Dhamma Principles › The Discourse on What Is Heard: Seen or Heard Isn't Reason Enough to Say It
The Discourse on What Is Heard: Seen or Heard Isn't Reason Enough to Say It
Everyday life

The Discourse on What Is Heard: Seen or Heard Isn't Reason Enough to Say It

Sutasuttaṃ

The brahmin Vassakāra held that there's no fault in speaking of what one has seen or heard. The Buddha replies that not everything should be spoken and not everything should be withheld; the measure is whether speaking makes wholesome or unwholesome states grow.

5 points

In the Suta Sutta, in the Yodhājīva Chapter of the Book of Fours of the Aṅguttara Nikāya, while the Buddha is staying at the Bamboo Grove near Rājagaha, the brahmin Vassakāra, chief minister of Magadha, comes to see him and states his view: whoever speaks of what they have seen, saying "This is what I saw", or of what they have heard, saying "This is what I heard", or of what they have sensed or cognised, there is no fault in that.

The Buddha says he does not say that everything seen should be spoken, nor that everything seen should not be spoken; and likewise for what is heard, sensed and cognised.

The measure he gives is this: when speaking of something makes unwholesome states grow and wholesome states decline, it should not be spoken. When speaking of something makes unwholesome states decline and wholesome states grow, it should be spoken. Vassakāra approves of what was said and departs.

  1. 1

    The view that there's no fault in speaking what you know Natthi tato doso

    Vassakāra held that whoever speaks of what they have seen, heard, sensed or cognised, as they know it, incurs no fault. The Buddha neither rejects this wholesale nor accepts it wholesale, but makes distinctions.

    Applying it in daily life

    Notice whether you've ever used "But it's true" as a reason to say something that hurts someone.

  2. 2

    Not everything seen should be spoken, nor everything withheld Nāhaṃ brāhmaṇa sabbaṃ diṭṭhaṃ bhāsitabbanti vadāmi

    He says: I do not say that everything seen should be spoken, nor that everything seen should not be spoken. This answer sets no rigid rule that you must say everything or stay silent about everything.

    Applying it in daily life

    When you witness something at work or among friends, don't rush to decide whether to tell or keep it. Pause for one beat and think first.

  3. 3

    If speaking makes the unwholesome grow, don't speak Akusalā dhammā abhivaḍḍhanti kusalā dhammā parihāyanti

    When speaking of something seen makes unwholesome states grow and wholesome states decline, he says that such a thing seen should not be spoken, even if it really was seen.

    Applying it in daily life

    Before recounting something you witnessed, ask whether it will stir up more anger, envy or division.

  4. 4

    If speaking makes the wholesome grow, speak Akusalā dhammā parihāyanti kusalā dhammā abhivaḍḍhanti

    When speaking of something seen makes unwholesome states decline and wholesome states grow, he says that such a thing seen should be spoken.

    Applying it in daily life

    If you see a friend about to be cheated, or someone's goodness that others overlook, say so clearly.

  5. 5

    The same measure for what is heard, sensed and cognised Evaṃ me sutanti

    The same measure is repeated for what is heard, what is sensed (through nose, tongue and body) and what is cognised (by the mind). It doesn't depend on how you came to know it, but on whether speaking makes the wholesome or the unwholesome grow.

    Applying it in daily life

    Put second-hand news and messages forwarded in group chats through the same test before you pass them on.

Try it in daily life

Vassakāra's way of thinking is everywhere: "I saw it with my own eyes," "That's really what people are saying," as if truth alone were reason enough to say or share anything.

This discourse adds one more question after "is it true?": what does saying it make grow — in my own mind, in the listener's, and in the relationships of those involved?

At the same time, the discourse doesn't teach silence about everything. Truths that help people stop doing wrong, beware of danger, or understand each other better should be spoken.

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