Motivation Mondays: In Silence
“A guide has entered this life in silence. His message is only heard in silence.” Rumi
Motivation Mondays: In Silence
Sounds of Silence
Four monks decided to meditate silently without speaking for two weeks. By nightfall on the first day, the candle began to flicker and then went out. The first monk said, “Oh, no! The candle is out.” The second monk said, “Aren’t we not supposed to talk?” The third monk said, “Why must you two break the silence?” The fourth monk laughed and said, “Ha! I’m the only one who didn’t speak.”
What does silence mean to you, and when do you use it? Silence is not inaction. It allows us to reflect and respond effectively. In our ever-busy world of cellphones, social media, and endless chatter, our creativity needs an oasis of calm to contemplate and explore ideas. If we don’t give ourselves space to be contemplative and make decisions with clarity and consideration, we’ll keep regurgitating the same old stories and ideas. We need room for silent reflection and space for innovation. If we don’t allow ourselves such places of quiet, we won’t allow our muse room to share something new with us. If we don’t give ourselves time to withdraw, regroup, and respond, we become like the monks in the story above. True silence opens doors. Stepping back takes effort, but you can’t force it. Let’s see it as self-rejuvenation.
Every year, all year long, we hear endless suggestions on how to be greater, better, smarter, richer, and more, more, more of everything. As the overwhelm slowly creeps into our space and finds a home in our psyche, we need to stop and breathe. We need to form a truce and give the pronouncements a break for an extended moment of silence. I am not talking about a forced, fake kind of silence. No. I mean a mindful, intentional decision to make space for silent moments of renewal. We need time to soul-search and make decisions that are true to our nature. We’ve become so caught up in the noise, the hype, the crafted false story, and empty promises that we don’t give ourselves room just to be present. True motivation and great inspiration emanate from a place deep within. The noise doesn’t touch that place, and we can connect with that level of inspiration and creativity only if we take time to step back and observe our surroundings and the activity in them. There is great power in silence. Explore it.
How do you observe silence? Does it help calm or upset your day? “As a man thinketh, so is he.” Sometimes we make a great show of our vows of silence, which, quite frankly, tends to reveal more about our ego than our wish to be quiet/silent. Taking time to reflect and catch our proverbial breath leads us down the road to observing silence. For true silence is not something we prompt; it happens of its own volition, in its own mystical, intelligent time. It’s a balancing act that evolves, and it’s never stagnant.
Sometimes we choose to be silent during meditation/prayer; other times, events stun us into silence, taking our breath away and leaving us speechless. When our spirit meets true silence, we respond without prompting. Whatever we believe in joins us there: God, energy, our own spirit, instructing us to pause, to be quiet, to be silent. What is ironic is that the moment we decide that we want to be silent, to enter a meditative state, our minds become active with the anticipation and even anxiety that precedes a conscious decision to turn the decibel level down; and eventually off. Instead of forcing the situation, relax and go with the flow. Show yourself the compassion it deserves, as silence need not be forced.
In Silence by Jalāl al-Dīn Muḥammad Rūmī (30 September 1207 – 17 December 1273)
A guide has entered this life in silence.
His message is only heard in silence.
Take a sip of his precious wine
And lose yourself.
Don’t insult the greatness of his love,
For he helps all those who suffer, in silence.
Polish the mirror between the breaths.
Go with him, beyond words.
He knows your every deed.
He is the one
who moves the wheel of heaven, in silence.
Every thought is buried in your heart;
He will reveal them one by one, in silence.
Turn each of your thoughts into a bird
And let them fly to the other world.
One is an owl, one is a falcon, one is a crow.
Each one is different from the others
But they are all the same in silence.
To see the Moon that cannot be seen
Turn your eyes inward
and look at yourself, in silence.
In this world and the next,
Don’t talk about this and that;
Let him show you everything,
shining as one . . . in silence.
by Maulana Jalaluddin Rumi
“I have learned silence from the talkative, toleration from the intolerant, and kindness from the unkind; yet, strange, I am ungrateful to those teachers.” Khalil Gibran
Motivation Mondays: In Silence
One Hour with RUMI — The Journey That Will Change Your Soul Forever
How do we use silence to negate ourselves and others? While observing silence offers tremendous rewards, there are times when we must not remain silent. In fact, the more we ignore an issue, the more we resist a condition, the more it persists and festers. When we refuse to be silenced by our oppressors in the workplace, at home, in our schools, and elsewhere, we are taking a stand to end the abuse against us and also against others. Every time we stand up and speak out against acts of violence, discrimination, and the negation of our existence, we are also speaking for the voiceless and facilitating change. When we see something and say nothing, we might excuse it as none of our business, but the actions we ignore can someday lead to more pain and suffering for people close to us or, frankly, for us.
To be proactive about ending violence, workplace harassment, and other forms of abuse/discrimination, we must all become engineers of change. This requires reflection, especially self-reflection about our own moral compass. Each of us must answer the following questions and search our conscience on why we choose to sit back and turn away from the suffering and denial of basic rights and aid for others: What are we doing for others? How is the tyranny of silence affecting our relationships and other areas of our lives? We can be impactful without being militant. We can exert influence without tyranny. Read the quotes and poems, watch the video, and reflect on them.
