Thursday, January 2, 2014

. . . AND THE NEED FOR SILENCE


From yesterday's post on the creation of a sacred place in one's home to something closely related and equally important — the need for a modicum of silence in one's life.

Soon silence will have passed into legend.  Man has turned his back on silence.  Day after day he invents machines and devices that increase noise and distract humanity from the essence of life, contemplation, meditation . . . tooting, howling, screeching, booming, crashing, whistling, grinding, and trilling bolster his ego.  His anxiety subsides.  His inhuman void spreads monstrously like gray vegetation.
Jean Arp 

Our task is to listen to the news that is always arriving out of silence.
Rilke


The quieter you become, the more your can hear.

Ram Dass 


In the attitude of silence the soul finds the path in a clearer light, and what is elusive and deceptive resolves itself into crystal clearness.  Our life is a long and arduous quest after Truth.
Gandhi 


Now all my teachers are dead except silence.

W.S. Merwin 
(from "A Scale in May")

15 comments:

  1. George. The image is breathtaking. Utterly. That you manage to get photos like this, let alone compose them with such artistry is astonishing.

    The quotes are terrific, and in their amalgamation, even better, I think. I kept the radio off on the drive to work today, and the silence really did have something to teach me.

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    1. Thanks, Ruth. Glad you liked the photo. Photography is a great passion of mine, not only because of its creative possibilities, but also because it has taught me — and continues to teach me — to see.

      Ah, yes, silence of a great teacher, and I love the Merwin line.

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  2. Oh yes, I agree with Ruth, what a wonderful photo and quintet of quotations. I like the news that arrives out of silence — it's a whole lot healthier than CNN!

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  3. Thanks, Robert. The news that comes in silence is a lot more useful than the news that comes from CNN or the other "news" programs.

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  4. Just watched a good TV programme - walker and writer Cameron McNeish walking a route across the Scottish Highlands. At one point walked for a while with Sara Maitland. They talked about how she endeavored lived 75% of her life in silence and the effect of so doing. Interesting. I thought the name sounded familiar and I see she's written a book, called A Book of Silence (it's on Amazon with a "look inside 'free sample'"). http://www.amazon.com/Book-Silence-Sara-Maitland/dp/1582436134

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  5. Thanks, Dominic. I will check out the book. It sounds quite interesting. I think 75% of one's life in silence, or perhaps solitude, is not a bad idea. Have a great new year!

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  6. Hi George, I've been thinking about silence and solitude a lot lately. I read an essay recently espousing the idea that silence is not the absence of sound, just the absence of noisy, irritating, grating sounds that distract from our calm. For example, when I'm alone in the forest, I think of it as being "silent" but there are many pleasing sounds if I'm alert to them. They form a fabric of silence. The egret was a great choice for this post - the use of light in your photo makes me want to clap (but I'm afraid that would infringe on your silence.) I'll clap silently!

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    1. Thanks for your lovely comment, Barb, and thanks for clapping silently. A perfect response to this post.

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    2. The sound of one hand clapping? BTW, I've been wanting to read that Sara Maitland book for ages. It had great reviews.

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    3. I, too, want to read Sara Maitland's book. After "looking inside" of the book on Amazon and reading a few paragraphs, I ordered it immediately.

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  7. Not to push the point, but since I'm always late to the comment conversations, I'll repeat the link I put in the previous post that points to my husband's documentary (available for free online viewing) in which sacred space, relationship to place, religious and ritual practice and the necessity of solitude are all considered: http://www.cultureunplugged.com/documentary/watch-online/play/50479/Embrace

    Ok, end of promoting… I just thought it was relevant and we really derive no benefit other than "look! people are watching the film!! yay!" :-)

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  8. Sometimes, I resent the hum of the refrigerator, although I would not want to manage life without it. There are so many trade-offs in modern life ...

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    1. You're right about the trade-offs, Teresa. The key, I suppose, is to make the right choices, the ones that bring the most peace and contentment.

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  9. Silence is a wonderful thing and the lack of it one of the reasons so many people these days are so stressed I think. The peace and quiet is one of the reasons I love walking on the moors. I feel so sad when I see people walking in the woods or in the countryside with headphones clamped to their ears or talking/texting on their phones. They miss so much including the healing peace of the natural world. Good to see you posting again George.

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    1. Yes, Rowan, "the healing peace of the natural world." That's the primary value of silence.

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