Wednesday, Dec 25 2024  

Power of Silence - 13 OCT 2014

What does silence mean? As we all know, silence means the absence of any noise. Swami has said, “Silence is the first step in spiritual practice; it makes the other steps easy. It promotes self-control; it lessens chances of anger, hate, malice, greed and pride.”

Next, how can silence be categorized? In my understanding, there are three types of silence namely, the silence of speech, the silence of the mind, and silence of the senses.

First of all, the silence of speech. The silence of speech does not necessarily mean not to talk at all, as Swami has given us the wonderful power of speech. However, as Swami says, we should all THINK before we speak:

T - Is it true?

H - Will it hurt anyone?

I - Will it improve on the silence?

N - Is it necessary?

K- Is it kind?

Only if one answers all the questions with a ‘Yes’ should he speak.

As Swami says, “When the foot slips, the wound can be healed; but when the tongue slips, the wound it causes in the heart of another will fester for life.”

We should practice the silence of speech in many scenarios like during arguments, gossips, when someone is speaking and so on. We should speak what we would like to listen. This means that we should speak as low as possible, as little as possible and as sweetly as possible.

Next, the silence of the mind. To me, having silence of the mind is being in present; devoting every scrap of attention to the task at hand. As a student, in class, if I can silence my mind and focus on what the teacher is saying, then I can grasp the content better, as compared to when my mind is wandering.

Finally, silence of the senses. Silence of the senses means to control one’s senses. For example, we should resist the urge to feast on junk food simply because our tongue desires it. Likewise, we should not spend too much time watching unnecessary stuff on YouTube and TV.

At this juncture, one may wonder, why should we practice the silence of speech, the mind and the senses? Swami has said that God is just a silent witness and only in the depths of silence, one can hear the voice of God.

To conclude, here is Swami’s definition of the word ‘silence’, which is Sai + lens, looking at the world with the vision of Sai. I pray that Swami will help us practice Sai-lens to our utmost capability.

Thank You and Jai Sai Ram

Sis Deekshya
Group 3