and not deceiving ourselves. And, and then so, so doing that off loud isn't, you know, being truthful, honest, is true, is mindfulness out loud. And, but in that it's mindful, then if we feel that we want to lie, feel we wanted to kind of bend the truth in some way. This is a really useful time for deepening our own introspection, to really take a good look at what's happening with me now. Because what motivates the desire to be to lie? What motivates being deceitful? And is it fear? Is it greed? Is it anger? Is it conceit of some type? And, you know, avoiding embarrassment? Or, you know, hiding from people not so they don't know who we are? What's what we do? Is it to try to get our way in the world? Or to what's what's motivating it? And, and the advantage of asking that question, what's motivating my desire to, to lie, is to because that, the deeper motivations for that, that's important place of practice, that's important place of really looking deeply. Because the opportunity there is to discover what we're attached to discover what we're clinging to, and discover what kind of concede there's self making we are involved in so that we can begin dissolving it. So we can become freer from these kinds of attachments. There's a kind of delight that exists in dharma practice, of recognizing where we're caught breasts at recognizing our attachments. And that the light is there, because we realize, oh, this is where the practice is. Now I get to practice. This is good. Rather than assuming that Buddhist practice is all about joy and delight and kind of skipping in the clouds at a happy go lucky way. Buddhist practices a lot about this deeper, deeper truth telling, and a deep appreciation for the value of doing so. Seeing our attachments and clinging, so that we can find we can be on the path of freedom from it all. So rather than seeing, you know, our attachments as bad news to identify, there's a way in which in a certain way, if we're committed to being truthful, it's good news. So I think that the dedication to be truthful, begins highlighting all the little ways we exaggerate all the little ways we bend the truth. Maybe sometimes we do it for the set what we think is the sake of the other person. And, you know, so it's not to hurt them or, or upset them or something. And, and so, that seems good is some compassion or care involved in that. But is it necessary to be deceitful to lie? It's a part of the art of speaking the truth in our relationships with others, is to avoid causing harm, and avoid lying. And sometimes that takes Some cleverness or it takes some consideration or reframing the conversation or sometimes even
responding with a non sequitur, and, and the, or finding some way to, you know, to say something that maybe satisfies the person's question, but doesn't really address it, because to address it honestly, just would be complicated. And a classic example of someone gives us someone's dressed for their wedding, about to go into the ceremony, and they asked you, you know, what do you think I'm like, my dress or my suit, or my clothes. And, and you think it's, you know, maybe pretty gaudy or the wrong, you know, color combination, the colors clash or something. But you don't want to say that just before someone goes into their, their wedding, the truthful statement about what you think is, you know, what you really think. And so what can you say that's truthful? And you might say, you know, that something like, you know, wow, it was really to is a tailor made, it really fits your body really well, or you say something different? Recognize, say something that's truthful, that is not your first impression, but something that you have to think about and say, oh, yeah, I can say, I can teach speak about that. And that maybe settles that person, or it allows people to kind of go along. So to be truthful, and speaking the truth, when there's conflict and challenges can be very hard. And so that is why it's important to remember the first criteria, is it the right time, just be having an honest conversation with someone? Are they ready for it? Are you ready for it? But then the other three criteria, which we'll do over the next days, are also comes into play? It's not only is it truthful, and therefore I should say it, it's a truthful. And can I say it in a useful way? Can I say it in a supportive way? Can I? How can I say the truth so that it's beneficial? And so we'll talk more about this as we go along here. So is it true? And what happens to you, you ask that question, and today as you go about your day, you might have occasion to speak and if there's enough rift self reflection, as you're about to speak, maybe you could ask yourself, the question is what I'm going to say about the say, is it truthful? And and is it truthful, in a simple and clear way? Or is it truthful in an exaggerated way, or understated way or leaving something out? Why? Why am I kind of adjusting myself and speaking the truth? What, what's the motivation for that? And not saying your motivation is wrong because of that, but start looking more deeply? So is it truthful? Can you be truthful? What motivates any kind of moving away from the really clear, simple, truthful statement? So it's great practice. And you might have to do after maybe before you go to sleep or at some point, and the end of the day, near the end of the day. Just review what you've talked about through the day, and review it little bit for this question of truth. How truthful was it day and where might I have been? Where could I have been more truthful? Where could I have been wiser about how I spoke the truth? Where was I kind of twisting the truth a little bit and why sometimes it's hard to do this exercise in the you know, live in the present moment as we're speaking, but sometimes reviewing it can really help us to see what's going on. And I offer you this not as a not so that you know, highlights something bad about yourself, but really to highlight your capacity to grow and develop and learn and heal in some deep way within It's a powerful thing to speak the truth. And I found it amazing what opens up and what opens up in relationships when we learn the art of truth telling, but it is an art and it takes a while to to learn that skill, and it's a skill well, well worth learning. So thank you very much
