You know the answer to that. Do not pretend that this is just about physical injury. You know it is not.thepea wrote: ↑Sun Aug 14, 2022 12:01 amI’m asking if speech is violent?KathyLauren wrote: ↑Sat Aug 13, 2022 12:06 pmYou cannot hurt the feelings of someone who is fully enlightened and is in full mastery of their emotions.
We are told to use only RIght Speech for the benefit of those who are not fully enlightened and not in full mastery of their emotions. Right Speech is a demonstration and practice of compassion.
Saying that other people's feelings are solely their business and not my responsibility is a demonstration of lack of compassion. You practice Right Speech in order to improve your own awareness and to stop creating your own bad kamma.
Kathy
Even in the unenlightened, is it the sound that comes out of my mouth that hurts them? or the arrangement of letters on a screen that hurts them?
Am I even the slightest bit responsible for their hurt? Or is this 100% their own doing?
Excluding of course if I yelled into ones ear and caused hurt to the eardrum from decibel level.
You know that the people you are talking to are unenlightened. (Don't quibble about lack of certainty. You know it.) You know that the words you speak will cause them to experience hurt. Sure, IF they were enlightened, they would not experience it that way, but you know that they are not enlightened and will experience it that way. A chain of events set in motion by your unkindness.
Whether or not you injure someone else with wrong speech, your lack of compassion in uttering it injures yourself. This is why the Buddha taught Right Speech.
Kathy