1
00:00:00,360 --> 00:00:04,759
Speaker 1: Words and wisdom. I would find where wisdom is, where

2
00:00:04,799 --> 00:00:11,119
peace abides, where truth, majestic, chainless and eternal, stands untouched

3
00:00:11,160 --> 00:00:15,800
by the illusions of the world. For surely there is knowledge, truth,

4
00:00:15,960 --> 00:00:22,000
and peace for him who seeks thoughts, words, acts. These

5
00:00:22,039 --> 00:00:25,000
combine to make up the entire life of every individual.

6
00:00:25,920 --> 00:00:29,640
Words and acts are thoughts expressed. We think in words.

7
00:00:30,280 --> 00:00:33,280
In the process of thinking. Words are stored up in

8
00:00:33,320 --> 00:00:37,520
the consciousness, where they await expression and use as occasion

9
00:00:37,560 --> 00:00:41,960
may call them forth. Words fit the mind which receive them.

10
00:00:42,159 --> 00:00:44,799
They are the tally of the intellect which uses them.

11
00:00:45,479 --> 00:00:48,960
The meaner the mind, the more meager is the vocabulary.

12
00:00:49,640 --> 00:00:54,159
A limited and a capacious intellect alike expresses itself through

13
00:00:54,200 --> 00:00:57,840
a limited and an extensive use of words. A great

14
00:00:57,880 --> 00:01:02,079
mind expresses itself by the vehicle of flowing. In noble language,

15
00:01:03,079 --> 00:01:08,159
words stand for conceptions. Conceptions are embodied in words. At

16
00:01:08,239 --> 00:01:10,719
the moment that a conception is formed in the mind,

17
00:01:11,280 --> 00:01:15,920
its corresponding word arises in the thought. Conceptions and words

18
00:01:15,959 --> 00:01:19,840
cannot be hidden away indefinitely, Sooner or later they will

19
00:01:19,840 --> 00:01:23,760
come forth into the outer world of expression. The matter

20
00:01:23,840 --> 00:01:28,079
of the universe is in ceaseless, circulation, Its hidden things

21
00:01:28,079 --> 00:01:33,760
are continuously coming forth into open, invisible life. Likewise, the

22
00:01:33,840 --> 00:01:38,040
mental operations of men are ever in active circulation, and

23
00:01:38,120 --> 00:01:42,040
their hidden thoughts are daily expressing themselves in words and acts.

24
00:01:42,799 --> 00:01:45,640
The words and acts of every man are determined by

25
00:01:45,680 --> 00:01:50,439
the thoughts in which he habitually dwells. Speech is audible thought.

26
00:01:51,079 --> 00:01:54,439
A man reveals himself through his speech, whether he is

27
00:01:54,519 --> 00:01:58,599
pure or impure, foolish or vice. He makes his inner

28
00:01:58,599 --> 00:02:02,359
condition known through his fear. The foolish man is known

29
00:02:02,400 --> 00:02:05,120
by the way in which he talks. The wise man

30
00:02:05,200 --> 00:02:08,879
is known by the purity, gravity, and excellence of his speech.

31
00:02:10,000 --> 00:02:12,759
He who would gain a knowledge of men, says Confucius,

32
00:02:13,319 --> 00:02:17,159
must first learn to understand the meaning of words all

33
00:02:17,240 --> 00:02:21,039
wise men. Saints and great teachers have declared that the

34
00:02:21,080 --> 00:02:24,639
first step in wisdom is to control the tongue. The

35
00:02:24,680 --> 00:02:28,439
discipline of speech is a mental disciple. When a man

36
00:02:28,520 --> 00:02:32,800
controls his tongue, he controls his mind. When he purifies

37
00:02:32,840 --> 00:02:37,319
his speech, he purifies his mind. Speech and mind cannot

38
00:02:37,360 --> 00:02:42,120
be separated. They are two aspects of character. A man

39
00:02:42,240 --> 00:02:47,520
may read scripture, study religions, and practice mystical arts, but

40
00:02:47,599 --> 00:02:50,599
if he allows his tongue to run loosely, he will

41
00:02:50,639 --> 00:02:52,919
be as foolish at the end of all his labors

42
00:02:53,120 --> 00:02:56,280
as he was at the beginning. A man may not

43
00:02:56,360 --> 00:03:01,840
read scripture, nor study religions, nor practice ascetic arts. But

44
00:03:01,919 --> 00:03:05,080
if he controls his tongue and studies how to speak

45
00:03:05,120 --> 00:03:10,159
wisely and well, he will become wise. Wisdom is perceived

46
00:03:10,199 --> 00:03:13,319
in the words which are its expression. We speak of

47
00:03:13,400 --> 00:03:18,039
certain men of Shakespeare, for instance, as being wise. We

48
00:03:18,159 --> 00:03:21,599
never saw Shakespeare, and we know very little of his life.

49
00:03:22,199 --> 00:03:25,560
How then, do we know he was wise by his words?

