Page 69 - The Buddha‘s Noble Eightfold Path

communication. We communicate, we talk, all the time; but
practically all the time, if not always, we fall short of this ideal.

Let us try to see what, according to the Buddha's teaching, this
Perfect Speech, or Ideal of Human Communication really is.

(1) The Level of Truthfulness
First of all Perfect Speech, or ideal communication, is truthful.

We all think we know exactly what is meant when it is said that
all speech should be truthful. We have been told since we were
two years old not to tell a lie, like George Washington. But do we

really know what is meant by speaking the truth? Have we
considered all the implications? Speaking the truth does not

mean just adhering to factual accuracy, saying that this cloth is
yellow and that that is a microphone. The concept of
truthfulness is not exhausted in this way. Factual accuracy is, of

course, important. It is one of the elements of truthfulness, and
we cannot dismiss it; but it is not the whole.

Those of you who know your Boswell will remember that famous
remark of Dr. Johnson about factual truthfulness. He remarks

that if your children say that something happened at one
window, when in fact it happened at another, then they should

be instantly checked, because Dr. Johnson adds, you do not
know where deviation from truth will end.

Thus factual truthfulness is important. It is the basis or
foundation of Perfect Speech. Recognizing this, we should

accustom ourselves to what Johnson calls 'accuracy of narration'
which is a sort of training ground for us in the higher, more
refined kinds of truthfulness.

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