The Four Communication Principles Of Buddhism

Buddhism claims that the four principles of communication for Buddhism must be preserved in order to achieve harmony between people. This approach does not involve “bidding” per se, but instead suggests some patterns to follow when you have a genuine desire to have healthy relationships with other people.

The goal of the four communication principles is to achieve greater clarity and respect in your relationships. People use speech to introduce their own ideas, feelings, and moods to others. When you do it right, people can better understand you and consequently improve your relationship with them.

For Buddhists, the four principles of communication are truth, kindness, utility, and peace. Each of them aims to make conversations more valuable and meaningful. However, they require awareness and work.

1. Truthfulness

The first principle of communication is truthfulness. It’s a more complex concept than it seems at first. To be truthful actually means to stick to reality when one speaks. The problem is that people do not always know what the truth is; sometimes they can lie to themselves.

Therefore, to speak the truth, you must do an honesty exercise with yourself. If you can not tell what is true and what is not, you will not be able to be truthful with anyone else. Keep in mind that it is easier to do so if you speak from the heart, with the intention of expressing your ideas and without other interests in mind.

2. Kindness, one of the communication principles of Buddhism

There is a big difference between being sincere and being mean, considerate or disrespectful. Respect and consideration are fundamental for healthy and enriching communication to take place. Disrespectful expressions can lead to endless difficulties in maintaining a nourishing exchange.

On the other hand , anger and fear are expressions of ego, which can lead you to treat others brutally. In these cases, the ego speaks instead of the heart. This often leads to a chain reaction of difficulties and takes peace away from your life. Thus, it is better to make sure that you are at peace with yourself before you speak.

Usefulness is important for Buddhism

Buddhists insist on the importance of learning to value silence. For many, silence is a void they must fill right away. Buddhism, however, considers it a natural space where you can listen to yourself and others. Without listening, there can be no communication; it is a two way street.

Speaking just to do so is an expression of anxiety that strips away the value of words and prevents good communication from happening.

However, it wears down the mind and damages the relationship with other people. It also makes the most trivial feelings feel bigger than they really are.

4. Fred

The last principle of communication for Buddhism is peace. Buddhists say that words are only justified when they aim to preserve peace between people. Each message with a different goal only helps to create misunderstandings or negative feelings in people.

Friendly communication also chooses the clearest and most concise words to express a message. Avoiding sentences, subtleties and unnecessary words only create noise. It discourages understanding and instead leads to confusion and dilutes the message.

All communication principles may seem a little strange in Western culture because it becomes more difficult to keep quiet in it. There is a constant display of information that makes the absence of noise a very strange thing.

The most disturbing fact of it all is that we as a society are going through a time where most of the communication focuses on completely unimportant issues. This not only affects our inner peace, but also limits our thinking as individuals and makes us less able to express ourselves and listen to others. Words no longer have the same value and that is perhaps what has made the world so difficult.