June 11, 2005
On Silence
Ok, so back to things I've been meanging to blog...
I shared the overview and pictures from our trip two weeks ago to Vermont's famed Mt. Equinox. However, the part that could be tagged most interesting I havent yet shared. The underside of that same mountain is home to the only order of Carthusian Monks in the United States.
I'd never seen an actual Monastary before, nor can I claim to have spent much time thinking about their way of life. It was interesting to be in the cute little gift shop at the bottom of the mountain and mixed in with the stuffed bears and syrups were books on a prayerful way of life, and the power of silence. The power of silence. This throws me because then I start to wonder - what's the appropriate amount?
Baha'u'llah says: The essence of true safety is to observe silence, to look at the end of things and to renounce the world. (Tablets of Baha'u'llah, p.156)
Speaking of amounts and time and things - Patience, my lifelong test, falls hand in hand with this.
Sometimes I look for ways to find that path, to look to the end of things and find true detachment with things. Sometimes I'm so bogged down in it there's no looking. Over the last few weeks however, I've been amazingly lucky to have reminders in many shapes and forms that all I need is to take a step back in my mind, and things will fall into place. Greater will of God and all that. Moments, days, weeks that are filled with connective thought like that - thats when I truly feel like I'm growing. I love that.
I hope to have days like that one, more time away from everything, to help me connect these dots and stay centered.
it's funny... i'm catching up on your blog from the past 2 weeks or so this afternoon, and in coming across this post, i got excited because just in the last 16 hours, i've been seriously pondering the power of silence.
oddly enough, i was thinking of that exact quotation from Baha'u'llah that you excerpted above. it's interesting because to most people (especially initially) i seem very extroverted and outgoing and never shy to speak...
and yet, i have periods of profound silence... often times, i seclude myself in order to be silent, and often, i'm silent for long periods of time in front of several other people. it tends to freak people out when i don't talk because they're used to me talking. but it's so necessary for me to be quiet sometimes. without silence from time to time, my words mean nothing. in fact, the less one talks, the more valuable his/her speech becomes. i try to remember that.
and i try to remember how silence constitutes safety. that's so applicable in so many situations. often times, when situations are new or uncomfortable, people will talk to try to ease things. personally, i feel like this often exacerbates things.
sometimes, it's just so useful to be silent, reflect, force yourself to be comfortable and relaxed in the moment, and quietly use your discretion to decide how best to respond to the situation (as opposed to chattering mindlessly in hopes of somehow accidentally relieving tension).
i'm realizing more and more as i get older that silence speaks volumes and that it serves us in such amazing ways. and i totally feel you on the patience thing, abs... interestingly, i think patience is just one of the virtues that can come as a result of practicing silence.
so yeah, great post. that's all for now. :)
Posted by: nas at June 28, 2005 03:27 PMWord with it Nas!
Sometimes I wonder if I'm only getting lost in the moment - you know the one I need to be silent with and not anxious or excited, or angry or upset.
It's just amazing how much can come out of the reflective mind. :)