The tongue is a little member and boasteth great things. Behold, how great a matter a little fire kindleth!
—James, III, 5
The aspirant to spiritual progress needs to see the value of silence as soul-exercise. Theosophy warns, however, against the hypocrisy of observing silence outwardly and allowing the mind to be noisy and turbulent. So mind must be silent also—not in the sense of making it blank, empty and passive, open to any influence; but by bringing it to dwell on some great and noble idea. Concentration means coming together to a centre. The mishandling of the mind is one of the reasons why our civilization suffers from the misuse of speech. A petty or mean or rambling mind is bound to produce petty, mean and rambling words. Therefore silence in speech must be accompanied by rhythm in thinking.
The power of speech is creative and therefore holy. While it is true that in one sense "speech is a gift which comes only to the disciple of power and knowledge," speech of another type comes but too easily to the lips of all of us. One of the Mahatmas whose message H.P.B. brought to the world wrote that "each man is personally responsible to the Law of Compensation for every word of his voluntary production."
The abuse of speech manifests as: (1) cruel gossip; (2) obscene jest; (3) personal and curious prying; (4) idle talk.
It is a helpful and uplifting exercise to begin the keeping of silence by avoiding these evils. It does no good to an aspirant if after observing a regular period of silence he indulges in any of these sins against speech. Therefore to curb and control the tongue against cruel, obscene, curious or idle talk is the first step. Unless we recognize these as spiritual sins, hours of silence will neither help us nor benefit others.
Secondly, regularity in the observance of silence is a great aid. A few minutes every day at the same time are better than an hour every day at different times. Memory and attention thus get their training.
We will take it for granted that among students of Theosophy cruel gossip and obscene jest are impossible. Those who fall prey to them with Theosophical knowledge in their possession are facing greater spiritual catastrophes than they conceive.
But even students of Theosophy are known not to be altogether free from the third and the fourth classes of misuse of speech. Under the guise of interest in the welfare of another or of helping the cause and its workers, many slip into the sin of prying into other people's affairs. Personality has many avenues for expressing its separative and ahankaric tendencies, and prying into the personal affairs of others by enquiring, etc., is one of them. Talk about personalities, our own or other people's, is a serious danger, for there are few things which strengthen egotism as much as such talk does. To this the only exception of course is the genuine soul-helper who makes personal enquiries to energize friends, and makes such enquiries by mutual consent; in doing so, rules of Impersonality are invariably observed. In this as in all things the motive and the knowledge count. Do we ask personal questions for our own sake, or for the sake of others? The right to help and serve others comes with the growth of impersonality in us, and impersonality is born in us as personality is curbed and finally crushed.
Many are also apt to indulge in idle talk. For the best way to determine what talk is idle, the simple question should be put—"Is it necessary?" If that which is not necessary to say is said, it comes in the category of idle talk. When a thing is necessary to say, then further questions as to how to say it, when to say it, etc., arise. But how many times an answer in the negative to the simple question "Is it necessary?" saves us from pitfalls! Our better nature protects us against wicked speech; we must train ourselves further and obtain protection against useless speech.
To begin the fight against these four sins of speech is to prepare for real silence—for the self-imposition of periodic silence to give Mother Nature an opportunity to speak to us. At the present time, there is a general desire to sit for "meditation" and to practise "yoga," but the primary exercise to control the wagging tongue is found irksome and its desirability questioned. Without such control, however, soul-progress is well-nigh impossible.
You have, or it's as though you have, two selves: the lower self that usually governs you selfishly, and the higher self which stands ready to use you gloriously. You must subordinate the lower self by refraining from doing the not-good things you are motivated toward, not suppressing them but transforming them so that the higher self can take over your life.
All of us, all over the world, are cells in the body of humanity. You are not separate from your fellow humans, and you cannot find harmony for yourself alone. You can only find harmony when you realize the oneness of all and work for the good of all.
Only when you have relinquished all attachments can you be really free. Material things are here for use, and anything you cannot relinquish when it has outlived its usefulness possesses you. You can only live in harmony with your fellow humans if you have no feeling that you possess them, and therefore do not try to run their lives.
Work on relinquishing negative feelings. If you live in the present moment, which is really the only moment you have to live, you will be less apt to worry. If you realize that those who do mean things are psychologically ill, your feelings of anger will turn to feelings of pity. If you recognize that all of your inner hurts are caused by your own wrong actions or your own wrong reactions or your own wrong inactions, then you will stop hurting yourself.
—Peace Pilgrim