Power of Silence

“In silence, we can hear our soul speak”. So goes the saying. Getting in touch with our inner self is truly the way to attain joy and contentment. But where is this ever eluding silence? Life in this concrete jungle where we live makes one wonder whether such a thing as silence exists. We live our lives in the midst of noise. There is noise everywhere—at home, on the streets, at the work place, at the theatre, shopping mall.
The list goes on and on. Today, it is becoming increasingly difficult to find a home where a television or music system is not blaring away.Then there is this constant ringing of mobile phones and intercomsystems. Amidst all this man made noises, the melodious natural sounds of Mother Earth gets submerged and obliterated. We hardly get to hear the birds sing or the whistle of the winds among the trees.
Man is busy making his livelihood. So busy that you hear mechanical noises everywhere you go, but hardly get to hear the sound of people talking to each other. Such is the impact that modern life has dealt on mankind. All this can have a catastrophic effect on us. We live in a constantly agitated, noisy state. It has reached a level that there is absolutely no silence in our lives. In fact we have become scared of silence; silence is more killing to us than noise.
That is the irony. What a shame then, that silence has become our enemy. But in reality, silence is one of our greatest friends and if practiced well can have a wonderful effect on us.
The noise within It is not just the mechanical, man-made noises of the outside world that torments us. There is plenty of noise happening within us as well. The chattering inside us begins right from the time we awake. We begin thinking of the day ahead, get worried about a scheduled meeting, get irritated with the traffic on way to the office, regret our past actions, worry about the future—the list is endless. Even our sleep is disturbed by this inner chattering in the form of dreams and nightmares.
These inner noises and thoughts deny us the pleasure of being in the present. Our minds are busy always thinking about something or the other, wandering here and there, so much so that even when we are entertaining ourselves, we are not really completely there. Our inner noise is as dangerous as the noise outside us—if not more
Getting to know our true self A silent mind, freed from the constant onslaught of thoughts and thought processes, is vital for personal as well as spiritual development. Many religions profess that inner silence can bring us in contact with the divine or the ultimate reality. Whether it is the silence of contemplative prayer, silent worship rituals or meditation, descriptions of silence and allowing the mind to become silent are implied as a feature of spiritual enlightenment, inner growth and a time to allow the divine to speak in the heart and mind.
The most serious consequence of both this inner chattering and thenoise and activity of the modern world is that they separate us fromour true selves.
Getting to know our true self can have a liberating effect on us. It can bring a sense of deep awareness and a sense of “being” rather than a sense of always trying to “become” this or that. Above all, we can experience a profound sense of inner peace and natural happiness. What we think of as happiness is usually materialistic joy and sense gratification. But the kind of deep and rich happiness we experience when we are in touch with our true self, the consciousness within us is a natural, spiritual happiness, which does not depend on anything external, and does not evaporate as soon as the object or stimulation which produced it is removed. It is a happiness which comes from experiencing the divinity inside us. Therefore to get in touch with our inner, true self, we have to gradually withdraw our attention from those things that cause these noises—both external and internal. Meditation does exactly this. First we need to sit in a quiet place with our eyes closed and remove all the external stimuli. Then we need to silence the inner noise by watching our breathing pattern or by chanting a mantra. When we succeed in stopping the inner noise pure consciousness immerses us and we become our true selves. That is the true power of silence.

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