SILENCE AS MYSTICS VIEW IT

SILENCE AS MYSTICS VIEW IT      

                I remember the school-days advice “Think before you speak  and look before you leap.” It is still a good piece of advice. Thoughtful speaking is far better than thoughtless utterance which may be sheer nonsense .  

Silence is a much broader subject. It has also existential and  spiritual connotations. It may not be wrong to believe that silence preserves energy and prolongs  life.   

Self-imposed silence is  both a social and spiritual discipline. We find many places like hospitals, libraries, dormitories , yoga halls, meditation centres, etc. where sound is disallowed.  

                Given below, on the importance of silence.  are the views of four  renowned mystics.

First: Guyon Madam, French mystic (1648-1717). There are three kinds of silence. Silence from words is good, because inordinate speaking tends to evil. Silence, or rest from desires and passions is still better  because it promotes  quietness of spirit. But the best of all is silence from unnecessary and wandering thoughts, because that is essential to internal recollection and because it lays a foundation for a proper reputation and for silence in other respects.

Second: Ralph Waldo Emerson, American poet, essayist, philosopher (1803-1882). What a strange power there is in silence ! How many resolutions are formed, how many sublime conquests effected, during that pause when lips are closed, and the soul secretly feels the eye of her Maker upon her ! They are the strong ones of earth who know how to keep silence when it is a pain and grief unto them, and who give time to their own souls to wax strong against temptation.  

 Third: Hazrat Inayat Khan, Indian Sufi mystic (1882-1927). There is an intoxication in activity, and nowadays activity has increased so much that from morning till evening there is never any repose, owing to our daily occupations which keeps us continually on the move.  And at night we are so  tired that we want only to sleep, and next morning the activity begins anew.  By this kind of life much is destroyed; man is so eager for his enjoyments that he does not think of the life that is there to be enjoyed.  Every person should have at least an hour a day in which to be quiet, to be still   

 Fourth: Indian mystic Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh, globally known as Osho (1931-1990). There is only one dialogue with existence and that is in silence. Try it with anything as an experiment – even with a rock. Be silent with it --- take it in your hand and be silent ---and there will be a communion. But you cannot use language with it, the rock doesn’t know any language. Because you use language, you cannot be related to it. Man has lost silence completely. When you are not doing something, you are not silent; the mind goes on doing something or other. Because of this continuous  inner talk, this continuous inner chattering, you are not  related to anything, not even to your beloved ones. Only through silence is one related.

                 And finally, as American Statesman Benjamin Franklin (1706-90) said: None preaches better than the ant, and also says nothing.

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7^th March 2922                                                              G.R.Kanwal