In ancient Greece , the scholar and intellectual Socrates was reputed to be held in high esteem. One day an acquaintance met the great philosopher and said, “Do you know what I have just heard?”

“Hold on a minute,” Socrates replied. “Before telling me anything, I'd like you to pass a little test. It's called the Triple Filter Test.”

“Triple Filter?” asked the man.

“That's right,” Socrates continued. “Before you talk to me about my friend, it might be a good idea to take a moment and filter what you're going to say. That is why I call it the Triple Filter Test.”

“The first filter is truth. Have you made absolutely sure that what you are about to tell me is true?”

“No,” the man said, “actually I just heard about it and wanted to tell it to you.”

“All right,” said Socrates, “so you don't really know if it is true or not. Now let's try the second filter, the filter of goodness. Is what you are going to tell me about my friend something good?”

“No, on the contrary, it is bad.”

“So, you want to tell me something bad about him, but you're not certain it is true? But you may still pass the test. Is what you are going to tell me about my friend going to be useful to me?”

“No, not really,” reply the man.

“Well,” concluded Socrates, “if what you want to tell is neither true nor good, nor even useful to me, then why tell it to me at all?”

A passing thought: An arrow which has left the bow and kill an innocent man and a spoken word which has come out of your mouth and hurt someone's heart, both can never be recalled. So before speaking please use the triple filter test.

The triple filter test employed by Socrates accords with the component of Right Speech (Samma Vaca) of the Noble Eightfold Path (Arya Attangika Magga) namely, the filter of truth which is the abstinence of false speech (musavada), the filter of goodness which corresponds with the abstinence of both slanderous speech (pisunavaca) and harsh speech (pharusavaca), and the filter of usefulness which advocates the abstinence of frivolous speech (samphapalapa). Avoiding such unwholesome speech, thus the Buddha maintains the noble silence which brings to mind the adage that “Silence is golden”. In other words, we should not speak for the sake of speaking but to speak only with honesty, love and a noble purpose, which should in turn be harmonious, a sense of caring for others, trustworthiness, and to uphold the truth in order to dispel wrong view.

An interesting parallel is found in “non-violent communication” (NVC), a language of compassion, a technique which was formulated by Marshall B. Rosenberg Ph.D in his book of the same name. The NVC model encompassed four modes to be taken into consideration during verbal intercourse. These are: observations, feelings, needs and requests.

Firstly one observes oneself and others as contributing (or not contributing) to each other's well-being.

Secondly, to find out how one or others are feeling in relation to these actions.

Thirdly, to elevate one's need as well as others.

Finally, to request for the concrete actions one or others would like taken.

Observation is important so that one would respond to a situation and not to react to it. Observation enables one to express one's feelings and also those of others. In this way one is able to state one's needs and to see the needs of others. Finally one would take appropriate action for oneself and others to resolve the situation.

Rosenberg 's NVC model can be put into effect in line with Buddhist's way of action that reflects compassion for self and others. The bottom line here is our speech should be one of heartfelt concern for both one's well-being as well as the well-being of those we communicate with. It is a win- win situation for both parties so that both the speaker and the spoken would feel good after their verbal exchange.