THREE TYPES OF TALKING – VEN. THAY THANH

Three Types of Talking:

Teaching in Virginia Beach, Venerable Thich Chuc Thanh shared this with the sangha: “There are three kinds of talking, dung, flower and honey.  Dung means you know, but say you don’t.  Flower means you know and say you know. Honey means you speak to bring benefit to others, to develop quality of life by talking directly to their heart.”

When we first heard this, the sangha was surprised by the descriptor for the first type of talking.  We had not heard that term used before in a dharma talk. Dung can be a fertilizer for the flower and the flower can be a source of nectar for the honey.  Our practice of Buddhism shows us how to move not only our words but also our thoughts and actions along the path from fertilizer to honey, from a lack of knowledge of the dharma to the mindfulness and compassion the dharma encourages us to practice in every aspect of life.

(Venerable Thich Chuc Thanh is the Dharma Master at Dong Hung Temple. This quotation is part of a continuing collection from his dharma talks given in Virginia Beach, VA and Southern Shores, NC beginning in 2015. The quotation title and commentary are by temple member Mark Palamara.)