SILENCE

‘Inner silence is a state of consciousness in which something mysterious, something profound begins to reveal itself. It is this «something» that we call the voice of silence. Those who succeed in subduing everything inwardly, even in halting thought – for in its movement, thought too makes noise – hear this voice of silence which is the voice of their divine nature.’

‘Several times a day, devote at least a few minutes to establishing silence within you. Close your eyes and try to detach your thoughts from your daily preoccupations and worries. Turn them upwards, towards the summits, towards the source from which life flows out into the whole universe Try to put your problems aside for a moment and find the conditions that allow you to rise by means of thought into the world of light.’

‘Silence is the expression of peace, harmony and perfection, and it provides the best conditions for psychological and spiritual work. “Learn to become silent within”, the sages tell us. But silence alone does not do a great deal. In the spiritual life it cannot be a goal in itself; its true function is to enable thought and the creative imagination to take flight. Each time you are given the experience of savouring moments of true silence, at home or in nature, try to create in your mind something pure, warm, full of light and powerful. The day you succeed in making the atmosphere around you vibrant, all those who come to visit you or who pass your way will receive an impulse to do good. Merely remaining still is pointless. Even in stillness and silence, you have to learn to become alive and creative.’

‘If you ask a sage to reveal to you what God is, he will remain silent, because it is the only response to this question. It is silence alone that is able to express the essence of the Divinity. We can say that God is love, wisdom, power, justice…and this is true, but in reality these words fall short of the divine reality. They capture nothing of the infinite, the eternal, the perfection of God. We cannot know God by speaking of him or listening to someone speak of him. We know him by attempting to penetrate deeply within ourselves, in order to attain this region that is silence itself.’

‘Silence is not something inert, but an intense work which takes place at the heart of a perfect harmony. Neither is it a void, an absence, but a plenitude comparable to that experienced by beings united by a great love and who live something so profound that they cannot express it by gestures or words. Silence is a quality of the inner life.’