The Beauty of Silence - a few thoughts

The beauty of silence - a few thoughts

Aniruddha Sarkar

29 September 2022

The #silence around us is sometimes #blissful. We don’t get detracted. We can #contemplate. We can #organize our #thoughts.

Sometimes, silence can #whisper in our ears. We suddenly see a few bats circling in the evening sky. We suddenly find a few stars clearly visible in the dark night sky. We may even trace a #galaxy. Any #skywatcher knows the value of #silence.

Once in a while, we also may be lucky to observe a few rare phenomena during the very early morning. Meteorites, thousands of them, sporadically rise on a night sky horizon and then again dive into the horizon. Such #meteor #showers happen in silence.

There are nocturnal birds that keep roaming around in the night sky.

There are reptiles that surface only during the night.

All the above happens during silence.

Silence is a virtue. Have you ever visited any solitary cave in the Himalayas where the sadhus (hermits) stay?

I visited once at a very high altitude. The sadhu (hermit) there answered a few questions.

We, a few tourists, asked:

How to live life?

The sadhu answered: live life like a lotus leaf. Lotus leaf holds water drops. But there is no watermark left on the leaf. #Remain #detached while discharging your duties.

We asked: do you find any regular visitors here?

Sadhu said: No.

We: Then, how do you spend your time?

Sadhu: In #complete #silence, we can #meditate for days together.

We: Any wild animals?

Sadhu: Sometimes leopards come. However, they never harm us.

We: what do you eat?

Sadhu: Fruits from the trees. Sometimes, we keep meditating for days. We don’t feel any hunger.

We: What do you meditate for?

Sadhu: We meditate to know the form of the Atman (Soul) that is beyond our six senses.

We: how does it affect us, the average person?

Sadhu: with that knowledge, one can #eradicate all #sufferings from this earth.

We left the cave with #silent #reverence.

Is #silence the #first #step #toward #knowing #self?

Dear Reader, please judge yourself.

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