We spend time with the people around us talking — what we think, we say. Email is a slower medium, giving us a moment to review our thoughts before we submit them to someone else’s judgment. It is hard to focus on silence when communication is so easy. For example, I am communicating to you right now.
Various spiritual traditions ask for silent prayer — even our culture contains a “moment of silence” in reverence. Swami Vivekananda writes in his lessons on Raja Yoga:
“I meditate on the glory of that being who created this universe; may he illuminate my mind.” Sit and meditate on this ten or fifteen minutes.
Tell your experiences to no one but your Guru.
Talk as little as possible.
There are two things that make me feel the need to talk to others — feeling good, and feeling bad. When feeling good, I want to share my excitement; when feeling bad, I want someone to support me. Many self-help articles say that sharing our feelings with others is natural and healthy. This is good in most situations. But there are some things, such as excitement and self-pity and negative remarks about others, which are better kept silent. Speaking about them seems to perpetuate their existence. Phasing out excesses is the main emotional benefit of silence.
Silence is not the absolute shutting of your lips, but the commitment to saying only worthy things — talking as little as possible. By practicing silence, it is easier to change ourselves into whatever we want to be.
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