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=What Is Speech?=
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The organ of speech is an instrument of the physical mental or expressive externalising mind.
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<ref>http://incarnateword.in/cwsa/28/the-parts-of-the-body-and-the-centres#p7</ref>
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==Spiritual Speech==
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There is an eternal Truth which is eternally true, but which finds expression in definite forms, and these definite forms are changing, fluctuating; they may become distorted; and to have the truth one must always go back to the source, which is… it may be called the eternal word, that is, the creative Word. It is a truth which is eternal, which manifests itself through all possible words and ideas. I use “word” in a literary sense—it is what is called elsewhere the creative Word. It is the origin of all speech and all thought.
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<ref>http://incarnateword.in/cwm/05/11-november-1953#p13</ref>
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Human speech at its highest merely attempts to recover by revelation and inspiration an absolute expression of Truth which already exists in the Infinite above our mental comprehension.
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<ref>http://incarnateword.in/cwsa/18/the-supreme-word#p2</ref>
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Speech itself is an expression out of the silence.
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<ref>http://incarnateword.in/cwsa/31/speech-and-yoga#p76</ref>
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=Importance of Control of Speech=
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==Control of Speech==
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Mostly human speech and thought go on mechanically in certain grooves that always repeat themselves and it is not really the mind that controls or dictates them. <ref>http://incarnateword.in/cwsa/31/speech-and-yoga#p16</ref>
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A constant babble of words seems to be the indispensable accompaniment to daily work. And yet as soon as one makes an effort to reduce the noise to a minimum, one realises that many things are done better and faster in silence and that this helps to maintain one’s inner peace and concentration.
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One should always control the words one speaks and never allow one’s tongue to be prompted by a movement of anger, violence or temper. It is not only the quarrel that is bad in its results, but the fact of allowing one’s tongue to be used to project bad vibrations into the atmosphere; for nothing is more contagious than the vibrations of sound, and by giving these movements a chance to express themselves, one perpetuates them in oneself and in others.<ref>https://incarnateword.in/cwm/12/the-four-austerities-and-the-four-liberations</ref>
 
=Cultivating Control of Speech=
 
=Cultivating Control of Speech=
 
Correct speech that hurts none. Never speak uselessly and scrupulously avoid all malevolent speech. One has to admit only what the inner being consents to think or speak.
 
<ref>http://incarnateword.in/cwsa/31/speech-and-yoga#p16</ref>
 
<ref>http://incarnateword.in/cwm/03/the-awakened-one-the-buddha#p30</ref>
 
  
 
Many hours of silent concentration are needed to be able to speak usefully for a few minutes. Moreover, where inner life and spiritual effort are concerned, the use of speech should be subjected to a still more stringent rule and nothing should be said unless it is absolutely indispensable.
 
Many hours of silent concentration are needed to be able to speak usefully for a few minutes. Moreover, where inner life and spiritual effort are concerned, the use of speech should be subjected to a still more stringent rule and nothing should be said unless it is absolutely indispensable.
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One can talk, but with silence within and quietude in the speech.
 
One can talk, but with silence within and quietude in the speech.
 
<ref>http://incarnateword.in/cwsa/31/speech-and-yoga#p18</ref>
 
<ref>http://incarnateword.in/cwsa/31/speech-and-yoga#p18</ref>
Minimizing speech is sure to be helpful both for right action and for inner sadhana.
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<ref>http://incarnateword.in/cwsa/31/speech-and-yoga#p23</ref>
 
  
 
In fact, one should always do this, when he feels that he is caught by an impulse of some kind or other, particularly impulses of anger. If one takes as an absolute discipline, instead of acting or speaking (because speech is an action), instead of acting under the impulse, if one withdraws and then does as I said, one sits down quietly, concentrates and then looks at his anger quietly, one writes it down, when one has finished writing, it is gone—in any case, most often.
 
In fact, one should always do this, when he feels that he is caught by an impulse of some kind or other, particularly impulses of anger. If one takes as an absolute discipline, instead of acting or speaking (because speech is an action), instead of acting under the impulse, if one withdraws and then does as I said, one sits down quietly, concentrates and then looks at his anger quietly, one writes it down, when one has finished writing, it is gone—in any case, most often.
Be on your guard against wrath in speech. Control your words, and leaving behind wrong ways of speaking, practise good conduct in speech.
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<ref>https://incarnateword.in/cwm/07/30-march-1955#p39</ref>
<ref>http://incarnateword.in/cwm/03/anger#p11</ref>
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In talking one has the tendency to come down into a lower and more external consciousness because talking comes from the external mind. But it is impossible to avoid it altogether. What you must do is to learn to get back at once to the inner consciousness—this so long as you are not able to speak always from the inner being or at least with the inner being supporting the action. <ref>https://incarnateword.in/cwsa/31/speech-and-yoga#p3</ref>
  
  

Latest revision as of 11:18, 24 March 2022

Read more about Speech from the works of the Mother and Sri Aurobindo.

What Is Speech?

The organ of speech is an instrument of the physical mental or expressive externalising mind. [1]

Spiritual Speech

There is an eternal Truth which is eternally true, but which finds expression in definite forms, and these definite forms are changing, fluctuating; they may become distorted; and to have the truth one must always go back to the source, which is… it may be called the eternal word, that is, the creative Word. It is a truth which is eternal, which manifests itself through all possible words and ideas. I use “word” in a literary sense—it is what is called elsewhere the creative Word. It is the origin of all speech and all thought. [2]

Human speech at its highest merely attempts to recover by revelation and inspiration an absolute expression of Truth which already exists in the Infinite above our mental comprehension. [3]

Speech itself is an expression out of the silence. [4]

Importance of Control of Speech

Control of Speech

Mostly human speech and thought go on mechanically in certain grooves that always repeat themselves and it is not really the mind that controls or dictates them. [5]

A constant babble of words seems to be the indispensable accompaniment to daily work. And yet as soon as one makes an effort to reduce the noise to a minimum, one realises that many things are done better and faster in silence and that this helps to maintain one’s inner peace and concentration. One should always control the words one speaks and never allow one’s tongue to be prompted by a movement of anger, violence or temper. It is not only the quarrel that is bad in its results, but the fact of allowing one’s tongue to be used to project bad vibrations into the atmosphere; for nothing is more contagious than the vibrations of sound, and by giving these movements a chance to express themselves, one perpetuates them in oneself and in others.[6]

Cultivating Control of Speech

Many hours of silent concentration are needed to be able to speak usefully for a few minutes. Moreover, where inner life and spiritual effort are concerned, the use of speech should be subjected to a still more stringent rule and nothing should be said unless it is absolutely indispensable. [7]

One can talk, but with silence within and quietude in the speech. [8]


In fact, one should always do this, when he feels that he is caught by an impulse of some kind or other, particularly impulses of anger. If one takes as an absolute discipline, instead of acting or speaking (because speech is an action), instead of acting under the impulse, if one withdraws and then does as I said, one sits down quietly, concentrates and then looks at his anger quietly, one writes it down, when one has finished writing, it is gone—in any case, most often. [9]

In talking one has the tendency to come down into a lower and more external consciousness because talking comes from the external mind. But it is impossible to avoid it altogether. What you must do is to learn to get back at once to the inner consciousness—this so long as you are not able to speak always from the inner being or at least with the inner being supporting the action. [10]


Content curated by Arti Garg

Read more about Speech from the works of the Mother and Sri Aurobindo.

References