Speech is the last and the highest amongst the faculties that have evolved in human beings. It has two aspects, sound and word. The impact of sound is always first, words and their meaning develop subsequently.
The first thing in control of speech is control of thoughts. One must spend sometime everyday watching over the thoughts, later one learns how to shift them.
To master the sound and rhythm it is good to expose the mind to beautiful music, mantras (especially the Gayatri) and to read good poetry. Poetry opens the mind and conditions it to a harmonious rhythm whereas high uplifting literature feeds the right kind of words.
It is good to speak little except for teaching purposes. Rest of the day, especially in our general interactions one should minimise talking and to a bare minimum as it drains a lot of energy and one receives lot of unwanted forces in the process of verbal interchange. Especially animated discussions are best avoided and speech should not be used to project anger, fear and other dark forces. As is evident, to develop speech as a beautiful instrument our inner state should be clean. Cultivating inner peace and calm is most helpful.
Self observation is the key to self mastery. It is important to observe one’s tone and not let it be governed by the unruly vital. The quality of speech is closely connected to the vital nature and the two go well together. It is always helpful to practice stepping back before speaking and avoid any kind of negative, critical comments except where indispensable. To talk ill of others is to increase the burden of negativity upon earth. Speech should be used to project the true, the good, the beautiful.
All this comes with practice. Especially the deeper we go into our being, the calmer we become and this naturally impacts every area of our life including speech.
Affectionately,
Alok Da
