The Sound of Silence

The Sound of Silence

A divinely musical harmony, sweet, true beyond all melodious sounds. — Hermes Trismegistus

In the Vedic tradition, the early morning hours before sunrise are called Brahma Muhurta. Literally translated it means, "the time of Brahma.” The exact time of Brahma changes around the world based upon the rising of the sun, roughly somewhere between 3:00 and 5:00 in the morning. In Hindu mythology, it is a time of tranquil, serene stillness where creative energy awakens the soul. It strikes me as a duet between the external silence before dawn and the inner quietness of Presence without thought, a moment beyond all sound and undisturbed by the clamor of the coming day.

The sage is not conflicted by states of stillness and thought. His mind is empty. — Ashtavakra Gita

The peaceful solitude and silence before daybreak is a reminder to me of my simple place in the universe. My Teacher says third eye understands how to use the space of silence; the experience of emptiness necessary to welcome something new. He teaches that when we are “active in silence, answers start to come” and that “silent presence is the answer.”

The search for the Real is no simple matter. Deep in my looking, the last words vanished. Joyous and silent, [was] the waking that met me there. — Lalla, 14th-century mystic poetess from Kashmir

Rumi closes more than five hundred odes with reference to “kharmush,” the Persian word for silence. Because writing about silence feels like an oxymoron, I offer to you for reflection and meditation, some profound thoughts from other authors who speak through their words directly to the soul.

All this talk and turmoil and noise and movement and desire are outside of the veil; within the veil are silence and calm and rest. — Bayazid

Be silent or let thy words be worth more than silence.― Pythagoras

The silence of the inner being, the secret, is the abandonment of occupation with the past and the future. — Al-Farisi

Presence in silence is the real jewel in the entire universe.— The Teacher

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A Sculpture of Brahma, Mumbai Museum