The Magic of Speech

I assure you that I am in no way a magus when it comes to the facility of speech, just a feeble learner, who realizes the scope of the topic: its depth profundity, and in compassable scope of what can be learned. However I decided to write a post because it has always bothered me how little control I have over my facilities of speech, its esoteric aspect so to speak. I have recently realized that speech has the ability to manifest wondrous things, but if not - it can be an anathema to its bearer, hollering a reality that becomes not a garden, but a necropolis of demise. Many of a relationship has been destroyed over words...


Something can be done about it! And this is our inheritance as beings who have at least theoretically been endowed with the gift of culture. A diamond spending all its time in the dirt will never become any dirtier. Therefore, the gems of cultures, spent too much time in the lower strata of political incompleteness and incompetence, the "street" of what society has to offer do not become any less in value. In principle - more. And in practice, well that is what makes the gems what they are - it is their inherent value and that has been accepted for fact for several thousands of years.


When we speak, utter words, it is so not easy to think at least once about the subject matter and its consequences for the both parties. There is a lot of "casual talk" happening every day, and anything that comes out in the media becomes more and more reminiscent of the casual talk  elevated to the point of worship. The gossip is god it seems. But I do no think that this is the same god who have been proclaimed as the speaker of what was to become the 1st word. Remember? First there was the word. I am definitely not the one to analyze the depth and the historical value of this statement, controversial in many ways, but coming from rather esoteric traditions I would say that the word is a vibration of sound, and with that we vibrate. Not just our bodies and minds. But also the outside - sending out that wave of sound-intention.
Some things to be considered when speaking are these:


1) What is the subject of your speech?
2) Who or what is the addressee?
3) What is your intention?
4) What are the characteristics of your speech:
its sound level, pitch, texture?
5th and probably most important from these, "Would you listen to yourself?"


Let's give a few moments to analyze the five.


1) Seemingly the most simple yet most complicated. What are you talking about? Is your speech coherent? Are sentences connected into a logical wholeness or are you off speaking about 3 different topics thinking that by that you are killing 3 birds with one stone?
2) Who are you addressing your speech to? What is the character of the people who are your current listeners? Are they your peers? Older/younger? Male or Female? Are they more savvy in the topic of your choice or are the newcomers on the scene? Are they really listening to you? If not, then what can be done to capture their attention (considering it needs to be captured)?
3) What are you intending to pass on to your listener? Why are you even saying what you are saying? Are you just feeling talkative today? Or may be you are speaking because it is your job - say, a college professor? Of course, these usually have the greatest excuse to speak - they are lecturing. And some should definitely be lecturers. However, many shouldn't. Also, what is the quality of knowledge that you are transferring, its worth?
4) How do you sound? Are you pleasant to those who have supposedly the pleasure of listening to you? Are you using a lot of rough words? Cussing? What is your state of being for the moment. Go into a deep meditation and say to yourself what you are at the moment. For example, "I am strong, confident, sure". "I am light of knowledge", "I am a rainbow of skills!" Etc. May be that is not what you are feeling, then just say "I don't feel very good", "I am scared of something", or " I am tired" With that you are placing yourself on the scale, you are being self-conscious, and you don't have to fool yourself about various topics. And if you have to speak, you just take a few deep breaths and do it despite the odds.
5) Finally, with all that in mind, would you listen to yourself? I mean really, how would you react to yourself physically? For example to your body posture, to your eyes, to your gestures, etc? Are you repulsed/attracted? Would you be paying attention to yourself the way you are now?


With all that in mind one I am sure enters into a very interesting labyrinth of dilemmas. And there is probably no one answer, it is a search. However, I guess the difference between the speech that has nothing in it, and that has everything in it is awareness that the speaker is bringing to his or her listener. By that I mean not just the informative value, but aesthetical, without which it is no fun,(an overused word) and no beauty. I would place aesthetical value even before the informative, as in for example of the news media - there is a lot of information, but there is very little aesthetical value.
So, to get back to my original point - one has to think about what they are saying - in time and space this word means a lot, and fighting with words is same or worse in some cases as fighting physically. We don't always need to fight reflexively, or as we have come to term it "we are not animals". Bu that is an insult to the animals, so let's not fight like humans.