24 / 108 Gates of Dharma Illumination

[Shokai]

35 Quaint gate.jpg
一百八法明門
IPPYAKUHACHI-HOMYOMON
One Hundred and Eight Gates of Dharma-Illumination

[24] Veracity is a gate of Dharma-illumination; for [with it] we do not deceive gods and human
beings.

Oh what a web we weave when first we practice to deceive!!

Buddhist veracity centers on truthfulness as a core virtue, embodied in the Fourth Precept 'refraining from falsehood' and Right Speech, meaning speech that's honest, beneficial, and kind, not just factually correct. It emphasizes verifying teachings through direct experience, observation, and mindfulness, rather than blind faith, using perception and inferences.

Plain and Simple Right Speech and Intention!

How do you manage this one and How Does that make you feel??


合掌,生開
gassho, Shokai
stlah
仁道 生開 / Jindo Shokai
"Open to life in a benevolent way"

H

[Ryūdō-Liúdào]

For me, veracity mostly comes down to not bullshitting myself first. When I’m honest about what I’m actually feeling, wanting, or avoiding, it gets a lot easier not to mislead anyone else. Right Speech starts upstream.

In practice, that means speaking a little less, listening a little more, and checking whether what I’m about to say is true, necessary, and kind enough to let out into the world. This is an especially important one for me to practice, as I've always had a bit of the gift of gab and have a bit of an encyclopedia brain.

When I manage it well, though, there’s a noticeable ease. Fewer stories to maintain, fewer sentences to untangle. Just saying what’s so, as best I can, as simply as I can, and letting that be enough.

Gasshō,
流道-Ryūdō-Liúdào
Satlah

[Tenryu]

For me, veracity is less about clinging to fixed ideas of “truth” and more about careful attention to what is alive in a given situation. I try to notice what truth feels like in my own body and heart before I speak. Otherwise big words like “truth” and “lying” easily become abstract and confusing.

In practice, this shows up as Right Speech: speaking honestly, but also with care for timing, intention, and the other person’s capacity to hear. Truth without compassion can wound. Sometimes the most truthful response is silence, listening, or gently reflecting back, rather than saying everything I know.

I’ve also seen how untruth can arise from fear rather than malice, in myself and in others. Remembering that keeps me from becoming harsh or self-righteous. When I stay close to truth in this way, it feels grounding and freeing. There’s less effort involved, less need to protect an image. It feels simpler, and more honest, in the deepest sense.

Gasshō,
Patrick
st LaH

[Tairin]

Thank you Shokai

Many many years ago I learned that it is simpler to tell the truth than to maintain lies. It is just practical. With the truth you only need remember one “story”. With a lie you need to remember different versions of the story, which person knows what story, etc. Plus lies tend to compound themselves. It is exhausting and I have better things to do with myself.

Of course there is also the approach where sometimes nothing needs be said.

Am I perfect at this? No but generally this has been my approach.


Tairin
sat today and lah

[dorgan]

This gate establishes veracity as instrumental: "with it we do not deceive gods and human beings." The concern is toward beings within the web of karmic relationships. By naming both gods and humans, the Gate encompasses the entire field of relational accountability. One cannot hide deceptive speech even from the most refined witnesses; veracity must be complete. Veracity functions as a gate because false speech obscures dharma-illumination in multiple registers. First, it creates karmic obscuration: deceptive speech is an action (karma) that produces consequences, binding the speaker more tightly in delusion. False speech leads to rebirth, loss of trust, and entanglement in increasingly complex webs of deception. False speech distorts the dharma field itself. When a practitioner deceives others, they corrupt the sangha, mislead fellow seekers, and potentially cause others to lose faith in the teaching. A person who habitually deceives others simultaneously reinforces patterns of self-deception. Speech and thought interpenetrate; the mouth that lies regularly trains the mind in falsification. Veracity as practice therefore purifies both outward expression and inward disposition. Veracity is not achieved once but maintained continuously through vigilant awareness of one's speech and its effects.

gassho, david
stlah

[Seikan]

Not to oversimplify, but this Gate speaks to me of simple truthfulness in speech, actions and intentions towards others. It is the more outward-facing of the pair of 24th and 25th Dharma Gates. If we keep our intentions, speech and actions truthful, they don't leave a heavy residue behind to weigh us down. That is, they "burn clean" so to speak and leave minimal traces. By being less than truthful with others, we create baggage of guilt, fear, regret, etc. that can weigh heavy on our minds for a long time.

FWIW, the SZTP translation of this Gate is "Truth" instead of "Veracity", which seems synonymous enough. Interestingly though, our next Gate (the 25th, already posted) to consider from the Nishijima translation is that of "Truth". Same, yet different? Maybe . . . We'll find out soon enough, right?

Gassho,
Seikan
stlah

[Choujou]

I’m in sales, and as we all know, salesmen are known for honesty…

But seriously… this one is important to me and has been for my whole life even before coming to Zen. Honesty and being truthful is a core character trait that everyone should encourage within themselves. I liked what Seikan said about the truth burning clean, and how lying or deceiving creates heavy baggage. We convolute what would be simple truthfulness with a maze and web of deceit and misdirection, more deceit to cover the deceit… and it compounds. It gets heavy on the heart. Veracity keeps
you light!

I am the most honest sales person you will ever meet. I make it a point to be. I also am honest in my personal life and with all those in my life, to the best of my ability. I know I’m not perfect, but I try to correct when I realize it. While veracity is important, I feel that the kindness part of this gate should not be forgotten. It is possible to be “brutally honest”, which sometimes has its place I suppose, but most of the time I feel is not necessary. We can be both honest, and kind in how we deliver the message.

I also like what Tairin said about silence. Sometimes being honest doesn’t require words… as well as what Ryūdō-Liúdào said about being honest with yourself first. I agree… otherwise everything else is not rooted in veracity to begin with.

Gassho,
Choujou

sat/lah today

PS- in my experience, the best sales people are the honest ones…

[Chikyou]

Once again I wrote my response to this gate before reading everyone else’s, and went in something of a different direction. I wholeheartedly agree with everything that has been said here (and I would add that once I started working on not deceiving myself in many things, life got a lot easier in many ways! Truth is an important foundation, mentally, spiritually, emotionally, relationally and physically).

Here’s my response that I wrote before reading the others:

One of the things that I love about Buddhism is that it doesn’t require or even ask for blind faith. I’ve had plenty of experience with religion where I had to profess certain beliefs in order to take part (things that I didn’t believe myself). I felt like I was faking it much of the time. There’s nothing to fake or pretend in Buddhism.

Gassho,
SatLah,
Chikyō