Peace of Mind: The Wonderful Depths of Silence

By S S HANS

For four frozen months in the Antarctic winter of 1934, Admiral Bryd was engaged in a search for scientific data. One day, standing absolutely still on that icy no-man'sland, he became intensely aware of the vast, deep silence. Later that evening, he wrote in his diary: "In that instant of utter silence, the realisation dawned upon me that I was part of God, part of the universe and that I was not alone".

Admiral Bryd discovered in that stillness what is waiting to be discovered by us in the deep recesses of our own being, in the quiet of the early morning at home, in the brief moments of prayer, or even while taking a quiet walk in the park. Like Bryd, we too can experience short spells of profound silence. Sri Aurobindo draws from his own experience in the poem Savitri: "A stillness absolute, incommunicable / Meets the sheer self discovery of the soul". In absolute silence is present an absolute power.

Generally, quietude, calmness, peace, silence and stillness are taken to be identical states of mind. But in reality, this is not so. All these are states of a deepening order of consciousness, silence being the deepest. In a state of deep silence, there are no thoughts, feelings or mental movements that can disturb or alter the peace of the inner-being. The human mind gets absorbed in the core of silence where it touches the original source of energy, love, purity and bliss of The Being, and discovers the soul. The mind is transmuted into the Mind of Light. This transmutation is the bridge that leads us to our true Self within. There, God becomes a living presence, and silence a conversation of the soul with God, wordless and wonderful.

In fact, silence is always knocking at the door of our spirit, but we seldom hear it. It is a buried treasure, waiting to be found. Seeking out silence is a daily requirement and needs to be developed into a habit to help keep the inner flame burning. When we are alone and in silence, we get infused with strength and inspiration. Silence is essential for our spiritual growth. We should guard our silent moments well and not allow routine schedules to deprive us of the time we spend in quiet solitude. Silence and meditation connect us with our inner-being and we re-enter the everyday world rejuvenated and with a fresh perspective.

Silence is important for meditation to be effective. The best place to practise silence and meditation is in natural surroundings. The silent time spent in contemplating the environs or the nature of our Being slowly develops an awareness of the peaceful state of Being that is always within reach, no matter what the circumstances.

Silence is not strictly soundless. After a point, one can listen to the sound of silence, what is traditionally referred to as nad . In her poem Silence is Shy, Vimla Thakkur, a Bhakta-philosopher writes, "Silence hides herself far away in the depth of the human heart/ she is eloquent when mind speaks not/ she is yours when you are not".

A Christian mystic said: "There is a silence at the heart of things. You may find it when you do not seek but stand and wait, and like a hill or tree, are for a little while content to be. Then you may even hear the silence speak".

A dear friend and I would often go for long walks in utter silence. He once told me that he could sometimes feel (hear) heavenly music - a celestial symphony - which made him spiritually elated. Maybe what the Mother of Aurobindo Ashram, Pondicherry, said can partly explain this: "In the depths of our Being, in the silence of contemplation, a luminous force floods our consciousness with a vast peace which prevails over all petty reactions and prepares us for union with the divine - the very purpose of individual existence."

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See also: Peace of Mind, Peace on Earth, Life and Beyond, Love and Happiness, Body Mind and Soul)