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<v Speaker 1>True speech. Truth is known by practice. Only. Without sincerity,

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<v Speaker 1>there can be no knowledge of truth, and true speech

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<v Speaker 1>is the beginning of all sincerity. Truth, in all its

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<v Speaker 1>native beauty and original simplicity, consists in abandoning and not

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<v Speaker 1>doing all those things which are untrue, and embracing in

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<v Speaker 1>doing all those things which are true. True speech is

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<v Speaker 1>therefore one of the elementary beginnings in the life of truth.

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<v Speaker 1>Falsehood and all forms of deception, slander, and all forms

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<v Speaker 1>of evil speaking, these must be totally abandoned and abolished

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<v Speaker 1>before the mind can receive even a small degree of

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<v Speaker 1>spiritual enlightenment. The lyre in slanderer is lost in darkness.

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<v Speaker 1>So deep is his darkness that he cannot distinguish between

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<v Speaker 1>good and evil, And he persuades himself that his lying

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<v Speaker 1>in evil speaking are necessary in good, that he is

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<v Speaker 1>thereby protecting himself and other people. Let the would be

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<v Speaker 1>student of higher things look to himself and beware of

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<v Speaker 1>self delusion. If he is given to uttering words that deceive,

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<v Speaker 1>or to speaking evil of others, If he speaks an insincerity, envy,

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<v Speaker 1>or malice, then he has not yet begun to study

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<v Speaker 1>higher things. He may be studying metaphysics or miracles, or

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<v Speaker 1>psychic phenomena or astral wonders. He may be studying how

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<v Speaker 1>to commune with invisible beings, to travel invisibly during sleep,

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<v Speaker 1>or to produce curious phenomena. He may even study spirituality

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<v Speaker 1>theoretically and as a mere book study. But if he

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<v Speaker 1>is a deceiver and a backbiter, the higher life is

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<v Speaker 1>hidden from him. For the higher things are these uprightness, sincerity, innocence, purity, kindness, gentleness, faithfulness, humility, patience, pity, sympathy,

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<v Speaker 1>self sacrifice, joy, good will, love. And he who would

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<v Speaker 1>study them, know them, and make them his own, must

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<v Speaker 1>practice them. There is no other way. Lying and evil

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<v Speaker 1>speaking belong to the lowest forms of spiritual ignorance, and

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<v Speaker 1>there can be no such thing as spiritual enlightenment while

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<v Speaker 1>they are practiced. Their parents are selfishness and hatred. Slander

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<v Speaker 1>is akin to lying, but it is even more subtle,

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<v Speaker 1>as it is frequently associated with indignation, and by assuming

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<v Speaker 1>more successfully the appearance of truth, it ensnares many who

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<v Speaker 1>would not tell a deliberate falsehood. For there are two

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<v Speaker 1>sides to slander. There is the making of repeating of it,

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<v Speaker 1>and there is the listening to it and acting upon it.

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<v Speaker 1>The slanderer would be powerless without a listener. Evil words

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<v Speaker 1>require an ear that is receptive to evil, in which

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<v Speaker 1>they may fall before they can flourish. Therefore, he who

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<v Speaker 1>listens to a slanderer, who believes it and allows himself

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<v Speaker 1>to be influenced against the person whose character and reputation

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<v Speaker 1>are defamed, is in the same position as the one

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<v Speaker 1>who framed or repeated the evil report. The evil speaker

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<v Speaker 1>is a positive slander. The evil listener is a passive slander.

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<v Speaker 1>The two are co operators in the propagation of evil.

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<v Speaker 1>Slander is a common vice and a dark and deadly one.

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<v Speaker 1>An evil report begins in ignorance and pursues its blind

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<v Speaker 1>way and darkness. It generally takes its rise in a misunderstanding.

