Tone in writing is a delicate matter. It is so easy to come across as arrogant, combative and undermining. I’ve found this out for myself on this forum. Sarcasm and irony are particularly dangerous, as no typeface conveys their intonation and colour. And to publish while angry is too often a mistake.

It is always a good idea (note to self) to imagine how your written words might be received once read; to take a break from writing when particularly exercised or angry; to remember that to post here is to publish ... it is a public utterance, with all that that means.

We need to be prepared to stand over our words, to take full responsibility for them as representations of our thinking. The practice of right speech, and ‘kind speech’, as Dogen termed it, also extends to the written word ... and to this forum.

We are Zen practitioners. But we speak and we write. So let us speak and write as followers of the way ... or else remain silent.
Gassho