I remember in kindergarten my teacher taught me to be kind to others, always say nice things, and never lie. As I get older I realize that the lies that we tell people are colorless compared to the lies we tell ourselves. It's very important to be honest to yourself. I don't believe being honest is always right. Most of the time people do not want to hear your truths. They are more comfortable with your neutral white lies. Therefore it's most important to be honest with yourself in your moments of silence. These moments of truth will define who you are and what you stand for...
Sunday, March 30, 2008
The Virtue of Silence
Silence has always been the most honest sound to me. I grew up in a household of nine people. There was always lots of excitement, laughter, voices, noise, music... silence was almost impossible to find. But I would always find it, right before I went to sleep... fifteen to twenty minutes of utter silence. In those precious minutes before I went to sleep I would really know who was. It's very easy to lose yourself in the sounds the surround you. Your family's chatter can easily be mistaken as your own. When there is no sound, the only chatter that you hear is what's inside your head and your heart. You can be very true to yourself. Your honesty can get lost in your social obligations.
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2 comments:
I have had no experience of observing silence but I have heard of its benefit. I was pondering over your experience with silence and it is a coincidence that there is a small article in Hindi Daily Dainik Jagaran of April 1 entitled
'Practice of Silence'.It starts with the comment:Silence is the
'Mantra' for Peace.It goes on to state that our senses are the means of acquiring information from the outside world.As a result of our selfishness we tend to limit the scope of our 'world'. Because of our affection and attachment to our near and dear ones and the things that matter in this connection, we tend to forget that there is a vast world beyond. Mind has the dominant role in the control of our senses and speech is the carrier of our responses. If we speak too much the senses are in an unstable state.Silence makes our senses achieve equilibrium and provides internal strength.When in doubt it is better to be silent because it saves us from unnecessary confrontation. Silence enhances our capacity for tolerence and pacifies our anger.It provides an opprtunity of introspection and which leads to greater confidence and more focused vision to achieve our goals. In short SILENCE and not the SPEECH, is source of inner strength.
I would not have noticed the newspaper article but for your blog.It has provided me an occasion to practice something which I knew to be important
Aiya,
I think it's impossible to find silence in India... in Benaras. In India there is a peace in all the noise that surrounds you though. I found it so calming.
I cannot for my next trip back. Did Vineeta tell you construction has started on my Father's house?
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