Understanding the Amazing Power of Words

We have been given a magical power - the words we speak. Most use this power carelessly or unconsciously. They are not aware of the enormous consequences of what they say. Most people don’t realize the power of the words they speak and the words they listen to. Much speech arises compulsively and unknowingly causes harm. So many live with remorse not being able to take back harsh words they have said.

Words can become a source of blessings or curses, health and inspiration, depression and destructiveness.. There are many aspects to communication, we can speak to discharge anxiety, to control others, or to seek approval.. Words can be spoken to deceive or disarm, confuse and discourage. Then endless difficulties can arise. Some use language to cover up, hide or make a false impression or otherwise manipulate. But, what we say and hear can come back to haunt us in all kinds of ways. With our words, we can build a world, or we can tear it down.

If we stop for a moment and look into our own lives it is easy to see how a simple word spoken to us has had the power to either destroy our day, or to give us hope and the ability to go on. Words are so powerful that it is said that if you say something three times it is a vow.

A healthy life and healthy relationships are built upon trust. Unless an individual is good to his word, faith, integrity and trust cannot be established. We must also be able to trust ourselves. Unless we learn how to live our word, to walk our talk, our world and the world of those we interact with will be steeped in chaos.

Because words are so powerful, it is useful to go through our days maintaining awareness of what we are saying and hearing, and refraining from lies, gossip and deception of all kinds. As we do so, enormous changes in our lives take place, all kinds of unexpected doors open.

Getting Caught in the Trap

From the Zen point of view, there are inherent dangers in language itself. We can get caught in words, beliefs, thoughts and images, and before we know it, mistake our ideas about reality for reality itself. We confuse the images we have of a person, for the actual person herself. This is the root cause of so much upset and disappointment in relationships. After a while, when our fantasies about a person fade, we are faced with the reality of who the person is, and this is when trouble often begins.

We have all kinds of ideas about who we are and who we should be. The self-hatred so many feel comes from the discrepancy between their ideal self and the truth of who they are at that point in time. It is important to wipe the slate clean., to live with the direct truth and take power away from our endless fantasies. We must take focus away from words and thoughts and put it on reality. Reality endlessly nourishes and sustains us. Fantasies and delusions do not.

No matter how mindful we are of our language, no matter how much we live up to our promises, the full truth can never be encompassed in words. Don't confuse the finger pointing to the moon with the moon itself. Words are the finger, and the moon itself is beyond description, but, when you live with strength and reality, right there for you to touch.