Swami Mukundananda
How can I politely avoid joining in when others start gossiping?
Refuse gossip and restrain the tongue
Speaking ill of a third person reveals a weakness in our own character. If someone wishes to share gossip with us, we can avoid it by saying we are busy, and this restraint of the tongue is a stepping stone to restraint of the mind.
If we speak ill of a third person to somebody, it conveys that tomorrow we will speak ill of this listener to somebody else. It reveals a weakness of our own character.