The Buddha taught the four types of negative actions in regards to speech. These are namely lying, divisive speech, harsh speech and idle gossip. Unknowingly, in some point of our lives, we all fall prey to these four negative ways of speech. However, it is never too late to realize and transform our negative speech patterns.  

Telling a lie may bring some short-term benefits. However, in the long run, one short lie changes himself. If one lies, the experience is that others will start to mistrust you and they no longer believe in your words. Also, if lying becomes habitual, we will then create the cause to be living amongst cheats, whether in this life or in our future lifetimes. Imagine the misery of living amongst cheats and not being able to trust your own family relations and friends. 

In Mahayana dharma, some lies are 'good' lies, depending on one's intention and motivation. For instance, if a rabbit is being hunted and is in imminent danger of being killed and you are asked by the hunter which direction it had scurried off to, would you tell the truth to save yourself from lying or tell a lie, to save a life? 

To lie and say that you have not seen the rabbit, with the motivation of saving its life, is a good illustration of a 'white' lie. Your motivation of saving the rabbit from certain death would be a positive one. 

The second type of negative speech is that of divisive speech, saying something that creates problems for others or which causes disharmony. In doing so, one creates the cause to be lonely, not having much support or friends, as well as robbing oneself of any chance to experience fulfilling and rewarding relationships with others. The physical manifestation of that karma would be for one to take rebirth in a rugged and unpleasant environment where even simple modes of communication are unavailable. For instance, imagine spending a lifetime on a remote island, lost and alone, after surviving an aeroplane crash or being reborn as a nomad in Tibet or Alaska! 

People appreciate gentle speech. Animals can feel gentle speech. Experiment with this on your pet dog or cat and see the immediate effects. However, we tend to fall prey to harsh speech.  

There are three types of harsh speech- in content or in tone, worst still sometimes both! Sometimes, people speak in a harsh tone to one another, though the content is not vindictive. Speaking in nice gentle tone but yet harsh in content is perhaps even more scary. Whether it is in content or tone or both, we must start to realize our speech pattern and start to transform oneself. The Buddha did not give dharma teachings in a harsh tone. When people presented difficulties for the Buddha, he just remained silent. Sometimes, silence can be deafening. However, in this age and time, some beings do not realize their shortcomings unless one is direct and hence when necessary, Lamas may speak directly or appear wrathful. 

As my Guru said, "if you want to be direct like me, make sure you are united with me, become me."  

The result of harsh speech is that people would speak badly or be abusive to you. Even when one tries to speak nicely, others may still interpret your intentions differently.  

Why do people use harsh speech? It is due to one's ego, intelligence and lack of patience. People who engage in harsh speech tend to be critical, hurtful and full of righteousness. It is when others do not understand as quickly as them or do things according to their perceived 'correct' way that they start making sarcastic criticisms. Hence, the karma of such negative speech will be one where nobody will interpret your actions as kind or nice. Also, when people are in need of your help, they will appear nice to you but when there is no need for your help, they will neglect you. The physical effect is to be reborn in an uncomfortable environment.  

Last but not least, idle gossip is the tendency for one to talk continuously and there is no peace when such a person is around as they cannot wait to hear the sound of their own voice! Engaging in idle chatter hence makes others not appreciate your words or opinion and nobody will hold such a person in high esteem. We must be more aware whether we fall prey to this sort of speech pattern as it is highly common in this fast-paced society of ours where many people are very lonely. The environmental effects for such people would be having little success in their endeavours and also that rain will come at the wrong time. 

Being aware of these negative speech patterns, one must 'look' within oneself to constantly assess and transform these habituations. In fully realizing our shortcomings, can one start to transform. Transformation takes hard work and skill.  

Fundamentally, we do not want to experience such negative speech, whether at work or at play, hence we must put effort into not falling prey to these speech patterns. When we do experience such negative speech from others, do not let your mind go wild but have compassion for such people. Pray that they be blessed to realise and transform, and realize that the best dharma-cultivated minds are protected from big emotional upheavals.