4 Principles Of Communication, According To Buddhism

Buddhism states that there are four principles of communication that must be preserved to achieve harmony between human beings. In his approach, such precepts are not mandates as such, but guidelines that should only be followed when what motivates us is a genuine desire to maintain good relationships with others.

With the four principles of communication, what is sought is greater clarity and respect in our relationship with others. Human beings use speech to make our ideas, feelings and emotions known. When we do it correctly, we gain better understanding of us and raise the quality of our relationships.

For Buddhists, the four principles of communication are: truthfulness, kindness, usefulness, and harmony. Each of them is intended to make our expression more fluid and valuable. Likewise, they all demand conscience and work. Let’s look at this in more detail.

1. Truthfulness

The first of the principles of communication is truthfulness. It is a more complex concept than it seems at first glance. To be truthful is to conform to the truth  or reality. The problem is that we do not always know that truth or that reality, because on many occasions we also deceive ourselves.

Therefore, to be truly truthful, we first have to do an exercise in honesty with ourselves. If each one does not tell himself the truth, he will not be able to tell it to the others either. Likewise, one can only be truthful when speaking from the heart, with the intention of expressing  and not with any other interest.

2. Kindness, one of the principles of communication

There is a big difference between being sincere  and being crude, inconsiderate, or disrespectful. Respect and consideration for the other are fundamental conditions for healthy and enriching communication to take place. There are many difficulties that are caused by the disrespectful expressions that sometimes accompany communication.

Anger and fear are actually expressions of the ego. In turn, the ego sometimes leads us to act in an imposing or disrespectful way towards others. In such cases, the ego speaks and not the heart. Often times, this leads to a chain of difficulties with others and takes the peace of our lives, unnecessarily. Better to speak only when we are at peace with ourselves.

3. Utility

Buddhists insist on the importance of learning to value silence. For many, it is an empty space, which must be filled as soon as possible. Buddhism sees it as the natural space for listening, either from oneself or from others. Without listening, there can be no communication, since it must always go both ways.

Talking just to talk is an expression of anguish that very often leads to devaluing the word. Unprofitable words prevent true communication from breaking through.

What they do do is wear down the mind and impoverish relationships with others. It is also very usual that they nurture the most banal emotions that we carry within us.

4. Harmony

The last of the principles of communication, according to Buddhists, is harmony. For them, words are only justified when they are a way to nurture goodwill and peace between people. Any message that does not have that purpose only contributes to generating misunderstandings or negative feelings among human beings.

Harmonious communication is also one that chooses the clearest and most concise words to make its message known. The detours, the subtleties and the unnecessary embellishments generate noise in the communication. They do not promote understanding, but very often lead to confusion and the central messages are diluted.

All of these principles of communication can be a bit strange to Westerners. Finally, note that we live in a culture in which it is increasingly difficult to keep silent. We receive a constant bombardment of information, so the strange thing has become the absence of noise.

The most unsettling thing about this is that we go through times when most communication is devoted to completely banal matters. This not only affects our inner harmony, but it also limits our thinking and makes us less and less able to express and listen. The word has blurred its value, and perhaps that is what has led us to so much unrest in the world.