Spirituality/Silence/Life Lesson
The Beauty of Silence in a Noisy World
The world of Nature is a great giver of good things. Silence is one of them.
A typical definition of silence is “A State Of Being Quiet.” Why would we want to practice this quietness? Quietness is good to enjoy the solace in times of stress which can be an added advantage to regenerate our spirit. It is useful when we desire a clear direction or pathway for issues that trouble us.
We also know that silence has been a great source of creative energy for writers and artists over the time immemorial, and have read how the great classical musician Beethoven was inspired with great pieces of music during his period of solitude and silence.
“Wisdom arrives in silence.” — a note from the universe
Silence — A Spiritual Experience
Silence has no religious connotation. In this age of spiritual awakening, we often hear people going away for a retreat, either in a health farm or usually in a nature-filled environment. This tells us that Silence can, therefore, be sought by all, religious, secular and or atheists.
The busyness of the world around us, the greed, the need to belong, the eagerness to compete and amass wealth can take its toll on us. This is where we can enjoy solitude and silence to steer us away from the noise and bustle of this modern-day poison, the inner turmoil of agitated thoughts.
Fortunately, we do not have to travel far to any special place to enjoy silence. It can happen in our living space in our house, on our daily walk to the park, even in our office. It all depends on how we want to practice it, and what we value in its practice.
“Listen to silence, it has so much to say.”— Rumi
The Quest For Silence
I wonder if you have been in a situation, so bubbly with people that you get fed up with, and all you want is silence? I did experience this four years ago. I went on a visit and stayed with my cousin in California. He is the Youth Co-ordinator of his local club.
On a daily basis for the first week that I was there, there were always streams of happy and enthusiastic young people, cracking jokes, serving drinks, and snacks, watching and discussing TV programs and reeling with laughter.
After one week, I got fed up, and crave a desire for silence, I moved to a nearby hotel for the rest of my holiday. I believe we all need this silence once a while in our lives.
What Is Silence?
Silence means different things to different people. For a busy hands-on nursing mum, silence can mean the peace that comes after the children are tucked up in bed. A factory worker will appreciate walking away from the deafening noise of rolling types of machinery.
And for those of us that live on busy roads, we know what the constant horn of vehicles means, the police and ambulance sirens, the car and security alarms, the neighbours' loud music (as if we all have the same taste in music), the road drills, aeroplanes flying across our houses, etc.
All these mean that the stress from noise pollution is another kind of illness that we have to combat, and from which we need to get away from. The silence here will mean resting the mind and letting it go blank without the noise pollution.
The Natural World Is A Great Source Of Silence
It was Albert Einstein who once said, “Look deep into nature, and then you will understand everything better.” This simply means we are a product of nature, and “We need the tonic of wilderness,” wrote Henry D. Thoreau in his book “Life in the Woods.”
“The silence of nature is very real. It surrounds you…… You can feel it.” — Ted Trueblood
The natural organic world is different from the chatter of our modern-day living. A great oak tree grows in silence and beauty emerges silently from the soil. In his book, “I Say Goodbye to the Cuckoo,” Micheal McCarthy wrote about the wonder of a “DUET WITH SILENCE,” and I quote:
“With open eyes, I could see nothing. I could hear nothing else. All there was in existence was this song, and I realised then that it was a duet with silence. Silence was its background, silence moulded it, silence made it perfect, as it filled the world entirely.”
If you are like me, I am very sensitive to noise. I need a complete quietness to read a simple newspaper. I need concentration in everything. Others are not like that, some can work with a considerable level of noise, it doesn’t bother them to have music playing on the background, or leave a TV on while they are working.
Whether you are sensitive to noise or not, we all need a period of silence to look inside and discover ourselves. And we should give that period a chance. We all owe ourselves to find breaks in life and to cherish them, but often we let them pass without acknowledgement.
A Time To Keep Silence
A Jewish sage once wrote in Ecclesiastes 3,
“To everything, there is a season and a time for every purpose under the heaven……..a time to keep silence, and a time to speak…..”
David’s advice is most needed, as people are drawn in search of peace. We all know that if we have nothing good to say about others, it is best to keep silent, instead of bad-mouthing them. We should speak encouraging words all the time, push others forward instead of criticising and stir up trouble.
“A tongue is but three inches long but can kill a man six feet tall.” Japanese proverb
In tackling unnecessary noise pollution, the neighbours’ especially, is to talk directly to the person concerned, in a kindly warm manner. We all love respect and good manners. It is important however to tackle noise at every reasonable opportunity, and then we all can truly enjoy the beauty of silence in a noisy world wherever we are.
Silence Brings Out The Essence
Silence brings out the quality of our ability to discern, and allows us to use our thoughts and time effectively.
In silence of our inner quietness, the intuition makes everything clear, and we are able to listen to the direction of the spirit.
We all know that too much analysis and mental processing pollute the clarity of the discernment of the spirit guides. Thus an overload of the details makes us miss the essence.
