Language and silence

[Guest guest]

Language and Silence

 

 

The notion of silence and communication ceasing to be linguistic but becoming

postural or Mudra-language is a fascinating area of study. Silence has been an

integral part of Yoga and I think it is very ancient and perhaps universal. In

terms of recorded history I can trace to Sumerian times where there is a phrase

'en-kum-e-ne" , i.e. people who remain silent and practice silence in separate

rooms isolated for this purpose as a part of temple and here Kes Temple. This is

mentioned in the Kes temple Hymns of EnHudu Anna (~2200 B.C.)

 

The Silence of Buddha in the face of difficult metaphysical questions about soul

God and so forth probably was related to this Yoga Culture. However there has

been many INTERPRETATIONS of the significance of the Language of Silence and

along with it also the mudra.

 

Below on the basis of the insights I gained by the study of Tolkaappiyam , I

offer my own interpretations. To begin with I recapitulate here what I have said

earlier on Tol.

 

Tolkaappiyam is an active field of study among Tamil scholars to this day.

There has been commentaries after commentaries and now there are publications

where these are collected and critically edited. Since the days Tol. there

has been a wide range Grammatical treatises quite a number belonging to the

bakti period lost except for some stray sutras. One great loss is KuuRRiyal

by Cembutceey mentioned in kaLaviyal commentary. However briefly stated the

theories of meanings goes as below:

 

A. lexical meanings -- Tol. ellaa collum poruL kuRittee : every word has a

meaning direct or implied and where by 'col' is meant even particles

enclitics and so forth

 

B. The sentential meanings : this is dealt with in the second book , the

Collatikaaram which also includes a brief study of verbal interactions and

the kinds of meanings that emerge there. A fascinating chapter is that of

Eccaviyal where the IMPLIED MEANINGS that can emerge only at the sentential

level and that too because the use of a sentence to execute a Speech Act (

Ta. kuuRRu) is dealt with. This is also related to arthapatti of the

logicians.

 

C. The discourse meanings : This is largest area of study and the whole of

Sangam poetry is understood in terms of the classificatory category Tol

supplies : the TiNai tuRai etc. which brings the THEMATIC meanings and which

can emerge only at the discourse level, discourse understood here as a

cluster of verbal acts that is unitary in some ways.

 

D. Then we have Rhetoric and Poetics where also metaphors the various figures

similes and so forth are dealt with. hat became the the Study of Alangkara or

aNi has its beginnings in the Uvamaviyal

 

E. Another area quite distinct to Tol is the body language - the

paralinguistic and gestural which are intrinsic to natural verbal interactions

as well as poetry or written literature, the ceyyuL. The Meyppaattiyal is

quite unique and here we have a study of the Gaze and so forth and their

meanings.

 

Syntax Time and Silence

 

The most significant contribution of Tol. is the identification of NP as having

no time related particles but only cases but the VP having so. In a sentence

the NP names an object and becomes the carrier of case-meanings while the VP

names a process action etc and becomes the carrier of the TIME as tenses among

others. However what is more interesting is that Tol. divides TENSES into TWO

types: KuRippu kaalam and Cuddu Kalam i.e. intentional time or temporality and

world time or Physical time. We can further elucidate that the INTENTIONAL time

is MORE PRIMORDIAL and that we can reckon physical time only because we are

already TEMPORAL in our Being-in-the-World, in our existence. This is where I

find the

contributions of earlier Heidegger very meaningful and in substantial agreement

with Tolkaappiyar.

 

Why are we intentional? This is a big question related to the fact that we are

IGNORANT and that we are predisposed to ACT in various ways in order to LEARN

and reduce our ignorance.

 

Now what is if this temporality or INTENTIONAL time is NO MORE an element of our

understanding?

 

There will NOT be TIME in our understanding and once this happens we become

INCAPABLE of language of NP+VP syntax! Then we CANNOT speak verbally but only

nonverbally. There is an UNDERSTANDING, the Civanjanam that destroys

intentionally and hence deprives the mind of TIME and it is this understanding

that is communicated by TaciNaamurti archetype through language of Cin Mudra.

 

Loga

 

 

 

 

 

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Dear friends! You are most welcome to visit the following websites I maintain:

 

For World Saivism : http://ulagan.tripod.com/index.htm

For Dravidian Philosophy: http://loga.tripod.com/tindex.htm

For Agamic Psychology :

http://ulagank.tripod.com/agapsyindex.htm

For ArutkuRaL studies:

http://arutkuraL.tripod.com/index.html

For studies of Tamil Sacred scriptures in

English: http://arutkuraL.tripod.com/tmcampus/tmc-open.html

For SumeroTamil and related studies:

http://arutkuraL.tripod.com/sumstudies/sumcampus.html

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