Thomas Hitoshi Pruiksma

author, poet, teacher, and performer

Between Silence and Speech: A Kural Conversation with Shin Yu Pai

The Fruits of Right Speech

With the award-winning writer, photographer, editor, and curator Shin Yu Pai, I was delighted to speak about awareness, silence, fruit, and thunder as reflected in THE KURAL: Tiruvalluvar’s Tirukkural.

Here are a few highlights and where in the video you can find them:

  • Clear seeing 6:29
  • Cultural roots and notions of gender and silence 11:35
  • Discriminating awareness 19:26
  • Living with a verse as one lives with a koan 26:29
  • Fruit as experience, memory, and metaphor 30:37
  • Being able to thunder as an advisor and as a friend 39:05

Shin Yu Pai

Shin Yu Pai is the author of eleven books, including most recently Virga (Empty Bowl, 2021). In 2020, Entre Rios Books published Ensō, a 20-year survey of her work across creative disciplines including photography, book arts, public art, performance, personal essay and poetry. From 2015 to 2017, Shin Yu served as the Poet Laureate of The City of Redmond. She is a 2022 Artist Trust Fellow and was shortlisted in 2014 for a Stranger Genius Award in Literature. Her essays have appeared in Atlas Obscura, Gastronomica, ANMLY, Off Assignment, Zocalo Public Square, Tricycle, YES! Magazine, Seattle Met, and South Seattle Emerald. Her poetry films have screened at The Zebra Poetry Film Festival in Berlin and Northwest Film Forum. Shin Yu is a three-time fellow of MacDowell and has been an artist in residence at Taipei Artist Village, Centrum, The Ragdale Foundation, and The Pacific Science Center. She hosts, writes, and produces The Blue Suit, a podcast for KUOW on Asian American stories that will launch in July 2022.

https://shinyupai.com/

Here are the key verses we talked about, in both English and Tamil:

192
Fruitless speech before many—worse
Than heartlessness to friends

பயனில பல்லார்முன் சொல்லல் நயனில
நட்டார்கண் செய்தலின் தீது

194
Fruitless and denatured words in an assembly
Destroy goodness and grace

நயன்சாரா நன்மையின் நீக்கும் பயன்சாராப்
பண்பில்சொல் பல்லா ரகத்து

196
He who celebrates words without fruit—not a son
But the husk of a man

பயனில்சொற் பாராட்டு வானை மகனெனல்
மக்கட் பதடி யெனல்

199
Those who see truth with clear eyes never lapse
Into words without meaning

பொருடீர்ந்த பொச்சாந்துஞ் சொல்லார் மருடீர்ந்த
மாசறு காட்சி யவர்

200
Speak speech that bears fruit—never speech
That bears nothing

சொல்லுக சொல்லிற் பயனுடைய சொல்லற்க
சொல்லிற் பயனிலாச் சொல்

From chapter 20, “Freedom from Fruitless Speech.”

Translated from the Tamil by Thomas Hitoshi Pruiksma
THE KURAL: Tiruvalluvar’s Tirukkural
Beacon Press, Boston

Kural 468: The Kural on Right Action

A verse on clarity before action and right effort.

468
Without right effort all effort miscarries
Even with many who care

ஆற்றின் வருந்தா வருத்தம் பலர்நின்று
போற்றினும் பொத்துப் படும்

From chapter 47, “Clarity Before Action.”

Translated from the Tamil by Thomas Hitoshi Pruiksma
THE KURAL: Tiruvalluvar’s Tirukkural
Beacon Press, Boston

VOCE Dialogue with Chloë Goodchild

I was delighted to discuss compassion, poetry, the Tirukkural, leadership, voice, silence, and much more with the wonderful Chloë Goodchild on her VOCE Dialogues Podcast.

You can listen to the podcast by way of this link:

https://podcast.chloegoodchild.com/411616/10598385-ep-39-thomas-hitoshi-pruiksma-author-poet-translator-teacher

Chloë is the founder of The Naked Voice, a pioneering experiential vocal training programme, providing a sound awareness toolkit of conscious core practices, music, audio-books and spoken meditations that empower you to find and to embody your authentic voice.

Kural 545: The Kural on Leadership and Abundance

A verse on good governance and the abundance of the earth.

545
Where kings rule as wisdom decrees
Rain and harvest abound

இயல்புளிக் கோலோச்சும் மன்னவன் நாட்ட
பெயலும் விளையுளும் தொக்கு

From chapter 55, “Good Rule.”

Translated from the Tamil by Thomas Hitoshi Pruiksma
THE KURAL: Tiruvalluvar’s Tirukkural
Beacon Press, Boston

Kural 401: Tiruvalluvar on Knowledge and Leadership

A verse on what we need to address the wise.

401
Addressing the wise without knowing books—like playing
At chess with no board

அரங்கின்றி வட்டாடி யற்றே நிரம்பிய
நூலின்றிக் கோட்டி கொளல்

From chapter 41, “Lack of Learning.”

Translated from the Tamil by Thomas Hitoshi Pruiksma
THE KURAL: Tiruvalluvar’s Tirukkural
Beacon Press, Boston

Kural 490: Tiruvalluvar on Patience

A verse on waiting for the right moment, along with a verse from Avvaiyar.

490
Wait like the crane that waits—and strike like the crane
When right

கொக்கொக்க கூம்பும் பருவத்து மற்றதன்
குத்தொக்க சீர்த்த இடத்து

From chapter 49, “Knowing Time.”

Translated from the Tamil by Thomas Hitoshi Pruiksma
THE KURAL: Tiruvalluvar’s Tirukkural
Beacon Press, Boston

Kural 787: Tiruvalluvar on Friendship

A verse on how friends stay with you through hard times, along with a verse from Avvaiyar.

787
Friendship averts trouble shows the way and when
Trouble comes stays

அழிவி னவைநீக்கி ஆறுய்த் தழிவின்கண்
அல்லல் உழப்பதாம் நட்பு

From chapter 79, “Friendship.”

Translated from the Tamil by Thomas Hitoshi Pruiksma
THE KURAL: Tiruvalluvar’s Tirukkural
Beacon Press, Boston

Kural 653: Tiruvalluvar on Integrity, Greatness, and Light

A verse on becoming all of who we truly are.

653
Steer clear of all deeds that dim light—you
Who would keep becoming

ஒஓதல் வேண்டும் ஒளிமாழ்கும் செய்வினை
ஆஅதும் என்னு மவர்

From chapter 66, “Purity of Action.”

Translated from the Tamil by Thomas Hitoshi Pruiksma
THE KURAL: Tiruvalluvar’s Tirukkural
Beacon Press, Boston