Four monks decided to meditate silently without speaking for two weeks.
They began with enthusiasm and no one said a word the whole day.
By nightfall of the first day, the candle began to flicker and then went out.
The first monk blurted out, “Oh, no! The candle is out.”
The second monk said, “Hey! We are not supposed to speak!”
The third monk said in an irritated voice, “What is this? Why did you two break the silence?”
The fourth monk smiled and said, “Wow! I’m the only one who hasn’t spoken.”
Reflections:
Each monk broke the silence for a different reason, each of which is a common stumbling block in our inner journey: distraction, judgement, anger and pride.
The first monk got distracted by one aspect of his experience (the candle) and forgot what was more important – the practice of witnessing without reacting.
The second monk was more worried about others following the rules than in actually practising himself. He was quick to judge without noticing that he himself was guilty of what he was criticizing.
The third monk let his anger towards the first two monks affect him.
The singular burst of anger ruined the effort of the day.
The fourth monk lost his way because of pride. He was convinced he was superior to the others, proving his ignorance.
Why did the fourth monk speak at all? He could have simply maintained his silence and he would have been successful in his endeavour.
But if he had, chances are, the other three might have continued to argue and not even noticed his silence. Some people are like this.
Their motto is “If I am doing something good, but no one notices, I might as well not be doing it at all.” They believe that the reward is not in the effort, but in the recognition.
There is a beautiful quote, “It is the province of knowledge to speak; it is the privilege of wisdom to listen.”
As we learn to truly listen, witness and observe without impulsively reacting with distraction, judgement, anger and pride, then we understand the true meaning of silence.
The Wisdom of Silence
Silence has the strength of spaces in sublime consciousness…
Silence shows the way of patience
Silence activates our guiding spirit
Silence powers the strength of intuition
Silence moves towards deep contemplation
Silence evolves the spirit of understanding
Silence graces atmosphere with quietude
Silence defends without a word
Silence strengthens the soul.
Silence can be a knowing of the peace within .
Silence is painful in its struggles and valuable in itself. Silence is in utter desperation, deep contemplation with phases of meditative connectedness. Silence is never thoughtless or mindless.
Silence dwells in the spaces between the steps to access whenever. Silence leads and the path appears.
Beautifully illustrated. I wish to note an important thing. When I was reading it, I was experiencing a peaceful mode of mind.
Meditating in the present moment is ultimately not so complicated. You just have to be peaceful with yourself & the world around.
The depth of silence soon starts opening your layers of consciousness.
Thanks Savvy, for this pacific composition of words.
Have a good day.
Lovely to know you found it peaceful! Thank you Sudhir for your kind words of appreciation. Yes in simply being at peace with the self in silence even for a little while regularly is truly enlightening and healing for our bodies.
February 16, 2019 at 9:29 am
Thank you, Savvy, very illuminating. Blessings and love to you, dear friend!
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February 16, 2019 at 10:07 am
Thank you Joan ๐๐๐
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February 16, 2019 at 10:26 am
I enjoy the conversations with myself in silence.
Beautiful stroy to drive home the point. The poetry was perfectly worded Savvy.
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February 16, 2019 at 10:29 am
Conversation with the self . YesI can relate to your words. Would love to catch up with you in person someday .
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February 16, 2019 at 11:11 am
Beautifully illustrated. I wish to note an important thing. When I was reading it, I was experiencing a peaceful mode of mind.
Meditating in the present moment is ultimately not so complicated. You just have to be peaceful with yourself & the world around.
The depth of silence soon starts opening your layers of consciousness.
Thanks Savvy, for this pacific composition of words.
Have a good day.
LikeLiked by 1 person
February 16, 2019 at 1:40 pm
Lovely to know you found it peaceful! Thank you Sudhir for your kind words of appreciation. Yes in simply being at peace with the self in silence even for a little while regularly is truly enlightening and healing for our bodies.
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February 16, 2019 at 11:24 am
Wow! You made Silence so Holy …. I think everyone should practice it once in a while. Just to meditate within ourself…
Thank you Savvy ….
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February 16, 2019 at 1:43 pm
Thank you my friend. ๐ Yes I do think silence is truly a powerful tool for self awareness and self healing.
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February 16, 2019 at 11:54 am
Yes.
So true.
The short version might be,
shut up,
and learn.
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February 16, 2019 at 1:44 pm
Thank you Cindy!๐
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February 17, 2019 at 1:21 am
Funny
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February 16, 2019 at 5:12 pm
A beautiful post Savvy, thank you!
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February 16, 2019 at 7:40 pm
Reblogged this on Not Tomatoes.
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February 17, 2019 at 1:22 am
Wonderful post and silence is golden.
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February 17, 2019 at 9:26 am
Quite agree on the value of silence for it has all the answers …thank you Ludaโ๐โ
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February 17, 2019 at 3:12 pm
Such a beautiful post. The story of the monks is so illuminating and inspiring.
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February 17, 2019 at 5:06 pm
Thank you dear Krishnapriya๐
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February 23, 2019 at 8:27 pm
Meaningful article dear Savvy..love reading this ๐ ๐
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February 23, 2019 at 8:45 pm
So nice to know so Krishna … thank you indeed!๐
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February 26, 2019 at 11:48 am
Many of the problems emerged due to the lack of silence.
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February 26, 2019 at 2:28 pm
๐
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February 26, 2019 at 2:46 pm
It’s only personal experiences ๐
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February 26, 2019 at 7:41 pm
I can relate to this.
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February 26, 2019 at 8:04 pm
I have faced some crisis due to my silence, that’s why….
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July 7, 2019 at 8:44 am
Silence is Devine my best friend also
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