Spirit · 5 min read
Silence as a Practice
Every tradition points to silence not as absence of sound, but as a positive substance — the medium in which the spirit becomes audible.
Two silences There is the silence of no talking. And there is the silence beneath talking — the ground from which words rise and to which they return. Contemplative traditions are pointing to the second.
Why speech obscures it Most talking is reactive. Someone said something, so we say something back. The gap closes. In the closing, the deeper silence is drowned out.
A weekly practice: two hours of quiet Once a week, hold two hours without speech, without media, without input. Walk. Cook. Sit. Notice what surfaces when nothing is being poured in.
What often arises - Grief you had been outrunning. - A decision you already knew but had refused to hear. - Sudden tenderness for someone you love.
Silence is not empty. It is where the buried things come up to breathe.
More in Spirit
ॐ शान्तिः शान्तिः शान्तिः
Peace, peace, peace.