10 Commandments Of The Tongue

[Guest guest]

10 Commandments Of The Tongue

 

 

1) Thou Shalt Not Gossip.

 

Before any story whispered in the ear is passed on, if it must, it should be

treated as the apples for a pie ... first peeled, then quartered, and cored,

then what remains …. liberally sugared.

 

The first step in the Sadhana is the cleansing of the speech. Most

misunderstandings and factions arise out of carelessly spoken words. When the

foot slips, the wound can be healed; but when the tongue slips, the wound it

causes in the heart of another will fester for life.

 

(Sathya Sai Baba, SSS. Vol.1 p. 62)

 

 

(2) Thou Shalt Not use a multitude of empty words.

 

Your tongue reveals the nature of your thinking and your character. The Lord

Himself admonishes the children of men to "let your admonishes be yes, yes, no,

no, for whatsoever is more than these cometh of evil."

 

As far as possible, avoid causing harm or pain to others. As you sow, so you

reap. Whenever you feel disturbed by a sense of anger, envy, pride, jealousy

and the like, become alert and resort to the contemplation of the Lord.

Practice silence. That will save you from squabbles, frittering thoughts and

faction.

(Sathya Sai Speaks Vol II P. 34 - 36)

 

(3) Thou Shalt Not Boast.

 

A small man makes long, loud boasting in order to centre the spotlight of

attention on himself; the great man works quietly, Silently polishing the

beacon that it may guide the ship safely into the desired haven.

 

Do not boast of your scholarship or attainments. Those who conquer states and

earn fame in the world are hailed as heroes, no doubt; but those who have

conquered the senses are heroes who must be acclaimed as the conquerors of the

Universe. Be humble, eager to serve; conserve your speech.

 

(Sathya Sai Speaks Vol II p.34-36)

 

 

(4) Thou Shalt Not Flatter.

 

Someone has said that "Flattery is like soft soap; it is 90% lye" - and you can

count on the ratio being just about right.

 

The less you talk, the more will become your mental power. With the increase in

your mental capacity, there will be increase in your power of discrimination

too. Consequently, you will give up "individual discrimination". Because of

this, you will begin to consider the good of the world at large rather than

your own individual welfare. You must cultivate such broad feelings from this

young age itself.

(Sathya Sai Baba, Divine Discourse. Brindavan, 24 May, 1992)

 

 

(5) Thou Shalt Not Grumble.

 

The prescription for this malady is to saturate your life with loving kindness.

Let it enter every pore and the process will be absolutely foolproof against

the gnawing frets and worries that are worse than termites, to eat the soul out

of you.

 

Do not thrust your sorrows, your needs, your problems into the ears of those who

have come here with their own bundle of such things. They are not interested in

adding to their troubles. I am here to listen to you, to console you. Do not by

loudness of voice disturb those who are meditating or reading or writing the

Name of God.

(Sathya Sai Baba, SSS. Vol. 3 p. 9)

 

(6) Thou Shalt Not Backbite or slander.

 

The tongue that backbites or slanders is the weapon that empties churches, pours

streams of bickering humans into divorce courts, fills our jails with wretched

humanity, and lashes men and woman to Satan's kingdom.

 

Instead of searching for others' faults, search for your own faults yourself;

uproot them, throw them off. It is enough if you search and discover one fault

of yours; that is better than discovering tens of hundreds of faults in others.

Practice the vocabulary of love; unlearn the language of hate and contempt.

 

(Sathya Sai Baba, 4/10/91)

 

(7) Thou Shalt Not Mock or make fun.

 

Let us learn sympathy and give our fellows a helping hand instead of mockery, no

matter how peculiar or odd they may be. Remember angels visit the earth in all

kinds of guises.

 

Practice moderation in speech. That will help you in many ways. It will develop

Prema, for most misunderstandings and factions arise out of carelessly spoken

words.

 

Do not pretend or patronise. The mischief-mongering tendency should be plucked

out by the roots and thrown off. If allowed to exist, it will undermine life

itself.

 

(Sathya Sai Baba, SSS. Vol. 4 p. 257)

 

 

(8) Thou Shalt Not Lie.

 

Truth is of the highest importance whether we consider morality, worldly life or spiritual progress.

There are three rules to be observed in promoting collective action. ‘Sathyam

bruyaath’. ‘Speak the truth’. ‘Priyam bruyaath’. ‘Speak what is

pleasant’. ‘Na bruyaath Sathyam apriyan’. ‘Never speak what is true but

not pleasing’.

>From the ethical point of view you have to speak the truth. In the context of

worldly life, you have to speak what is pleasing. From the spiritual point of

view you have to avoid what is not pleasing even if it is true. The Gita also

teaches that one should not utter words that cause excitement, but speak the

truth which is both pleasing and wholesome.20.11.95 (6th World Conference)

 

 

(9) Thou Shalt Not Swear and Shout.

 

Profanity is the official language of the devil's kingdom. Have no part in it

for it will disqualify you for heaven.

 

Do not fall into the habit of shouting, talking long and loud. Reduce contacts

to the minimum. Carry with you an atmosphere of quiet contemplation, wherever

you happen to be. There are some who live in a perpetual hullabaloo, in a

tornado of noise. Whether they are in an exhibition or a fair or in a hotel, or

a temple or the Prashanti Nilayam, they wag their tongues and will not stop.

These will not proceed on the Godward road.