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<v Speaker 1>Someone feels that he or she has been badly treated

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<v Speaker 1>and filled with indignation and resentment, unburdens himself to his

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<v Speaker 1>friends and others in vehement language, exaggerating the enormity of

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<v Speaker 1>the supposed offense, on account of the feeling of injury

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<v Speaker 1>by which he is possessed, listen to and sympathized with

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<v Speaker 1>the listeners without hearing the other person's version of what

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<v Speaker 1>has taken place, And on no other proof than the

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<v Speaker 1>violent words of an angry man or woman, become cold

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<v Speaker 1>in their attitude towards the one spoken against, and repeat

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<v Speaker 1>to others what they have been told, And as such

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<v Speaker 1>repetition is always more or less inaccurate. A distorted and

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<v Speaker 1>altogether untrue report is soon passing from mouth to mouth.

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<v Speaker 1>It is because slander is such a common vice that

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<v Speaker 1>it can work the suffering and injury that it does.

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<v Speaker 1>It is because so many not deliberate wrongdoers, and unconscious

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<v Speaker 1>of the nature of the evil into which they so

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<v Speaker 1>easily fall, are ready to allow themselves to be influenced

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<v Speaker 1>against one whom they have hitherto regarded as honorable, that

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<v Speaker 1>an evil report can do its deadly work. Yet its

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<v Speaker 1>work is only amongst those who have not altogether acquired

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<v Speaker 1>the virtue of true speech, the cause of which is

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<v Speaker 1>a truth loving mind. When one who has not entirely

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<v Speaker 1>freed himself from repeating or believing an evil report about

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<v Speaker 1>another hears of an evil report about himself, his mind

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<v Speaker 1>becomes a flame and burning resentment. His sleep is broken,

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<v Speaker 1>and his peace of mind is destroyed. He thinks the

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<v Speaker 1>cause of all his suffering is the other man and

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<v Speaker 1>what the other man has said about him, and is

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<v Speaker 1>ignorant of the truth that the root and cause of

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<v Speaker 1>his suffering lies in his own readiness to believe in

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<v Speaker 1>evil report about another. The virtuous man, he who has

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<v Speaker 1>attained to true speech, and whose mind is sealed against

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<v Speaker 1>even the appearance of evil speaking, cannot be injured and

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<v Speaker 1>disturbed by any evil reports concerning himself. And although his

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<v Speaker 1>reputation may for a time be stained in the minds

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<v Speaker 1>of those who are prone to suggestions of evil, his

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<v Speaker 1>integrity remains untouched and his character unsoiled. For no one

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<v Speaker 1>can be stained by the evil deeds of another, but

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<v Speaker 1>only by his own wrong doing. And so through all misrepresentation, misunderstanding,

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<v Speaker 1>and contumely he is untroubled and unrevengeful. His sleep is undisturbed,

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<v Speaker 1>and his mind remains in peace. True speech is the

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<v Speaker 1>beginning of a pure, wise and well ordered life. If

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<v Speaker 1>one would attain to purity of life, if he would

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<v Speaker 1>lessen the evil and suffering of the world, let him

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<v Speaker 1>abandon falsehood and slander and thought and word, Let him

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<v Speaker 1>avoid even the appearance of these things. For there are

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<v Speaker 1>no lies in slanders so deadly as those which are

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<v Speaker 1>half truths. And let him not be a participant in

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<v Speaker 1>evil speaking by listening to it. Let him also have

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<v Speaker 1>compassion on the evil speaker, knowing how such a one

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<v Speaker 1>is binding himself to suffering and unrest. For no liar

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<v Speaker 1>can know the bliss of truth. No slander can enter

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<v Speaker 1>into the Kingdom of peace by the words which he utters.

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<v Speaker 1>Is a man's spiritual condition declared by these? Also is

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<v Speaker 1>he finally and infallibly adjudged. For as the Divine Master

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<v Speaker 1>of the Christian world has declared, by thy words, shalt

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<v Speaker 1>thou be justified, and by thy words shalt thou be condemned,