A foolproof way 

to avoid bad speech karma.

One day, I awoke to discover that I had lost my voice. Panic quickly set in. But I soon realized a benefit to my newfound voiceless state. Since I couldn’t speak, I couldn’t say anything I would regret.

I couldn’t get myself into trouble! 

Buoyed by my newfound realization, I grabbed a pen and pad for when I needed to communicate with others. After my first written conversation, I concluded that it would be tough to disagree with someone if you couldn’t speak. Talking is quick and easy. Writing takes time! Blurting out a dissenting opinion is instantaneous. Having to write it down, you will soon conclude that an argument is just more trouble than it’s worth. 

How much easier to smile and get along with the other person.

Now, I admit that losing one’s voice is an extreme way of avoiding bad verbal karmas. But we don’t need to lose our voice to achieve the same result. We can just talk less. A lot less. And honestly, most of the talking we deem necessary is, in reality, pretty much unnecessary.

When encountering an onerous situation, what matters is . . .

Gossip is harmful, 

even if the person never learns of what we said.

When we gossip about others, we may tell ourselves that we’re not doing any real harm. The person will never hear about it. What are the chances? We can tell ourselves this. But even if that is so, harm is still done.

When we engage in gossip, we waste our time and energy. Even worse, we waste the time and energy of those who listen to the hearsay we’re spreading. If we want to say something about others, we should be speaking positively about them, not passing on gossip.

Gossip usually involves something unfavorable, even malicious. Unkind thoughts are negative and, therefore, plant negative seeds, thus creating more negative karma. To make things even worse, just as we view those who don’t tell the truth as untrustworthy, our gossiping will deem us unreliable in the eyes of those who do value the truth.

So honest people will avoid us. Eventually, only those who do not value integrity will spend time with us.

From Rage to Forgiveness: What Lies Within