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into something superior to 
household 
use, but something to be the object 
of respect 
for all who see it. Thus you can see 
that the better 
the mould you subject the clay to, 
the more 
value it acquires. When we come 
to talk about 
people instead of clay, we find that 
in the same 
way, the thing that gives people 
their value is 
the self-discipline they abide by. 
The greater the 
degree of self-discipline, the 
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ewmore they are 
worth. 
130 A Manual of Peace: 38 Steps 
towards Enlightened Living 
Blessing Ten: Artfulness in Speech 
131 
A.INTRODUCTION 
Some might think the words 
coming from our 
mouths are relatively unimportant 
when compared 
to the artfulness in "knowledge", 
"application" and 
"usage" discussed in the previous 
blessings of this 
grouping. However, when it comes 
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to "making 
oneself useful to society"one 
cannot avoid communicative 
skills for team-building and for 
passing 
one's knowledge on to others. 
A.1 Buddhism founded on the 
tenet of correct 
speech 
Furthermore, it is only due to the 
care taken in 
"communicative skills" that the 
Buddha's Teaching 
can have been passed down across 
the space of 
2,500 years to the present day and 
still inspire people. 
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Words can be true but they may 
not be pleasant 
to listen to. If words are both true 
and polite, 
the ancients said that they were 
both worth listening 
to and also worth hearing. If 
words, apart from 
being both true and polite were 
also useful, the ancients 
said that such words apart from 
being worth 
believing and worth hearing are 
also worthy of respect 
— it is hard to find any religion 
which analyses 
speech to such depth. 
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A.2 Verbal karma easier to 
produce than 
Physical karma 
If you compare the possibilities for 
doing and saying 
good things, you find that the 
possibilities for 
good speech are almost unlimited, 
more than what 
we can do with the body. You can 
really do many 
more good deeds with your speech 
than your actions 
or if you make the mistake of 
doing evil, you 
can do much more evil with your 
speech than with 
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your body. This is the reason why 
the Buddha had 
to give the art of speaking its own 
separate blessing, 
because of all there is to be 
studied. 
A.3 Why one mouth is ample 
Without understanding the 
principles of artful 
speech, we are wont to say too 
much. The people 
of old would teach small children 
the way to look 
at yourself in the mirror. They 
would say, don't go 
looking at how beautiful or 
handsome you are — 
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because before long old age will 
rob you of all these 
things. Take a good look at your 
own face. You will 
notice that even though your eyes 
have only one 
function, to look, nature has given 
you two. You 
will notice that even though your 
ears have only 
one function, to hear, nature has 
also given you two. 
You will notice that even though 
your nostrils have 
only one function, to breathe, 
nature has given you 
two. However, your mouth has two 
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functions, to 
eat and to talk, but nature has 
given you only one 
mouth. It is as if nature is telling us 
to use our mouth 
in moderation — not to eat too 
much and not to 
say too much! 
B. UNWHOLESOME SPEECH 
From our study of self-discipline 
in Blessing Nine, 
we already know to avoid the 
different sorts of unwholesome 
speech described in the Tenfold 
Path 
of Unwholesomeness 
[akusaladhammapatha] — 
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Blessing Ten: 
Artfulness 
in Speech 
132 A Manual of Peace: 38 Steps 
towards Enlightened Living 
these go beyond lying to 
enumerate no less than 
four different sorts of 
unwholesome speech which 
should be avoided: 
1. Telling lies 
2. Divisive Speech 
3. Harsh Speech 
4. Idle Chatter 
B.1 Telling Lies 
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another or to set 
one monk against another, the evil 
will be very 
heavy.The degree to which the 
victims are divided: 
If the victims are completely 
unable ever 
to get back together again, the evil 
will be very 
heavy. 
2. The Strength of the Intention 
behind wanting to cause 
a division: The stronger the 
divisive intention, the 
heavier will be the evil. 
3. The amount of effort put in to 
making a division. The 
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more the effort the heavier the evil 
B.3 Idle Chatter 
Idle chatter is speaking 
purposelessly just to pass 
the time. There are two 
components to idle chatter: 
1. To have the intention to talk 
about something meaningless: 
Meaningless words are the sort of 
words 
that don't lead a conversation 
anywhere. 
2. Speaking those meaningless 
words 
The seriousness of retribution of 
idle chatter depends 
on the importance of the 
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meaningfulness 
that you impede be speaking. Even 
those who always 
speak in a joking way that lacks 
seriousness 
don't have to wait for next life to 
see the results of 
their misdeeds — no-one will take 
them seriously. 
The amount of evil involved in idle 
chatter depends 
on several factors: 
1. Amount of chatter: The 
heaviness of the retribution 
depends on whether you chatter a 
lot or a 
little. 
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2. How much the speaker is 
believed: The more others 
are taken in by what we say, the 
worse will 
be the retribution. 
3. The strength of the intention: 
The stronger the intention 
the worse the retribution. 
B.4 Harsh Speech 
Harsh speech includes swearing or 
insultingothers 
to the degree that it upsets them. 
Harsh speech 
even includes sarcasm and 
sarcastic 
comparisons.There are three 
components to harsh 
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heavy if the victim 
is of high mental attainment. 
2. Whether the insult is to their 
face or behind their 
back. An insult to someone's face 
is worse in its 
retribution than an insult behind 
their back. 
3. The strength of bad intention 
behind the insult. The 
stronger the bad intention, the 
worse will be the 
retribution. 
4. The amount of effort behind the 
insult 
Blessing Ten: Artfulness in Speech 
133 
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B.5 Retribution of insulting those 
of virtue 
There are eleven forms of disasters 
befalling monks 
who (unfoundedly) verbally abuse 
others who have 
already attained the stages of 
sainthood: 
1. failing to attain the due mental 
attainments; 
2. falling away from the previous 
mental attainments; 
3. their Sadhamma will become 
clouded; 
4. will delude themselves into 
thinking they have 
already attained Sadhamma; 
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5. will become discontented with 
pursuing the 
Brahma-faring; 
6. will commit monastic 
transgressions; 
7. will give up the training and fall 
back into the 
low (household) life: 
8. will be struck down by grave 
illness; 
9. will be struck down by madness 
or mental distraction; 
10. will commit mortal blunders, 
and; 
11. has the hell realms as an 
afterlife destination. 
AN.XI.6 
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Thus if at all possible, whether 
concerning a monk 
or not, never be someone to find 
fault in others. 
Always try to look for the good in 
others. You may 
notice the weaknesses of others. 
Observe them, remember 
them but don't use them as the 
subject of 
conversation. If you are always 
immersed in the 
good deeds of others then even if 
you try to think 
of evil things you will be unable 
to. You won't be 
tempted to find fault with that 
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