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                                 The Beauty and Joy of Silence

                                             

                             Credit-Ben White (Unsplash)

From times immemorial, sages have been known for their obedience to Silence as a path to achieving tranquility and serenity.  Lao Tzu an ancient Chinese philosopher once reveled words of wisdom - "He who knows does not speak and he who speaks does not know." Silence therefore is a bridge connecting you to your inner self, to help identify who you are and what is your life goal and mission. Silence brings in connectivity with peace and stabilizes your emotions and thinking paradigms. Excessive material, social comparisons and one up man ship is slowly and steadily weaving you in a net of emotional striptease and severely destabilizing your work- life balance there by churning your life without any useful intent. You rarely feel ‘Silence between the Sounds’ and thus slowly you lose touching base with your being. I feel Silence is a remedy to your emotional upheavals on failures, sufferings, unhappiness, and frustrations.  It surely acts as an antidote in times of distress and restores energies lost and helps generate inner strength and develops patience. 

 I recall growing up as a talkative & chatty child and my   late mother often  used to admonish me and over and over again remind me of an age old Kashmiri saying-- ‘Silence is Silver, implementing it though is Golden’. (I bet my consort Rita; strongly feels that I still continue somewhat with the habit even today without guilt. Sad isn’t it?). In the present day when I look back, I realize how Nature is blissful in Silence. Indeed amazing, the rivers flow in Silence, the trees provide shelter and wisdom in Silence, the Sun, Moon, Stars & the Sand are all silent. The mighty Himalayas stand in Silence. Even we surrender & undergo ‘NIRVANA’ in Silence. Look at the irony, COVID- 19 has struck mankind silently. Even your aura, sensations, beliefs, inner feelings, conscious & sub-conscious mind, energies etc. though are invisible yet work in pure Silence.   Isn’t Silence therefore the song of ‘Time without End’?

Most of you perhaps believe that Silence is an act of quietness or calmness. It isn’t necessarily preventing us from speaking or suppressing rather it is an act of putting our constantly running Mind & Self Talk to rest as often as possible. A monk rightly said once that, “Silence is like a Monastery, we create a litter quitter corner up in the mountains, away from the rest of the world”. Silence undeniably is golden for the Gen Next to meet ever increasing and tough challenges ahead. It is conclusively a great stress releaser similar to attending a gym or undertaking regularly yoga and   certainly has a deeper meaning than the loud bang rock music that most are fascinated to. Silence improves your listening & absorption skills and is like a hermitage which revives and refreshes you without visiting a spa or a saloon. I feel it is a communicational therapy that reduces anger, minimizes criticism, and avoids negative thoughts and attitudes. The great Kahlil Gibran mesmerized once when he said, “I have learned silence from the talkative, toleration from the intolerant, and kindness from the unkind; yet, strange, I am ungrateful to those teachers”. With the ever increasing professional, social and family challenges, Silence sadly is still like a hidden jewel which most of you don’t care to cash in.

 Steps for Reactivating Yourself

 Try pulling out the noise of mobile phone rings and useless chatters on TV, office babblings, and inter-personal conflicts from your daily routine.  Create quiet spaces to add value to your quality of life . A silent mind is a controlled mind with the reins of your monkey mind in your own hands.

 Silent Treatment

 Try being silent from time to time to get in close up with your mind, body and the overall well being. When you put down the lid on the blare of sound around, you can start to “hear” what’s going on inside of you.  In social /official/family interactions, most of you are in the habit of collecting information through grapevine, rumor mill, gossip sessions or even kitty parties and discussing it when it does not concern you. Undoubtedly you all including me at times like to know and discuss what is happening ‘on the other side of the river’. Remaining silent and a mute observer helps in controlling your mind and also generating positive aura, thoughts and attitudes.

 Weed the Junk

 The devil within you is generally happy if you continue thinking about an immediate past failure or a sarcastic remark made to you in the recent past. Think for a moment, are these thoughts going to help you anyway? These become impediments in your growth and development and de -motivate you to move forward.

 Focus on Listening

During your conversations, try not to listen  ‘halfway ’ meaning you take in the overall topic your friend  may be communicating all the while thinking about what you want to say next and when can you shoot in. This is where you essentially need to   practice Silence. Honestly I myself need to practice this habit by being little more patient.

 Try Avoid Giving Instant Reactions 

 Silence can be an unbelievable gift in the midst of a conflict/disagreement whether at home or elsewhere. It is surely your one up man ship and ego that you have to react. Silence allows you to hear what the other person is saying and reflect on what is really intended and what is really important in the situation. Another important step is proper balancing the use of your Head and Heart as the mantra for career success and it helps create an aura around to promote positive energy. This also greatly helps in developing and maintaining your inter- personal relationships.

 Focus on Breath

 This is a self-control technique that helps segregate angry thoughts.  Initially, the mind will wander from one thought to the other. As and when the mind drifts, try to bring it to observing the breathing. Repeated practice will help in calming and leaving behind chattering. You may also put on a light soft classical music and close the eyes. Imagine the mind moving with the high and low beats. Listening to the musical notes helps in redirecting focus from the self –dialogue, day’s hustle bustle to taming the thoughts.

 Prayers

  It is said that prayer is not a process of the mind, rather the experience of silencing the it to generate energy, stabilize emotions, become sympathetic and empathetic, realize the self and allow the heart to express. Can you begin to search for silencing your mind and thoughts and create quiet spaces in your daily routine to add value to your being? I do appreciate attaining a silent mode is no way easy, difficult initially but gets simplified as you dig deep into it. Mindfulness and exercises for calming emotions is one such route to a silent mind. Even ten minutes of deep silence daily will help to reflect on the spirit of calmness and gradually flush out negativity, improve on the inner peace and help you to be ‘here and now’. No wonder silence is time without end?

  To tap it— “Silence is a gift and learn to value its essence. Silence isn’t empty, it is full of answers. Sometimes you don’t have to say anything. Silence speaks it all”.

 

Bhushan Kachru