In many spiritual traditions, there is a practice in which a selected scriptural passage becomes the theme for the week. At Radical Spirituality, we do the same thing, but in a radical way.
Each Sunday, I offer The ABC’s of Radical Spirituality, a single, simple word distilled from the common principles of all the world’s faith and wisdom teachings that serves as the exploration for the week. They are the roots of Radical Spirituality. And because I am that person, the words are in alphabetical order. We start with A and go to Z.
It’s a simple practice to get to the roots of what matters on our spiritual path. The best part is that you will get out of it what you put into it. If you just keep the word on a sticky-note on your computer, it will still work it’s magic. But to dig deeper, delve in, dive in, and see what you find.
S is for (Radical) Silence
All the wonders of life are already here. They’re calling you. If you can listen to them, you will be able to stop running. What you need, what we all need, is silence. Stop the noise in your mind in order for the wondrous sounds of life to be heard. Then you can begin to live your life authentically and deeply.
― Thích Nhất Hạnh
Silence is the opposite of what our culture esteems: talking, thinking, opining, Instagramming, busy-ness, being heard, being seen. But every spiritual tradition values Silence, both as a practice and as an attribute of the Divine, and all the mystics of every tradition set Silence as a priori for a spiritual life. In Silence, the voice of the Divine can be heard, and for some traditions, the Divine is Silence itself.
The Latin root of Silence, silere, is related to both quiet and stillness. But Silence is more than the absence of sound or movement; it’s an attitude of Attention (see A is for Radical Attention). When we are silent, we are in receptive mode, listening, observing and sensing. When our bodies and minds are still and the chatter and busy-ness subside, our attention turns to that which truly matters.
For some of us, it’s truly scary to sit down and shut up. By constantly speaking and doing, we can stave off feelings of being inadequate, unworthy, unseen, or unheard. We can push away the fear that we are insignificant. For many, the more we say and do, the more important we feel. So, we say more. We do more.
Yet, doing less is the point. It’s paradoxical, but the less we talk, think, and do, the more we receive. The humility of Silence is what allows us to feel truly worthy, truly significant, truly heard and seen. When we stop – stop speaking, stop moving, stop the chatter in our heads – we are most open to be seen and heard, to see and hear others, to see and hear what is true or real, and be seen and heard by whatever we call sacred.
Then our speaking and doing arise from the open, receptive Silence and become authentic and meaningful. This is what all the mystics experienced and have tried to teach through practices of contemplation, meditation, and prayer.
So, the radical understanding of Silence is stop. Stop needing to prove our worth by doing and speaking. Stop distracting ourselves with thoughts and activities. Just Stop. Sit Down. Shut up. Listen. Pay attention to what the Silence says. Who knows what you might hear?
This week, we turn our attention to Silence. Where and when can we make time to Stop?
Deeper Roots
This silence, this moment, every moment, if it's genuinely inside you, brings what you need. There's nothing to believe. Only when I stopped believing in myself did I come into this beauty. Sit quietly, and listen for a voice that will say, 'Be more silent.' Die and be quiet. Quietness is the surest sign that you've died. Your old life was a frantic running from silence. Move outside the tangle of fear-thinking. Live in silence. - Rumi
In every tradition, the practices of Silence are some of the most important. Though often related to not speaking words of harm, there are deeper roots and references.
While Judaism is considered a wordy tradition, there are some very specific references and uses for Silence. The most interesting one is related to the desert. In the Bible, the Hebrew word for desert is midbar. The other words that share the same root are medaber, or Speaker, and medubar, or The Spoken. Etymologically, the meaning is that in the Silence of the desert, you can hear the what the Speaker speaks, and to hear the voice of God, desert-like Silence is necessary. In the Torah, YHVH speaks loudest in the silent desert: The Ten Commandments were given to the Israelites in the desert, or in Silence. (Yes, there was thunder and lightening, but that was just performative to get the people’s attention - drama! But, Moses on Sinai was in Silence).
In Christianity, following Jesus’ retreat to the Silence of the desert to commune with God, the early Desert Fathers and Mothers removed themselves from the world to focus on silent contemplation and prayer. Their understandings of the nature of the Divine remain some of the most potent today.
In their footsteps, Christian monastics removed themselves to monasteries, where they could practice Silence. The Eastern Orthodox mystical sects practiced a profound form of Silence in Hesychasm, from the word Greek hesychia ('silence' or 'stillness'), which included almost constant silent, inner prayer. While some monastics keep total silence, all Catholic monastics (and others, too) practice silence for varying amounts of time. For all monastics - regardless of faith tradition -, Silence is related to solitude and inward stillness and the purpose is to commune with the Divine.
Thomas Merton, a Trappist monk and scholar of Eastern traditions is one of the most eloquent on the importance of Silence. "The chief function of monastic silence is then to preserve that memoria Dei which is much more than just 'memory'. It is a total consciousness and awareness of God which is impossible without silence, recollection, solitude and a certain withdrawal."
Not unlike the Hesychasts, Vedantic Hinduism, Buddhism and Daoism all revere Silence as THE single most important practice for understanding the nature of Brahman, Buddha-Mind or Dao. The Vedas, the Daode Jing and many Buddhist sutras all describe the Ultimate Reality as the silence and stillness of all external phenomena. By clearing the mind through meditation, yoga and other practices, we realize Dao, Nirvana, Samadhi.
Baiscally, all traditions say, “Be still and know that I am God.” (or, as the Eastern traditions would have it, know that YOU are God.)
At its deepest root, then, Silence is both something we cultivate through quiet, stillness and solitude, and something we are.
We just have to be silent - sit down, shut up and listen - to find out.
Silence is God's first language; everything else is a poor translation. In order to hear that language, we must learn to be still and to rest in God.
— Father Thomas Keating
Reflection Questions
What does Silence mean to you?
Where do you experience Silence?
What prevents you from Silence?
How can you practice Silence?
Suggested Practice
For this week, pick a time each day, even for a few minutes, to be still and quiet. Try a contemplative practice, such as meditation or centering prayer, and simply notice how a few minutes each day affects you.
All my days I have grown up among the wise, and I have found nothing better than silence. - Rabbi Shimon ben Gamliel