Timeline for Is fourth precept personal and depends on the individual?
Current License: CC BY-SA 3.0
8 events
| when toggle format | what | by | license | comment | |
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| Dec 1, 2015 at 5:44 | comment | added | newbold | I think it's less about the asker/answerer, and more about the context of the question in general. But only the person providing the answer can know for sure if he or she is speaking falsely (and therefore breaking the precept). | |
| Dec 1, 2015 at 5:41 | comment | added | B1100 | If someone assumed it wrongly, for example, as a greeting then they will reply all those questions as a greeting as well, hence it's not lie. In the end does it really matter whether it's a serious, caring question or not? | |
| Dec 1, 2015 at 5:41 | comment | added | B1100 | Wait a minute. If the same answer can be deceiving in one situation but not in other situation that means it depends on the asker rather than the answerer. I think it's possible for the answerer to answer both questions from different people in the same manner, presumably the same intention as well. We can't know what is the purpose behind those questions, we just assume a stranger greets me, a family member greets me, etc., right? | |
| Nov 30, 2015 at 13:57 | comment | added | newbold | I completely agree. The question is most often asked as a form of greeting; rarely does the asker actually expect a serious reply. Better to just greet people with "hello" or "hi" than to ask a question that needn't be answered! | |
| Nov 30, 2015 at 10:28 | comment | added | B1100 | I'm starting to think "how are you" can be asked in a different manner as well. Some strangers on the street can ask "how are you" when we passed them by. Some other people such as our family member or best friend can also ask this kind of question but in a serious, caring manner. So I think the same answer can be deceiving in one context but not in the other context. But this is just my thought, please correct me if I'm wrong. | |
| Nov 29, 2015 at 16:37 | comment | added | newbold | The question "how are you" is so broad, that to answer it truthfully and throughly would take hours. It's OK to answer with a truthful statement, even if you choose to conceal some other piece of information that you'd rather not discuss. Some people consider concealing information to be a form of dishonesty, but whether that's the case or not is irrelevant in the eyes of the fourth precept, which is squarely focused on speech. So: answering the question truthfully is fine, even if you didn't answer it thoroughly. | |
| Nov 29, 2015 at 9:12 | comment | added | B1100 | Ok, so I guess it seems depend on the individual. The receiver of the food was not me but a monk who was offered food by someone. I don't know why he wanted to tell a lie when offered food. Regarding "I've been busy", what if the answer you really want to tell is "I'm not fine" but choose to answer "I've been busy", I guess there is a little dishonesty there, is that right? | |
| Nov 29, 2015 at 6:07 | history | answered | newbold | CC BY-SA 3.0 |