the four types of Silence -The Silence of Speech!

[Guest guest]

May i please share a popular Buddist Story in this context ?

 

A philosopher once visited Buddha and asked him: "Without words,

without the wordless, will you tell me the truth?"

Buddha observed silence.

 

After a while the philosopher rose up gently, made a solemn bow and

thanked Buddha saying: "With your loving kindness, I have cleared

away all my delusions and entered the true path."

 

When the philosopher had left, Ananda, a senior disciple of Buddha,

enquired: "O, Blessed one, what hath this philosopher attained?"

 

Buddha replied: "A good horse runs even at the shadow of the whip!"(

 

One of the names of Buddha is 'Sakyamuni. Literally this means, "the

silent one of the Sakya clan." But the popular use of this name for

the Buddha also contains a dual significance. For besides referring

to Buddha's clan, in certain Indian languages the word sakya also

refers to something "graceful" or "pleasing." Thus Sakyamuni can

also mean "one who is gracefully silent."

 

Advaitins, please read this beautiful article at the following

website :

 

http://www.spiritualitytoday.org/spir2day/884025chandrak.html

 

Folks, in this context i would like to recall the words from Arthur

Osborne, a western devotee of Sri Ramana Bhagwan !

 

Here is how Arthur Osborne describes Sri Ramana's silent attention.

Arthur Osborne cites

 

"The initiation by look was a very real thing. Sri Bhagavan [i.e.,

Ramana] would turn to the devotee, his eyes fixed upon him with

blazing intentness. The luminosity, the power of his eyes pierced

into one, breaking down the thought-process. Sometimes it was as

though an electric current was passing through one, a vast peace, a

flood of light. One devotee has described it: "Suddenly Bhagavan

turned his luminous, transparent eyes on me,. Before that I could

not stand his gaze for long. Now I looked straight back into those

terrible, wonderful eyes, how long I could not tell. They held me in

a sort of vibration distinctly audible to me"

 

It is said that Sri Ramna Bhagwan was often fond of quoting

Thayumanavar, the silent sage !

 

Here is a famous hymn of Thayumanavar, the silent sage

 

"The Silent One possessed me in Silence

and poured into me a speechless word

that was the seed of wisdom.

That word, O friend. had a magic effect on my life.

It hushed up the mind and opened my heart to silent embrace of the

Divine ".

 

In passing ,

 

"Silence is not absence of speech and solitude is not physical

seclusion or isolation in a cave or a forest or on the mountaintop.

It is the ability to be in the centre of things, free of the

turbulence of thoughts, which besiege and torture the mind."

 

If the tongue is silent but the mind is invaded by 'noises' of all

negaive thoughts, what is the use ?

 

aS PER chandogya upanishad :

 

"Now, what people call 'the practice of silence' is really the

disciplined life of a student of sacred knowledge, for only by

leading such a life does one find the atman and meditate" (Chandogya

Upanishad 5.5.4.3).

 

Dedicate one day in the week to this 'inward silence' - Dive deep

within!

 

Sri Gurave namaha!