Breaking The Silence by Lovina Sylvia Chidi
Shush! Silence
I’m breaking the silence
As I finish this sentence
Six months ago
My heart said yes
My head said no, go slow
In my silence I hid the truth, expressing fear
In my silence I hid my feelings, registering no care
In my silence I hid my thoughts, refusing to share
Any of my ideas
Prosperous is the silence
Abundance of it can turn life
Into a nasty experience
Shush! Silence
I’m breaking the silence
As I finish this sentence
Ceaselessly I’ve combated with my conscience
Endlessly in silence, I exposed my defense
Allowing all to penetrate my territory without a valid license
I should have said no with my voice
I should have asked why by making some noise
In silence, I created an air of suspense
And they capitalized on it in my absence
In silence, all my thoughts mingled
Some of which should have been singled
Shush! Silence
I’m breaking the silence
As I finish this sentence
Silence I demand
Give back to me my independence
“I wash my hands of those who imagine chattering to be knowledge, silence to be ignorance, and affection to be art.” Khalil Gibran
Motivation Mondays: In Silence
The Silent Monks
Three monks who had taken vows of silence were permitted an annual reprieve during which one monk was permitted to speak at the end of each year of silence. At the end of the first year, the first monk was allowed his opportunity to speak, whereupon he said: The soup is too hot. Another year elapsed. Then it was the next monk’s turn. The monks turned their attention to him, whereupon he said: The soup is too cold. Another year elapsed. It was the third monk’s turn. The assembled monks turned to him, whereupon he said: The soup is neither too cold nor too hot. However, it is too salty.
By the fourth year, the Abbess had posted a notice that it would be she who would speak at the end of that year. The assembled monks were particularly alert to hear the esteemed Abbess give her speech. One could hear the sound of a butterfly’s wings in the silence which enveloped the hall. Whereupon the Abbess said: There will be no more of this quibbling about the soup. Thus have I heard.
Why is it necessary to be in silence periodically? Take some time this year to observe silence … to sit and meditate. We constantly rush around meeting deadlines, doing chores, completing tasks. Stop. Turn down the noise and speedometer. Observe Silence. When I first started my career in sales, a great teacher taught us that in every negotiation, the first speaker loses the deal. How can we negotiate effectively if we show our hand before we even hear what the other side brings to the conversation? Above is a beautiful story on silence from Wikipedia to make you chuckle. We make the best effort we can, and the rest shows what we really need to work on. True silence.
Can silence help us delve into life’s deepest questions? Can we, like in a typical Zen koan, ask what the sound of silence is? Is it the quiet we feel inside when we come across beauty in nature, in art, and in other creative expressions? Is it what the eyes capture that words can never fully articulate? Is it the quiet hum of the universe working out her dilemmas as she tackles the challenges pervading our atmosphere? Who knows. One thing I know for sure is that we experience profound silence in our entire being, and when we sense that silence in nature around us, it resonates deeply, and we feel cleansed and healed … for a moment. In silence, all things are discovered and revealed. How do you observe silence? Does it help calm or upset your day?
Silence by Edgar Lee Masters
I have known the silence of the stars and of the sea,
And the silence of the city when it pauses,
And the silence of a man and a maid,
And the silence of the sick
When their eyes roam about the room.
And I ask: For the depths,
Of what use is language?
A beast of the field moans a few times
When death takes its young.
And we are voiceless in the presence of realities —
We cannot speak.
A curious boy asks an old soldier
Sitting in front of the grocery store,
“How did you lose your leg?”
And the old soldier is struck with silence,
Or his mind flies away
Because he cannot concentrate on Gettysburg.
It comes back jocosely
And he says, “A bear bit it off.”
And the boy wonders, while the old soldier
Dumbly, feebly lives over
The flashes of guns, the thunder of cannon,
The shrieks of the slain,
And himself lying on the ground,
And the hospital surgeons, the knives,
And the long days in bed.
But if he could describe it all
He would be an artist.
But if he were an artist, there would be deeper wounds
Which he could not describe.
There is the silence of a great hatred,
And the silence of a great love,
And the silence of an embittered friendship.
There is the silence of a spiritual crisis,
Through which your soul, exquisitely tortured,
Comes with visions not to be uttered
Into a realm of higher life.
There is the silence of defeat.
There is the silence of those unjustly punished;
And the silence of the dying whose hand
Suddenly grips yours.
There is the silence between father and son,
When the father cannot explain his life,
Even though he be misunderstood for it.
There is the silence that comes between husband and wife.
There is the silence of those who have failed;
And the vast silence that covers
Broken nations and vanquished leaders.
There is the silence of Lincoln,
Thinking of the poverty of his youth.
And the silence of Napoleon
After Waterloo.
And the silence of Jeanne d’Arc
Saying amid the flames, “Blessed Jesus” —
Revealing in two words all sorrows, all hope.
And there is the silence of age,
Too full of wisdom for the tongue to utter it
In words intelligible to those who have not lived
The great range of life.
And there is the silence of the dead.
If we who are in life cannot speak
Of profound experiences,
Why do you marvel that the dead
Do not tell you of death?
Their silence shall be interpreted.
As we approach them.
Positive Motivation Tip: Silence opens our senses to recognize and understand life at its fullest with greater clarity.
PHOTO CREDITS/ATTRIBUTIONS: All Photos – via Pixabay, WIKIPEDIA
Until Next Time…
Ask. Believe. Receive. ©
Elizabeth Obih-Frank
Mirth and Motivation
Positive Kismet
