To recite a prayer is to live it, to fulfill it, so that each word that is uttered from the mouth is full of meaning, potent and serious, so that words are not to be spoken unnecessarily, so that full thoughts must be given to each word before being spoken. Then you will not hastily say a lot of things which you do not intend to help, then you will not cause harm to yourself or to others through gibberish words, then all that is spoken shall be truth! And then it will be quite easy to keep the precept of not lying and all the non-virtuous actions of the mouth are prevented!
To lie is easy. False speech is spoken everyday by every being. The world becomes a falsity and no one will trust the other’s words. She can do as much damage as a grievous physical harm. It damages your mind and the life of others. Weigh each word then and be aware of whatever you are about to say. Does it hurt others? Is it a truth? Does it profit others and myself for saying this or that? How many do really stop and think? It is the task of cultivation to reduce mouth karma as much as those committed by the mind and body. Check a thought and reduce saying some harmful words that result from it. With his practice you will be able to stop the speaking of an untruth.
Even when you are in the midst of saying something which is not true, you will be able to stop and straightway says, “I’m sorry, but what I am saying is not the real truth. I am saying a lie...” Can this be done? How difficult it will be for a liar to admit his bad act but how much surprise and wonder of awe the listeners will feel for him who is able to rise above himself?
A lie can become truth to the mind. In the beginning one is aware of the lie, but repeated often, the mind will accept it to be a truth and one will repeat it without feeling any guilt so that one easily believes in it!
Meditate on this and see if you have been guilty of building a fantasy, a lie, an untruth into a kind of reality? When this is done and you are able to recall many wrong-distorted facts changed into truths, you will be more aware of what your mind is. You will be afraid to trust your own mind’s direction and you will gladly begin to practise purification of your own mind. Then you will not be hasty any more, then you will make lesser mistakes in life, then you will be calmer and speak less. Realising the difficulty of correcting a fault, then cultivation becomes a big challenge and there will be the knowing of why the world is such and why people cannot change for your convenience and even for their own good! This may lead to a kind of understanding that you must be patient with the faults of others just as you have always been with yourself!
Tuesday, 12th March 1985 (1st Moon 21st Day)