Perhaps, it may seem strange to someone - to write about silence at a time when the world around us insistently requires communication: business, friendly, creative, everyday, in the end. Most people are interested in how to communicate more effectively, and not how to be silent more effectively. And in vain. For the practice of silence is exactly what can, paradoxically, give our life a completely different sound.
Silence as a spiritual practice has existed since time immemorial - in the religions of India, in Buddhism, Christianity. In its extreme, ascetic form, it, of course, has always been the lot of monks - these are vows of silence, and going for a long time somewhere in the mountains or into the forest to fast and pray alone. Of course, ideally, this is not just an external refusal of speech, but the silence of the mind - in India those who were able to do this are called "munis", that is, "those who have reached the state of inner silence", perfect yogis. It is believed that conversations, especially unnecessary ones, take up a lot of energy that could be used for higher purposes - for example, for self-development.
However, this does not mean that silence benefits only monks and hermits. It is not without reason that since ancient times it was considered the best remedy for mental disorder, an excellent way to restore mental health and harmony. After all, the more words, the more unstable and chaotic the mind (and vice versa), and behind this whirlpool of thoughts we really do not hear either the world around us, or other people, or ourselves. Only now we cannot stop this thought flow by willpower, but to start from the other end - to stop talking for a while - is very possible, although at first it is not easy. Silence saves energy, helps control emotions, and leads to inner peace and clarity of mind. Besides, silence literally heals. It helps with neuropsychiatric diseases, hypertension, headache, vascular dystonia,magically soothes the brain and nerves. It is not for nothing that during illness people do not want to talk.
So, we can say that the practice of silence is a means to achieve a state of true inner silence. Controlling speech means controlling the mind. Practices that eliminate internal chatter have always been particularly favored by yogis. The benefits of silence are discussed at yoga seminars and retreats; In almost all Indian ashrams, if not complete silence, then at least refraining from unnecessary words is one of the conditions for staying on the territory. However, we are not in India. But everyone has a chance to plunge into silence. For example, you can go to a Vipassana retreat (they are held in many countries, including Russia). There you can be silent to the fullest, because you will need to remain silent for 10 days in a row.
However, for too many of us, alas, this is an impermissible luxury, and we have to be silent, so to speak, without leaving the machine. It’s not easy, but quite real.
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- Staying at home alone is not an easy task in itself. What to do with household members who do not always share our interests? And even if they do, practice shows that even if two people (meaning beginners) both decided to keep quiet, old habits, as a rule, will still prevail. What can we say about children, especially small ones - it is clear that it is unrealistic to make them silent all day or at least not ask you questions. In this respect, a fertile time is summer, when you can send everyone to the country. However, at any time of the year, you can contrive and ask them to go for a whole day to visit, to visit relatives, to nature, to a cinema cafe … And then - hurray! The main condition is met.
- On this day, it is better not to leave the house at all: you will definitely find yourself in a situation where you will be forced to answer some question - what time is it or how to get somewhere. Worst of all is your own entrance, in which you will certainly encounter a neighbor with whom you need to say hello, or with old women on a bench, from whom you will not leave alive if you don't chat.
- After getting rid of the need to communicate live, the next step is to eliminate the possibility of telephone communication - to put an answering machine or completely turn off all phones.
- Do not let any words from the outside, that is, TV and radio, into your life.
- Having protected yourself from the possibility of any human communication, do not forget about animals, which are no less a threat - how, for example, not to communicate with an incredibly cozy ginger cat (you can't even say "kitty-kitty")? And what about the faithful dog that follows you everywhere? Most likely, you will not send them on a visit, so you really have to be patient …
- Exclude virtual communication and correspondence. In principle, today there are a lot of people, especially freelancers, who sit at home, communicating exclusively by "soap", in ICQ, via SMS, etc. And although, perhaps, they did not utter a word for the whole day, they do not observe silence at all - after all, they communicate, albeit in written, not spoken words.
- And finally, when there is already physically no one to talk to - not talk to oneself beloved! A huge number of people speak their thoughts out loud, and this is not at all a sign of insanity, but just a habit. And you can get rid of it.
- However, the most difficult thing is not to talk "to yourself", not to conduct that notorious "internal dialogue", that is, to get rid of (or at least try to get rid of) the constant chatter in my head. Sometimes, at first it seems that it is very easy - just think, be silent for a couple of days! Finally, expelling all the annoying household members and enjoying the silence is a dream! I don’t want to talk on the phone or watch TV… And then… Thoughts begin to prevail with terrible force - deprived of the opportunity to pour out into words, they literally put pressure on the brain, and for the most part some kind of nonsense creeps into my head. Most likely, she was always there, before we simply did not notice her. Then you understand how much there, inside, all the "trash". The main thing is not to give up (in this case, not to untie the tongue), to continue the practice, and then it will become easier.
So what happens next?
Nothing special. It is just that a kind of detachment comes, as if transparency - events, phenomena and people seem to pass through us without affecting. The ability to keep your mouth closed and your ears open appears, to truly listen and hear other people, to listen to the world and to yourself. It is not for nothing that it is believed that once upon a time people did without words at all and communicated with the help of telepathy, and language appeared only when people's minds were already sufficiently polluted and there was a need for more coarse, verbal communication.
If you remain silent for a long enough time, then a moment comes when you no longer feel like talking - why? And this is already physically difficult - as difficult as it was at the very beginning to force oneself to shut up. And then the melody of life begins to be heard, so dear and at the same time unfamiliar: although it always accompanied you, there was no opportunity to hear it before, it was only a background against which the events took place. Now you understand that our life is like the surface of the earth - what we know well and measure in square meters, hundred square meters or even hectares has mysteries thousands of kilometers deep.
Valentina Felgendreyer