As this current and next generation of David Lynch-TM'ers take the helm from us TM elders as we rotate out of the front lines in the next few years may be this more honest iteration of the sweet-truth hymn could become the new TM prayer that gets said before meals and invoked before meetings instead of that old Saha Nav version the elder administration is currently so fond of keeping in place. Just might help and encourage people to rise up to new levels of integrity that the TM movement has not necessarily been known for. As our south American christian FFL member says here, “Think of that.” There is hope and our hope for good is in the new generation, -Buck
This “Speak the Sweet-truth” thing is real interesting to look back at. Like the bending in our TM translation and repeating of the Saha Nav hymn to a cultural end. Cardmeister worked that over a while ago here. It was kind of shocking seeing the translation then to discover a manipulation in what was a scriptural hymn. Seems to explain a lot about the old culture of TM inside. That culture now seems to be changing as TM gets run more openly by committee processes based more practically on merit and less by an authoritarianism in theocratic feelings about people and things. In watching it seems the Prime Minister of the Global Country is still proly the most powerful authoritarian left of the old guard. Saha Nav, -Buck May be Yahoo could adapt this in to their yahoo-groups guidelines: satyam bruyat, priyam bruyat speak the truth, speak sweetly na bruyat satyam apriyam | don't speak truth in an unloving way priyam ca nanritam bruyat don't speak untruth in a pleasant way esha dharmah sanatanah || this is the eternal law Paul, you may appreciate the dissonances in the TM Saha Nav hymn too. Cardmeister worked that over in translation too. See these, http://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/FairfieldLife/conversations/messages/342542 http://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/FairfieldLife/conversations/messages/342542 this link to the Saha Nav post by Cardemaister fra Finland about the more proper translation of the TM Saha Nav hymn:http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/message/302944 http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/message/302944 In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, <psimdars@...> wrote: This verse is from the Manu Smriti (4.138): Original translation: satyaM brUyAt priyaM brUyAt speak the truth, speak sweetly na brUyAt satyam apriyam | don't speak truth that is unpleasant priyaM ca nAnRRitaM brUyAt don't speak untruth that is pleasant eSha dharmaH sanAtanaH || this is the eternal law the Literal translation is: truth speak, lovingly speak don't speak truth unloving lovingly untruth don't speak this is law eternal My "enhanced" translation" satyam bruyat, priyam bruyat speak the truth, speak sweetly na bruyat satyam apriyam | don't speak truth in an unloving way priyam ca nanritam bruyat don't speak untruth in a pleasant way esha dharmah sanatanah || this is the eternal law I'm certain that the shloka is talking about how to speak the truth not the quality of the truth itself. That is, it's not the truth that is to be sweet or not, truth is truth.. but it is HOW you say it that is the rule. the key word you in the first three lines is "priyam" this is derived from the word "prem" which means love, so I feel it is appropriate to translate "priyam" as "lovingly", although "sweetly", "pleasantly" are not far off. But I have to emphasize that this shloka doesn't not say that one should, under any circumstances, not tell the truth, but it is guiding one to say the truth in a pleasant way. The truth must be told ("satyam eva jayate" truth alone triumphs) "ca" means "and" (used very differently in Sanskrit than English / not a connective word) "ritam" is another word for "truth" "nan" negation "no" or "not" "bruyat" means "speak" or "say" priyam ca nanritam bruyat don't speak a pleasant untruth The word "ca" echoes the repetitive logic from earlier line (meaning "don't") "nanritam" means "untrurth" "priyam" is used here to describe a way of speaking, not nature of the truth. Therefore it should mean "lovingly" The reason I think this is a fundamental issue is that people may feel that you should never tell someone something they don't want to hear. But that is not what it says. You can tell your friend that he didn't win the election or you can rub his nose in it and call him a loser. The fact (or truth) is the same but the way you say it is different. If you only tell people what they want to hear, you create "bubble mentality". People will live in a bubble they create because they only want to hear what they want to hear. That is NOT speaking the sweet truth as defined in the Manu Smriti.
