SILENT LANGUAGE

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SILENT LANGUAGE

By Dr. K. Subrahmanian

 

Silence is not the negation of sound and is not subordinate to

speech. The English word `silence' has negative connotations. It is

considered opposite of `sound'. `Mouna' in Sanskrit is a positive

concept. The word Mouna is derived from Muni. It is the

characteristic of a muni or a sage. A muni is one whose mind is

merged in the Self.

 

In his The Prose of the World, Moreleau Ponty says: " We should

consider speech before it has been pronounced against the ground of

silence which precedes it, which never ceases to accompany it, and

without which it would say nothing. Moreover, we should be sensitive

to the thread of silence from which the tissue of speech is woven. "

The more sensitive we are to the thread of silence, the more alert we

shall be to what we would say. But when we are totally bound by the

thread of silence, we shall have no desire to say anything. Speech is

an advocate of desire. Where there is no desire, there is only

silence.

 

When we know a person very well, he won't mistake us if are

occasionally silent in his company. A little gesture, a little smile

will do. Silence becomes companionable where there is understanding.

Greater the understanding, less the need of speech. Where there is

perfect understanding, speech is not essential. Silence will do.

Speech distances man from himself. It is silence that brings him to

himself. In speech there is `otherness', in silence there is oneness.

 

Of speech and silence, Sri Bhagavan says: " Language is only a medium

for communicating one's thought to another. It is called in only

after thoughts arise. When one remains without thinking one

understands another by means of the universal language of the

silence. " " Silence is ever-speaking. It is a perennial flow of

language, which is interrupted by speaking. These words I am speaking

obstract that mute language. For example, there is electricity

flowing in a wire. With resistance to its passage, it glows as a lamp

or revolves as a fan. In the wire it remains as electric energy.

Similarly also, silence is the eternal flow of language, obstracted

by words. "

 

Silence is not mere emptiness. It is the basis of everything in the

world. However big or beautiful a car may be, it cannot move unless

the small spark plugs in it function properly. The important thing in

a spark plug is the gap; the empty space in it should be clean, free

from the matter. The spark does not occur when there is no gap to

traverse. So the car cannot run when the gap is blocked. The spark

plug is thus the basis of the car's movement. In the same way,

silence is not just the negation of sound. It is the basis of

everything in the universe.

 

Silence, according to Sri Bhagavan is inner silence. The inner

silence is self-surrender. And that means living without the sense of

the ego. Silence comes into being when the individual is completely

free from ego, when he surrenders himself totally to the Lord. He

enjoys freedom when he becomes captive of the Lord; he becomes a

conqueror when he throws away the sword of his will. (Abstracted from

The Mountain Path, October 1986. Dr. Subrahmanian was the founder of

our Kendram.)

 

prof laxmi narain (prof_narain)

 

Source and courtesy: Sri Ramana Kendram, Hyderabad

This article was published in Sri Ramana Jyothi,

monthly magazine of the Kendram.