Silence

Speak only when it improves the silence

My Philosophy: Engage in speech only when it improves on silence
I am not saying shut-up. I just meant it is good speaking that improves good silence!

There are several reasons why Buddhists tend to be fond of silence.
- One refrains from lying or misleading others by speech.
- One becomes more aware of the inner state of mind.
- It is easier to control one's mind when not talking.
- It's nice and quiet (sorry, just joking).

From my own experience, if one keeps silent one somehow builds up a lot of extra awareness and clarity of mind during a retreat. As soon as you start talking, quite a bit of focus can be lost in just minutes.

Another famous & often quoted english adage is - Eloquence is silver; silence is gold
(Speech is silver. Silence is golden.
Words are silver and silence is gold.
If speech is human, silence is divine.)
In the modern times - "Speech is silver; silence is golden; print is dynamite." Now this being said I shall end with the following note - It is only wise to leave some unwanted words unsaid.!!


Only the human soul can acquire the capacity of such intricate and highly disciplined and balanced speech. No other creature or being has the power of such highly developed speech. So we ought to put it to good use.

Good use of power of speech - If we are not in a position to help those suffering from various causes like diseases, distress, pangs of separation from kith and kin or such other calamities, we could at least heartily console them by soft, soothing, beneficial and pleasing words. Such an excellent and remarkable use of the power of speech can be rightly designated as 'silence', since such a use of speech is not for less important purposes, but for benevolence of everyone concerned.

Abandon pointless talkativeness - It is always wise not to initiate talk that is not conducive to our betterment, or any noble purpose. Criticizing others, using abusive words, indulging in idle or wicked talk, uttering words that offend and hurt others, busying oneself in self praise - all these mean sheer waste of our power of speech. Persons endowed with a sense of discrimination should abandon this with conscious effort.



Remember: loose lips, might sink ships
# posted by Hemal Modi @ 8:09 PM  -