Swadharma

In response to Saketh’s post yesterday, I thought I’d also write about my thoughts on silence.

Like Saketh said yesterday, I also believe that the ability to be silent represents the existence of a huge amount of self-control in a person. I know I have nowhere near that amount of self-control, nor am I egoless enough to give up interjecting my own opinion when others are speaking. It takes a lot of effort not to speak, and just to listen with full effort, and while it is my goal to eventually have that degree of control over my ego, I do think that for those of us who haven’t reached that point yet, it is infinitely important to know when, and how, to talk.

Vedanta recommends that we follow the teaching and advice of our guru– but how many of us really have gurus as college students, or even as people in American society at large? I have interpreted guru to mean, in today’s context, the adults and peers whose spiritual advice we value. Yes, I have included peer in my modern definition of guru, because from my experience, sometimes the most valuable advice on how to reconcile the differences between scriptural advice and day-to-day experience comes from those who have gone through similar situations and emerged better people.

In this sense, until we are capable of internalizing our thoughts and coming to conclusions on our own, I think it is really important to have “gurus” whom we can go to for advice– whether these people are elders, or peers, or perhaps even those younger than us, it helps a lot to talk things over with others. Like Saketh mentioned yesterday, it definitely helps to share happiness. But, I believe that even sorrow can, and generally should be shared; sometimes talking things out with those we trust– our gurus– helps us come to better solutions than we could have come to ourselves.

Related posts:

1. What’s in a Guru?
2. Silence
3. Meditation and musings about attachment
4. Making space for God
5. We must help each other grow stronger