International Peace Day Talk 2026
September 21, 2026
Long Leaf Park
Thank you to founder Lynn Heritage, organizer Anna Mann, and all the speakers, artists, and musicians that have supported this celebration throughout the years.
It seems to me that there are two kinds of peace, different sides of the same coin. One side could be called the negative or “absent” side. That is when there is an absence of violence, war, or fear of violence. The other side of the coin could be called the positive or “present” side. That is when attitudes, institutions, and social structures that sustain a peaceful society or mindset are present.
But-as well you know-there are things that can breach both kinds of peace, leading to immense suffering, both physical and psychological. There is one particular type of breach that is fundamental. Let me explain by starting with a quote from the Chinese sage Lao Tzu.
“Watch your thoughts, they become your words; watch your words, they become your actions; watch your actions, they become your habits; watch your habits, they become your character; watch your character, it becomes your destiny.”
To narrow the focus for today, I want to zoom in on WORDS. When you don’t watch your words, they may become harmful, and harmful words can breach the peace. What are the qualities of harmful speech? Harmful Speech agitates the mind. Harmful speech damages trust and community. Harmful speech strengthens greed, hatred, and delusion. You know this. You see this at work all around today, particularly on social media. And the mitigation of relationships when you have engaged in harmful speech is extremely challenging. A Buddhist story underscores the difficulty of recovering from harmful speech. It’s called “Feathers in the Wind.”
The Story: A man gossiped maliciously about a respected town elder, spreading rumors that ruined the elder’s reputation. Realizing his wrong, the man went to a wise sage and asked how he could fix it. The sage told him, “Go home, cut open a pillow of feathers, and scatter the feathers from your roof into the wind. Then, go back and gather every single feather.” The man protested, “That’s impossible! The wind has blown them everywhere.” The sage replied, “Just like those feathers, your careless words have flown into the world. You can never take them back.”
The point, of course, is that words leave deep mental impressions and carry heavy consequences. Once spoken, idle chatter, slander, or cruelty cannot be easily undone. Thus, words are a type of action, no less an action than striking someone; they shape other people’s minds, communities, and one’s own habits of heart.
There is an antidote, however, to our tendency to speak harmfully. It is called “right speech.” Right speech means speaking in a way that is honest enough to be trustworthy, compassionate enough to be humane, and wise enough to be useful. The instructions for practicing right speech include a list of speech patterns from which we must abstain. The instructions include:
- Do not knowingly lie; become dependable in speech.
- Do not repeat words that alienate people; speak in ways that restore concord.
- Do not use speech as a weapon; use a tone that another person can genuinely hear.
- Do not speak merely to fill silence or stimulate agitation; speak when there is a worthwhile purpose.
This stance is very challenging to practice, and wisdom teachers have used various devices to help in this practice. One device asks us to envision the idea that our thoughts and words must pass through internal “gates” before they leave our body for the world, before we say them or write them. Another story emphasizes this:
A young student rushed up to a wise teacher and asked, “Master, do you know what I just heard about your friend?” The teacher raised a hand and stopped him, saying, “Before you speak, let us pass your words through gates of right speech.”
What, then, are the “gates of right speech?” There is a simple acronym that is a useful mnemonic device for this practice. It is called TANK.
The TANK acronym is a simple framework–the gates of speech– used to practice mindful or “right speech” by pausing and filtering your words before you speak. It helps ensure that communication is constructive, respectful, and necessary. Each letter stands for a specific filtering question–one of the “gates” through which your speech should pass.
T – Is it True? Ensure that what you are saying is accurate, factual, and not based on gossip or rumors.
A – Is it Appropriate? Consider the timing, setting, and audience. Is this the right environment or moment to bring this up?
N – Is it Necessary? Ask yourself if your words actually add value to the situation, or if they are simply filling the silence or venting.
K – Is it Kind? Evaluate the tone and intent behind your words. Are you speaking out of compassion, or out of anger, judgment, or spite?
If your intended speech doesn’t pass all four of these checks, it is usually best to reconsider saying or writing it, because it is probably not right speech.
Examples of real speech for consideration–right speech or not? For each example, consider: True, appropriate, necessary, and kind?
If we would have said three weeks ago that Joy Reid and Michelle Obama and Sheila Jackson Lee and Ketanji Brown Jackson were affirmative-action picks, we would have been called racist. But now they’re coming out and they’re saying it for us! They’re coming out and they’re saying, “I’m only here because of affirmative action.”Yeah, we know. You do not have the brain processing power to otherwise be taken really seriously. You had to go steal a white person’s slot to go be taken somewhat seriously. -Charlie Kirk. True, appropriate, necessary, and kind?
All right, every day ain’t going to be the best day of your life, don’t worry about that. If you stick to it you hold the possibility open that you will have better days. -Wendell Berry. True, appropriate, necessary, and kind?
Why would America would want immigrants from “all these shithole countries?” The U.S. should have more people coming in from places like Norway. -Donald Trump. True, appropriate, necessary, and kind?
Open up your mouth, boy, and eat these grits. You are from the south, and you will eat grits! -Steve Lee. True, appropriate, necessary, and kind?
And one last one to leave on: People usually consider walking on water or in thin air a miracle. But I think the real miracle is not to walk either on water or in thin air, but to walk on earth. Every day we are engaged in a miracle which we don’t even recognize: a blue sky, white clouds, green leaves, the black, curious eyes of a child—our own two eyes. All is a miracle. -Thich Nhat Hahn. True, appropriate, necessary, and kind?
TANK–True, appropriate, necessary kind. Can you repeat that with me? TANK–True, appropriate, necessary kind. Apply this to your speech, minimizing suffering for yourself and others. When your words become peaceful, your actions are more likely to become peaceful, your habits are more likely to peace-oriented, your character is more likely to be peaceful, and your destiny is more likely to be cloaked in peace.
So, then. Go in peace, serve in peace, and most importantly–speak and write peacefully using right speech.
Thank you.
Steve Lee