Cattāri Brahmavihārā

Last night I was fortunate enough to make it to the Sunday night meditation class and the theme was sacca parami or the perfection of truthfulness. As I was listening to the Dhamma talk which was given after the sitting I was more or less convinced that although I needed to work on samma vaca I the topic was of particular relevance to my practice at the moment. Oh, how wrong was I!

Once the formal proceedings were over we broke up and all began catching up with one another. Within the space of 5 minutes I had already made a negative, blanket generalization about people who use Facebook to one friend and told a few white lies to someone else. Only afterwards, as I was walking home, did I realize what I had done. And why? Inattention to be sure and a desire to impress others as well.

So, what can be done? I’m not sure exactly except to try to remain more mindful in daily life and to remember to pause before speaking and take at least a breath or two. I have been upset all morning over my wrong speech last night despite knowing better. I hope that my confession here will help to put to rest the regret and help to set me on my way to remedying the situation.

May we speak only out of love and concern for all beings!