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If for good reason you don’t want to speak the truth, at least don’t tell a lie! Suppose you are meditating in a corner, believing you are hidden from sight. Your desire is that nobody know what you are doing.
But someone discovers you and calls out, “Hello! What are you doing?” And to hide the fact that you were meditating, you reply, “I was eating a banana.” To tell such a lie is unnecessary.
You could have replied, “I am busy now, and I don’t want to be disturbed.” This truthful statement is much better than even a little lie to shield from others curiosity the fact of what you were doing. It is this type of lying that most people get into.
Avoid it, because it encourages a habit pattern of being untruthful, even when there is no need to evade the truth. It is also wrong to speak the truth when, by doing so, one betrays another person unnecessarily and to no good purpose.
Suppose a man drinks, but tries to hide it from the rest of the world. You know about his weakness, and so in the name of truthfulness you announce to your friends, “You know that so and so drinks, don’t you?” Such a remark is uncalled for; one should not be busy about other people’s business.
Be protective about other’s business. Be protective about other’s personal faults, so long as they harm no one else. Speak privately to an offender about his failings, if you have an opportunity or responsibility to help him; but never, under pretext of helping someone, speak deliberately to hurt him.
You will only “help” him to become your enemy. You may also extinguish any desire that he might have had to become better.
Source: The Divine Romance by Paramahansa Yogananda.
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