This is the high spiritual standard given to us by the Sacred Teachers, the Holy Ones, the Wise Ones, and the Ancestors who walked close to the Great Mystery. It is not always easy to live in this way, but it remains the direction we must face, the mountain peak we must keep before our eyes, and the measure by which we cleanse our own hearts.
We are taught to hear no evil, see no evil, and speak no evil. We are taught not to lower ourselves through gossip, judgment, complaint, bitterness, or fault-finding. We are taught not to magnify others' weaknesses, because when we do, our own weaknesses become greater in the sight of the Creator and in the life of the community.
We are taught never to wish for the humiliation or downfall of another human being, because every person is sacred, every person is still growing, and every person is held within the mercy of the Great Mystery. When we seek another's abasement, we open the door for our own to be revealed.
Therefore, we must live these brief days of our earthly life with a clean mind, a clear heart, pure thoughts, and a sanctified nature.
Our life here is less than a fleeting moment. We are only passing through this world, learning how to walk with humility, love, justice, discipline, and spiritual dignity.
This is our standard. This is what we look toward. Even when we fall short, we rise again and keep walking. We do not lower the standard because it is difficult.
We honor it, return to it, and help one another remember it, so that when our time comes to lay this earthly body to rest, we may go forward free, peaceful, and content, returning to the spiritual world with a heart made clean through love, service, and forgiveness.
The tongue was created for the remembrance and praise of Wakan Tanka, our Beloved Creator. May we never defile it with detraction, gossip, or fault-finding of others. If the fire of self rises within us, let us turn our attention back to our own shortcomings, our own healing, and our own need for humility.
For each of us knows our own heart, our own weaknesses, and our own hidden struggles far better than we know the soul of another. Therefore, let us speak with care, with reverence, and with compassion, remembering that every human being is a sacred creation of our Beloved Creator.