So, now for more about the first the four misdeeds related to our speech. As I said in ‘Tell the truth’  in yoga when we get to vishuddhi or our throat chakra I always remind myself to let go of any unhelpful speech, speech which is NOT.....

• truthful, 
• inclusive 
• kind
• meaningful

I also remind myself to check in with my wise self before I speak . that way my speech will be truthful, inclusive, kind and meaningful.

I also try to be aware of my internal speech and check in with my wise self to replace any untrue critical, unkind thoughts with positive, kind encouraging ones. A work in progress.

So as I said this chakra relates to speech and we will explore more about the first of these four misdeeds related to speech, as Lama Marut puts it is........

4. Don't lie - tell the truth.
I mentioned I was tempted to lie, or give someone an impression different from the one I have, when I feel bad about having something that someone else doesn't have.

Another time I am tempted to lie is when I don't want to hurt people's feelings by telling the truth. It's not good karmically to hurt another's feeling or to lie so what do we do? We employ skilful means which is an artful dance between the two.
 
Lama Marut reminds us we can be creative about finding something which is truthfully positive to say about something we don't like, to avoid hurting someone's feelings. His example of how to respond to 'how do you like my purple polka dot, polyester dress from K-mart?' question sticks in my mind. I can hear him saying 'you can always find something nice to say about the damned dress’. His suggestions include 'It fits well' or 'I like the purple colour' or even 'you got it for a great price'. Checking into our wise selves for what to say is always helpful.

Lama Marut tell us that under some very rare circumstances lying to protect the welfare of another person it is ok to lie. The example he gives is when hiding Jews from the Gestapo. He tells us there will still be a karmic consequence for telling a lie, regardless of the fact that it has a good intention. However, the karmic consequences for telling a lie under these circumstances will be minor when compared to being a party to someone's harm or death. 

Sometimes we all find it tricky to tell the truth and think telling a fib or white lie will be best to avoid embarrassment or implication.  A silly example I can remember as a kid is - 'It wasn't me!.... who farted, took the last lolly, or left the mess', when I knew it was me.

Remembering that each time we tell a lie, no matter how so called small, we are creating the karmic causes for perceiving that others do not believe or trust us and that others are lying to us, helps me to try and always be truthful.
Consequently telling the truth will see us experiencing others as truthful and people believing and trusting us.  

Remembering too we are human and at times we will behave in ways which are not truthful. When this happens rather than using blame or victimisation of self and others, we can take responsibility for our misbehaviour and do our 5 forces practice to make amends and create peace of mind. Forgiving ourselves and others and being kind and encouraging to all with our speech is the way to go!

With love, appreciation and very best well wishes to us all 
Maree xx

Having covered the misdeeds related to the body. We are up to the first of the misdeeds related to speech. So a quick misdeed of the body review .......

1. Don’t kill - Protect and honour life 
2. Don’t steal – Treat other people’s things with respect and practice generosity.
3. Don’t hurt others with your sexual activity – Respect and foster others’ relationships.  

So, now to the first of the four misdeeds related to our speech, (Number 4 of our list of ten). In yoga these relate to our throat chakra or vishuddhi. In Pom yoga we do a chakra based practice clearing out the ignorant energy at the different chakras and getting the energy of wisdom flowing freely, so we know what to say to whom and when. At vishuddhi I always remind myself to let go of any unhelpful speech, speech which is NOT.....

• truthful, 
• inclusive 
• kind
• meaningful

I also remind myself to check in with my wise self before I speak for speech which is truthful, inclusive, kind and meaningful. I also try to be aware of my internal speech and check in with my wise self to replace any untrue, critical or unkind thoughts with positive kind encouraging ones. A fun work in progress.
So as I said this chakra relates to speech and the four misdeeds related to speech. The first of these four as Lama Marut puts it is........

4. Don't lie - tell the truth.
I can be thankful to my Mother for instilling this into me as a child and throughout my life. Honesty was her big thing and she certainly had no hesitation in calling us out when were not being entirely truthful. Being dishonest can get us in lots of strife as I was reminded by watching "Brigette Jones Baby" and the 'who was the father debacle?' she got herself into! And the ‘liar, liar pants on fire’ saying. 

However, it was Lama Marut who helped me to really understand what it means to lie. He says 'lying means giving someone an impression different from the one that you have.'  This definition means that if we think something is one way and we give a different representation of the situation to someone else then we are lying. 

I was thinking about this, this morning when I caught myself about to give a different impression to what I was experiencing. I have remained in Townsville this week and plan to spend some time writing, reading, relaxing and exercising. The truth is it is so beautiful here and I am having a lovely relaxing time and am not bothered by the heat and humidity.  What I was about to tell my friend who is in cold Melbourne going through a tricky time was that it was hot, steamy and uncomfortable.

When I questioned myself as to why I was tempted to lie, I thought it was probably about feeling a little guilty about being where I love. I am reminded of something I heard Lama Marut teach. My understanding of it goes something like this - Just because you have something (a lovely relaxing recharge) does not mean that you are preventing someone else from having it. So, I have decided to be grateful for this break and to enjoy it. And to dedicate my happiness and good fortune to be here to the happiness of others. 

By giving someone a false impression of what is really going on for us we are imprinting our consciousness negatively. The karmic consequence of lying is that we will have the perception of being lied to by others. In addition, we will experience others not believing us even when we are telling the truth. Reminiscent of the story of the 'Boy who cried wolf'.

Remember not to give yourself a hard time and to instead make your speech to yourself and others truthful, kind and encouraging! Remember also when we slip up we have the five forces and forgiving ourselves and others. We'll explore more about this first misdeed of speech next blog. 

With love, appreciation and very best well wishes to us all 
Maree xx
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