(Sathya Sai Speaks Vol IV p 190)

 

(10) Thou Shalt Not Argue in Anger.

 

Whatever the provocation is remember that "silence is golden" and that "a soft

answer turneth away wrath; but grievous words stir up anger"

 

Assume silence when you are invaded by anger or remember the Name of the Lord.

Instead, do not try to remind yourself of things which will inflame the anger

more. That will do incalculable harm. Do not be led away by the scorn of

others, or by the recommendations of others. Whenever you get a little leisure,

do not spend it in talking about all and sundry, but utilise it in meditating on

God or in doing service to others.

 

(Sathya Sai Baba, SSS. Vol. 4 p. 366)

 

Duty is God, Work is Worship

[Guest guest]

Excellent message sis. These are probably the mostt important for a aspirant to

master, but so very difficult to practice.

If I may share with my brothers & sisters, my problem is that I am so afraid of

'hurting' someone with that I end up 'overcompensating' by rambling on and

saying too many 'nice' words which amounted to nothing less than 'flattery'.

The technique I use to help me with that is that when I feel I am beginning to

'babble' I immediately bite my tongue and count to 10. That just gives me time

to stop & think about my words. Also my husband and daughters have been asked

to 'nudge' me when I begin to do that.

Bless you Madhvi for your gems of ever inspiring words and thoughts. I really look forward to them.

Vina

(Reno)

[Guest guest]

A very beautiful composition indeed.

 

Swami has said, the tongue is very important or rather more important then

others, it has two tasks - one of taste and the other of speech. You have

covered speech so wonderfully. About taste - I recall there was a very heathy

discussion some time back on Veg Vs Non-Veg food and one supporter of Veg food

had written - All NV eaters are just creating a cemetery of dead animals in

their stomachs. This was a very profound, but true statement.

 

However, going further on speech and taste - Swami reveals that all humans ( as

well as animals) are born with gunas in different proportion, to label a person

Sathwic, Rajsic of Tamsic. Different type of foods help nourish different gunas

(like N Veg food nourish Rajsic and Tamsic gunas) and conversely different

gunas seek the required food to nourish that guna or a Rajsic person will have

a passion for N Veg foods.

 

On the spiritual path these gunas have to be neutralised, one way is control the

food and the type of food we fill our stomach with and the other is speech - you

have written the compilation of 10 Commandments which when followed, will

immensely help sadhaks or spiritual knowledge seeking devotees to overcome the

Gunas.

 

Sai Ram Madhavi, Be Happy.

 

JP

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~MadhviSai (AT) aol (DOT) com wrote:

10 Commandments Of The Tongue

(1) Thou Shalt Not Gossip.

(2) Thou Shalt Not use a multitude of empty words.

(3) Thou Shalt Not Boast.

(4) Thou Shalt Not Flatter.

(5) Thou Shalt Not Grumble.

(6) Thou Shalt Not Backbite or slander.

(7) Thou Shalt Not Mock or make fun.

(8) Thou Shalt Not Lie.

(9) Thou Shalt Not Swear and Shout.

(10) Thou Shalt Not Argue in Anger.

 

 

For devotees of Sri Sathya Sai Baba - Important Announcement.

 

SAI AT - project, to comemmorate Bhagwan Baba's 80th Year of Advent, has been

launched. For details

http://www.sailopics.com/80th_Year_of_Advent/80th_year_of_advent.htm

You can become project members of this memorable project if you have a SAILOGRAM

or SAI SILVER or SAI GOLD or procure one after reading this.

 

Sai Ram - Be Happy

[Guest guest]

"GURUSAMI VISHNI" <gurusami.v

Thu Aug 11, 2005 0:07am

RE: [saibabanews] 10 Commandments Of The Tongue

 

very nice sayings, food for thought

 

ill always remember these words for life

 

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priya doshi <pridosh9

Thu Aug 11, 2005 6:00am

Re: [saibabanews] 10 Commandments Of The Tongue

 

Sairam Madhvi,

 

This is so perfect for me for daily reflection - especially as I

know that I need a LOT of work on most of these.

 

I have printed these off , enlarged them & put them framed both on

my office as well as bedroom walls.

 

It will be a constant reminder to watch myself. Thank you so much.

 

Piyu

 

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MadhviSai

Cc: egreatindia

Thu Aug 11, 2005 6:41am

Re: [saibabanews] Re: 10 Commandments Of The Tongue

 

Bless you brother JP....for always being so encouraging with your

kind and sweet words.

 

This compilation was specifically related to the speech

aspects ..... however the second part ....which hopefully will

follow shortly.....will cover the 'taste' aspects of the tongue.

 

Thank you so much for sharing your loving thoughts ...they are

invaluable!

 

With love & light,

 

Madhvi

 

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arjun pharmaco <arjun_pharmaco

Thu Aug 11, 2005 7:12am

Re: [saibabanews] 10 Commandments Of The Tongue

 

Dear sai sister,

 

Iam very much happy and found pleasent mind in reading

the mail. Hope this will help me a lot for a learner

like me these are footsteps to climb a ladder in

acheiving the highest spirtual point.Thankyou very

much once again.

 

sairam

arjun

[Guest guest]

Dearest Madhvididi,

This is so good! Our Gurus have decided to use this as the basis for the next

group activity for the children/ youth to prepare for the next Center event.

Thank you and Sairam.

your loving sis Rina

(Kenya)