50
00:03:25,599 --> 00:03:29,199
Only where there are wise words, we know there is

51
00:03:29,240 --> 00:03:33,039
a wise mind. A foolish man may, like a parrot,

52
00:03:33,520 --> 00:03:37,919
repeat wise words, but a wise man frames wise sentences.

53
00:03:38,599 --> 00:03:43,080
His wisdom is shown in originally expressed language. Why do

54
00:03:43,199 --> 00:03:46,680
men speak of words as being bad or good, degrading

55
00:03:46,800 --> 00:03:51,719
or inspiring, lower, lofty, weak or strong? Is it not

56
00:03:51,759 --> 00:03:56,919
because they unconsciously recognize that words cannot be dissociated from thoughts.

57
00:03:57,879 --> 00:04:00,759
Why do pure minded people of void a man who

58
00:04:00,840 --> 00:04:05,000
habitually uses impure language. Is it not because they know

59
00:04:05,080 --> 00:04:08,639
that such words proceed from an unclean mind. It is

60
00:04:08,680 --> 00:04:12,360
impossible for any being to give utterance to words which

61
00:04:12,400 --> 00:04:15,680
are not already lodged in his mind fit in the

62
00:04:15,719 --> 00:04:19,959
form of thought. The impure mind cannot speak pure words.

63
00:04:20,439 --> 00:04:24,680
The pure mind cannot speak impure words. The ignorant cannot

64
00:04:24,680 --> 00:04:29,600
speak learnedly, nor the learned ignorantly. The foolish man cannot

65
00:04:29,639 --> 00:04:34,759
speak wisely, nor the wise foolishly. Altered speech follows an

66
00:04:34,800 --> 00:04:38,240
altered mind. When a man turns from evil to good,

67
00:04:38,759 --> 00:04:43,360
his conversation becomes cleansed. As a man increases in wisdom,

68
00:04:43,800 --> 00:04:49,279
he watches, modifies, and perfects his speech. If the foolish

69
00:04:49,279 --> 00:04:52,199
and the wise are known by their words, what then

70
00:04:52,720 --> 00:04:55,560
is the speech of folly, and what is the language

71
00:04:55,560 --> 00:05:00,000
of wisdom. A man is foolish if he talks aimlessly

72
00:05:00,199 --> 00:05:05,160
and incoherently, if he engages in impure conversations, if he

73
00:05:05,279 --> 00:05:09,319
utters falsehood, if he speaks ill of the absent and

74
00:05:09,399 --> 00:05:14,519
carries about evil reports concerning others, if he frames flattering words,

75
00:05:15,160 --> 00:05:18,759
if he utters violent and abusive words, if his speech

76
00:05:18,839 --> 00:05:21,720
is irreverent and his words are directed against the great

77
00:05:21,759 --> 00:05:25,920
and good, if he speaks in praise of himself. A

78
00:05:26,000 --> 00:05:29,639
man is wise if he talks with purpose and intelligence.

79
00:05:30,240 --> 00:05:34,000
If his conversation is chaste, if he utters words of

80
00:05:34,040 --> 00:05:37,439
sincerity and truth, if he speaks well of and in

81
00:05:37,480 --> 00:05:42,240
defense of the absent, if he speaks words of virtuous reproof,

82
00:05:42,959 --> 00:05:46,319
if his speech is gentle and kindly, if he talks

83
00:05:46,360 --> 00:05:49,480
reverently of the great and good, if he speaks in

84
00:05:49,560 --> 00:05:54,720
praise of others, we are all now and always justified

85
00:05:54,759 --> 00:05:58,240
and condemned by our words. The law of truth is

86
00:05:58,279 --> 00:06:01,839
not held in abeyance, and every day is judgment day.

87
00:06:02,560 --> 00:06:05,720
For every idle word which one speaks, he is at

88
00:06:05,759 --> 00:06:09,279
once called to account, in an immediate and certain loss

89
00:06:09,279 --> 00:06:13,800
of happiness and influence. By the words which we habitually utter,

90
00:06:14,240 --> 00:06:17,319
we publish to the universe the degree of our intelligence

91
00:06:17,800 --> 00:06:21,399
and the standard of our morality, and receive back through

92
00:06:21,439 --> 00:06:24,720
them the judgment of the world. The fool thinks he

93
00:06:24,839 --> 00:06:29,160
is harshly judged and badly treated by others, not knowing

94
00:06:29,199 --> 00:06:33,399
that his real scourge is his own ungoverned tongue. To

95
00:06:33,519 --> 00:06:37,399
control the tongue, to discipline the speech, to strive for

96
00:06:37,439 --> 00:06:40,680
the use of pure and gentler words. This is a

97
00:06:40,800 --> 00:06:44,879
very lowly thing, and one that is much despised. But

98
00:06:44,959 --> 00:06:48,839
it cannot be neglected by him who eagerly aspires to

99
00:06:48,920 --> 00:06:50,839
walk the way of wisdom,