Watch What You Say

Last Friday, a government official made a statement to a newspaper reporter regarding another country having nuclear weapons. There were doubtless other factors also at work, but the statement by one man contributed a lot to crude oil increasing by $11 to $139 a barrel in just one day. 

I am not qualified to say what the karmic retribution from this will be. But this incident is a particularly good example of how what is said can have the potential to bring about major outcomes.

The general principle is that what we say to others can lead to them taking particular actions. We will then, at some point, have to undergo the consequences of what we set into motion. Those with more influence have the potential to set into motion much greater outcomes.  For example,  as petroleum is either a component of almost everything produced and is also used to transport goods, such a large price increase can affect all but the most isolated people on earth. That's an enormous amount of karmic retributions.

Fortunately, most of us do not have such enormous influence. But even if we only negatively influence five or ten people with our speech, that will still incur a great deal of painful karmic consequences for us.