Eighteen Talks on the Training of the Heart, by Phra Ajaan Lee Dhammadharo, translated by Thanissaro Bhikkhu

Eighteen Talks on the Training of the Heart, by Phra Ajaan Lee Dhammadharo, translated by Thanissaro Bhikkhu

An intelligent person knows how to use both good and evil without causing harm.

Arahants even know how to use their defilements so as to be of benefit. When sages use common language, it can serve a good purpose. But when fools use fine language, it can be bad. 

If they use bad language; it’s even worse.

An example of a person who used common language to serve a good purpose is Chao Khun Upālī (Siricando Jan).

One time he was invited to give a sermon in the palace during the weekly funeral observances for a young prince whose death had caused a great deal of sorrow to the royal relatives.

On the previous weeks, some very high-ranking monks from Wat Debsirin had been invited to give sermons and they had all gone on about what a good man the prince had been, and how sad it was that he had come to such an untimely end that prevented him from living on to do more good for the world. 

This had caused the relatives to cry all the more.

When it came Chao Khun Upālī’s turn to give a sermon, though, he didn’t carry on in the same vein at all. Instead, he started out with the theme of mindfulness of the body, describing the ugliness and foulness of the body, which is full of repulsive and disgusting things: snot, spit, dandruff, sweat, etc., etc.

‘When the body dies, there’s not one good thing about it,’ he said, ‘but people sit around weeping and wailing with tears streaming in tracks down their cheeks and mucus running out their noses and dribbling down to their chins.

With their faces all in a mess like this, they don’t look the least bit attractive.’

This made the relatives who had been crying so embarrassed that they stopped crying immediately, after which they expressed a great deal of admiration for Chao Khun Upālī and his sermon.

This is why it’s said that a person who uses a sharp tongue with skill is a great sage. If people are wise, then no matter what they say, it serves a good purpose because they have a sense of time, place, and the people they’re talking to.

If something will serve a purpose, even if it sounds unpleasant, it should be said.

If it won’t serve a purpose, even if it sounds pleasant, don’t say it.

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From Food for Thought: Eighteen Talks on the Training of the Heart, by Phra Ajaan Lee Dhammadharo, translated by Thanissaro Bhikkhu
https://www.dhammatalks.org/books/FoodForThought/Contents.html

PDF: https://www.dhammatalks.org/Archive/Writings/Ebooks/FoodforThought_181215.pdf

About Tan Chao Khun Upālī Guṇūpamācariya
(March 20, 1857 ~ 19 July, 1932)
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Chao Khun Upālī Gunupamācariya (Jan Siricando), a childhood friend and monastic senior of Ajaan Mun's, was one of the highest ranking monks in Thailand in the early years of the 20th century.

Despite belonging to the ecclesiastical elites, Chao Khun Upālī did not share their distrust and contempt of Ajaan Mun and the Thai Forest Tradition. In fact, because he had recognized the admirable qualities and spiritual attainments of Ajaan Mun, he supported and stood up for him and his disciples, and even acted as the preceptor for two other disciples of Ajaan Mun widely regarded as arahants- Luang Pu Waen and Luang Pu Teu.

His courage to be truthful actually got him temporarily stripped of his title and placed under ‘monastery arrest’ for reportedly criticizing King Rama VI’s request that monks encourage their followers to donate money for a battleship for the Royal Thai Navy.

Ajaan Mun highly respected and praised Chao Khun Upālī, telling his close disciples that Chao Khun Upālī was an arahant with all the attainments it was possible to have. However, for all his accomplishments, Chao Khun Upālī was most well known for the excellence of his Dhamma teaching.

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From various sources, including the Wide Angle Lens site by Hāsapañño Bhikkhu. See  https://sites dot google dot com/site/wideanglewilderness/translations for translations of Chao Khun Upālī's teachings.  (Replace 'dot' with '.' to access the site as Facebook forbids its appearance in posts.)

N.B. Chao Khun Upālī was the preceptor and teacher of Somdet Mahawirawong (Tisso Uan) mentioned in the Autobiography of Ajaan Lee (See https://www.facebook.com/AjaanLee/photos/a.647987305261832/2675569449170264/)

Although Somdet Uan was one of the strongest ecclesiastical opponents of the Thai Forest Tradition and their two founders, Luang Pu Sao and Luang Pu Mun, he eventually became one of their most powerful supporters, in part due to what he witnessed of the transformative effect the Forest Tradition ajaans had had on the state of Buddhism in places where their monasteries were established, and also because he entered samadhi after receiving guidance from Ajaan Lee and could personally attest to the veracity of the Thai Forest Tradition's teachings.

Besides Ajaan Lee, Ajaan Singh Khantiyagamo (one of the first disciples of Ajaan Mun) and Ajaan Funn Ācāro (who became Rama IX's personal teacher) were two other senior Thai Forest ajaans who personally attended to Somdet Uan and guided his meditation practice.