This is a good topic to discuss.
Both PBR and Tien are stating their views as “they abide by them.”
– In fact, I think one needs to decide, based on one’s own situation, whether a statement that one is about to make is a “musāvāda” or not.
– Sometimes, a “lie’ is not a “musāvāda.’
In ALL CASES, what really matters is one’s INTENTION. The following example can illustrate the point.
10. During the Nazi terror in Germany, many Germans “lied” to the Nazis that they were not hiding Jews in their houses; of course the intention was to save human lives and thus it was the right thing to do. They acquired good kamma for protecting lives.
We need to realize that “lying” — as meant in as “musāvāda” in the five precepts — really means the “intention” involved: “Musā” means “wrong or incompatible with morals” and “vāda means “speech”; see, “What is Intention in Kamma?“.
Therefore, even though they were literally lying, their intention was not a “musāvāda“, but actually a “good deed”.
The above is #10 in the post, “Right Speech – How to Avoid Accumulating Kamma.”