Communication arises when a man wishes to say something to convey his inner feelings. There is an intent which is unexpressed within him which manifests as a thought in his mind. This thought expresses itself as an emotion showed by the eye or face or gestures and then the vocal speech or words are spoken out. We can see this in a baby who communicates well through his facial and body gestures and later on learns to speak language.
Syllables make up words and words have meanings. All syllables are sacred as they come from the Divine Vibration of the Universe. We must use words carefully as they have definite meaning and impact on the minds and bodies of others. We have been taught this from childhood and are drilled into the right usage of words. By the time we are adults, we have a good level of understanding of words and their impact and take care in using them.
Words express our inner feelings and thoughts. We do not have much control over our thoughts and our thoughts find their way of expression through the eyes, tone of voice, facial expressions, hand gestures and body language. However well we may use words, our inner feelings express themselves through our voice tones and body language. We convey less through our words and more through the tone of our voice and body language. We are not externally aggressive. But our anger and other feelings find their way through the tone of voice.
In the past, there was direct face to face communication. We also have voice communication through the telephone. We could see the hidden or masked feelings of the other persons and understand their feelings. Nowadays we use text messaging, sms, and internet communication. It is no longer face to face talk but the Facebook messages. The tone of the voice is well masked, but the intent of the person is not. Hence the feelings of love, anger, pain, disgust, vengeance etc all come through the way the words are expressed in black and white. The words written are socially appropriate and politically correct, yet we can feel the hostility simmering in them. Let us see a story about how important it is to say it the right way:
The king of the animals, the Lion lived in palace, which was a vast and smelly cave in a mountain. Once he called all his subjects to his court. The animals trooped in and were engulfed by a terrible nauseous smell. The bear could not breathe and held his nose. The lion noticed this and was offended. He gave the bear a blow which knocked him senseless.
The Lion turned to the monkey and asked: Does my court smell that bad? The monkey being a monkey tried to curry favour with the royal regent. He replied: Not at all your highness, I think your court smells like a jasmine garden. The Lion knew this was not possible and was angry with the monkey. He knocked him down senseless too.
The other animals began to quietly slink out of the cave. The fox too followed all others. The Lion saw this and caught the fox by his tail and pulled him back. Baring his teeth at the fox, he asked: Tell me, does my court smell? The fox forced a loud sneeze and replied carefully: Your Majesty, I have a terrible cold. I cannot smell a thing so I cannot tell you whether your court smells or not. Because of his clever reply, the fox was awarded an important post in the court of the Lion.
Most of our problems in life would get solved if we learned to communicate in the right way. In order to communicate rightly, we should learn to express our feelings without hostility or rancour. There will always be differences of opinion between people. This does not make anyone good or bad nor give us right to dominate or insult the other person in any way. At the basic level, we must learn to use the right words to communicate well and at the most subtle level, we must rid ourselves of anger, lust, greed, attachment, envy and pride so that when we speak, our inner selves reflect peace and purity. It is very important to check how we say the words when we communicate.
