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The more sophisticated the technical means, the easier it is for people to naturally lie to themselves, to others, to harm themselves, to harm others, to the point that they do not feel any remorse when they have accidentally created bad consequences, causing suffering, even harming the lives of others.

Most deception and fraud originate from greed for profit, fame, and power; but in some cases, there are people who only lie and deceive because their skillful techniques, “fake it like it’s real,” have allowed and encouraged them to demonstrate their skills, and find this demonstration interesting in life. In other special cases, liars, because they grew up in an environment that required lying (such as in the business world, advertising, for example), exaggerate, exaggerate, exaggerate the truth, speak to enhance themselves and the products they want to sell, speak to benefit themselves and their groups and organizations. Lying for a long time becomes a habit, a characteristic, to the point that the liar himself believes all lies are true. Because he himself believes so, the words he speaks are very assertive, sounding like the truth coming from the heart, causing hundreds, thousands, even millions of people to believe them. Having succeeded in lying like that, the liar is satisfied, content, and has no hesitation to continue lying, lying continuously, endlessly... before the masses, the world.

The consequences of lying are known through personal experience, as well as through books, teachings of ancient people, saints, religious leaders... everyone knows. Small lies, small harm; big lies, big harm. It is impossible to measure the consequences and the spread and influence of them.

People who practice the teachings of the enlightened ones always respect the truth; and the teachings of the enlightened ones are often called "the true way."

People who apply the “true way” in life take truthfulness as the foundation. That truthfulness has been clearly shown and guided by the Buddha through the Noble Eightfold Path — the Eightfold Right Path (1): placing all views, thoughts, ideas, words, actions, abilities, and concentration on the true, holy path. It can be understood that setting foot on that path is setting foot on the path that the Saints have gone through: the path of escaping the suffering of birth and death, attaining nirvana.

The Eightfold Path is all important, but the branch of speech (Right Speech: speaking truthfully) is the easiest to hear and feel in daily life and relationships. The words spoken have a very quick and direct impact on the listener, so the ancients often said “turn your tongue seven times before speaking” to advise you to be careful with your mouth and words, because it can harm yourself and others (2). Nowadays, people use their phone or computer keyboards to type, send words, messages, and images via Twitter, Facebook, Youtube, Snapchat, Google+, LinkedIn… to millions of other people in the blink of an eye. With such rapidity, one should be even more careful, because once words or messages are released, it is difficult to take them back – even if they are corrected later, the original statement has already spread everywhere, and who knows, it might not have an impact, trigger a series of suicides, encourage mass shootings, start a catastrophic war, or sow disaster for some unknown people.

Therefore, when it comes to information, communication, or daily verbal communication, Buddhists must practice Right Speech; and cannot help but know about Right Speech that the Buddha specifically taught as follows: “And this, monks, what is Right Speech? This, monks, is to give up lying, give up speaking with a double tongue, give up speaking harshly, give up speaking frivolously.” (3) The four things the Buddha taught to “give up” in Right Speech are also the four forms of lying in the Fourth Precept (4) of the Five Fundamental Precepts of lay Buddhists (5).

Regarding Right Speech, not only must Buddhists themselves practice it, but they must also encourage others to follow suit; not only must they practice Right Speech, they must also stay away from liars, not support and follow those who speak deceitfully or falsely.

Regarding the Precept of False Speech, Buddhists do not lie themselves, do not incite others to lie, and do not listen to others who lie and support or rejoice in it. In the Five Fundamental Precepts, all three forms: doing it yourself, inciting others to do it, and being happy with what others do are all violations of the precepts (6).

Considering the above reasons, Buddhists, in their interactions with people and society, must always respect the truth and speak truthfully: not flattering powerful people for fame and profit; not praising or admiring evil political parties for personal safety and benefit; not praising or defending unworthy leaders for personal feelings or following trends; not turning away from the truth and turning their backs on the countless sufferings of the people for the sake of protecting their own position and property.

Not living with the truth is often living a lie. Praising and supporting hypocritical and deceitful people is an accomplice to lies.

A true Buddhist lives according to the true teachings, not living with falsehood and lies.

California, June 22, 2019

Vinh Hao

www.vinhhao.info

__________________

(1) Also known as the Noble Eightfold Path or the Noble Eightfold Path (Pàli: Ariyaṭṭhaṅgikamagga), the Noble Eightfold Path (The Noble/Holy Eightfold Path) includes: Right View (Understanding), Right Thinking (Right Thinking), Right Speech (Right Speech), Right Action (Right Livelihoood), Right Effort (Right Mindfulness), and Right Concentration (Right Concentration).

(2) “Illness enters through the mouth, disaster exits through the mouth,” illness enters through food and drink, disaster comes from words.

(3) Samyutta Nikaya, Mahavagga, Chapter I, Section 8, Analysis, Samyutta Nikaya, translated by Venerable Thich Minh Chau.

(4) The Five Precepts of lay Buddhists: precept against killing, precept against stealing, precept against sexual misconduct, precept against lying, and precept against drinking alcohol. Precepts here mean prevention, protection. Therefore, saying “precept against lying” means preventing, not doing lies. “The function of precepts is to protect the sense doors, that is, to prevent unwholesome dharmas from arising and harming wholesome qualities.” (Tuệ Sỹ, Thắng Man Giảng Luận, Chapter III: Bodhisattva Precepts, Section 1: Bodhisattva Mind Ground Precepts).

(5) The Fourth Precept in the Five Precepts is the Precept Against Lying. The Precept of Lying is clearly stated in the Summary of the Vinaya Rules for Novices, Previous Chapter: The Precepts Section – translated by Venerable Thich Tri Quang, as follows: “There are four types of lying. One, telling lies, is saying right is wrong, wrong is right, seeing is not seeing, not seeing is not seeing, lying is not true, etc. Two, speaking embellishments, is polishing frivolous words, flowery words, beautiful music, love songs, leading to lust, increasing sadness, distracting people’s minds, etc. Three, speaking harshly, is speaking vulgarly, viciously, scolding people, etc. Four, speaking with two tongues, is speaking to this person about that person, speaking to that person about this person, separating gratitude, provoking and inciting them to fight, to compete, etc. Up to the point of praising first and then criticizing, speaking rightly and then speaking wrongly, testifying to others’ sins, and spreading others’ faults, all fall into the category of lying.”

(6) Except in cases where it is necessary to relax (open) the precepts for a certain period of time and under certain special circumstances. For example, if a doctor says that it is necessary to drink medicinal wine to treat a terminal illness, a Buddhist patient is allowed to drink medicinal wine, but when the illness is cured, he must stop; if he abuses it for the reason of "expedient means" and continues to drink wine, he breaks the precepts. Another example, regarding lying, in the Essentials of the Sramanera Law, it is also stated: "In addition, lying to save others from urgent disaster, using expedient means, being compassionate and beneficial, helping, is not a violation."

(7)

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