The Power of Silence

"Words can be twisted into any shape. Promises can be made to lull the heart and seduce the soul. In the final analysis, words mean nothing. They are labels we give things in an effort to wrap our puny little brains around their underlying natures, when ninety-nine percent of the time the totality of the reality is an entirely different beast. The wisest man is the silent one. Examine his actions. Judge him by them."
said Karen Marie Moning (an American author)
The silent marches, which are regularly in response to needless violence, people's reactions go beyond the many meaningless statements that are thrown around following a tragic incident and our "culture of noise," which is where violence so frequently takes place.
These rituals are particularly potent because there is no singing, music, or conversing to divert attention from the objective.
Besides, is there anything more effective than quiet to silence the loud clamor of war and the cacophony of aggressive people engaging in mindless slaughter?
And isn't the best course of action to remain silent when words cannot express what is needed?
Silence has a versatile power.
Stillness has the ability to speak without words, transcend communication, and fill the gaps left by spoken language.
Additionally, remaining silent can be advantageous for one's ability to be creative, maintain mental health, engage in spiritual or religious activities, gain the upper hand in negotiations, or even be intimidating.
This video explores the power of silence that lies within us.
Chapter 01: Silence Amplifies Awareness
The mystic and poet Rūmī once realized that the quieter we become,
the more we're able to hear.
From his mystical point of view, listening is essential, as Rumi tried to get closer
to God and hear a "voice that doesn't use words" by being still.
Letting go of all the words allows us to hear other voices that were previously muffled by constant chatter.
These could be external sounds and voices that one misses due to not listening, as well as inside voices—what philosopher Ralph Waldo Emerson referred to as the "inner knowing".
If we remain silent both within and outside, we can listen with effectiveness.
Being quiet helps us pay closer attention to our environment.
By paying attention to what our senses pick up, we develop our intelligence and wisdom over time.
If we don't listen to others or remain silent, we only impart what we already know and don't acquire new knowledge.
The ancient philosopher Pythagoras once stated: "A fool is known by his speech, and a wise
man by silence."
Similarly, Lao Tzu wrote: "Those who know do not talk.
Those who talk do not know."
Being silent allows us to observe our surroundings and identify risks (and opportunities) that we would have missed if we were too preoccupied with talking.
However, it also enables us to learn more about ourselves.
People frequently silence the underlying voices that are wanting to be heard because they are too preoccupied with overanalyzing, fretting, pondering, and overthinking.
For instance, we can neglect to pay attention to our gut feelings or allow physical discomfort to alert us to particular health problems.
Alternatively, we prevent solutions and ideas that are already inside of us from emerging because the noise produced by our conscious thoughts is excessive.
Remaining silent might sometimes result in deeper spiritual and intellectual realizations.
People often identify with their thoughts, for instance, leading them to assume that we are who we think we are—that is, the "selves" we have built in our brains are, in reality, who we are.
As one of the five aggregates in Buddhism, ideas are creations of the mind that we mistake for being ourselves.
We are not our thoughts, according to the Buddha.
And if we quiet down and observe our thoughts, we'll discover that everything we think,
all our ideas, concepts, identifications, are fleeting.
Hence, according to the Buddha, a fixed self isn't really there.
But we only discover the illusory nature of thoughts if we keep quiet and observe and
recognize them for what they are.
Chapter 02: Silent Symphony of Creativity
The theoretical physicist Albert Einstein argued that silence stimulates the creative
mind.
When he couldn't come up with an idea, he'd just stop thinking and "swim in silence,"
(as he called it) and wait for the right information to come to him.
Therefore, like many other great minds, Einstein spent a lot of time in solitude, using quietness
to his advantage.
As he stated, and I quote: "The monotony and solitude of a quiet life stimulate the
creative mind."
End quote.
Executive director of the NeuroLeadership Institute, David Rock, wrote an article for
Psychology Today, stating that "An open mind is a quiet mind."
He researches the so-called 'aha' moment people have, during which a creative idea
or solution arises by itself.
These 'aha' moments involve weaker, less noticeable connections between neurons, which
are difficult to notice when other, louder signals dominate the brain.
I quote:
Thus, we have insights when our overall activity level in the brain is low.
This happens when we're either doing something that doesn't require a lot of mental effort,
when we're focusing on something repetitive, or just generally more relaxed like when we
wake up.
Insights require a quiet mind, because they themselves are quiet.
End quote.
So, it seems that we need to create the right circumstances for our minds to quiet down.
For some people, this may be going for a walk and repetitive forms of exercise or listening
to calming music.
For others, like Einstein, it might be dwelling in silence and solitude.
Many of the great minds of the past, like Isaac Newton, Elizabeth Bishop, and Nikola
Tesla, worked alone in quiet places.
Chapter 03: Echoes of Silence
Oftentimes, silent communication can convey ideas far more effectively than spoken communication.
We can effectively communicate without speaking or writing when we respond to statements with silence or when we pause at the appropriate moments throughout conversations.
We may express things through silence that words cannot.
The human experience is never entirely captured by the many words said, concepts exchanged, and promises made.
But the strength of silence in response to tragedy lies in our recognition that no words can truly capture what we want to remember; in fact, it is so important to us that we are willing to put an end to our conversation and remain silent for a while.
Is there a more appropriate method to express respect?
Silence during a talk can also be quite effective.
American author Mark Twain stated, and I quote: "The right word may be effective, but no
word was ever as effective as a rightly timed pause."
End quote.
Academic research shows that silence in a conversation starts to feel unbearable after
approximately four seconds.
Author of the book Cringeworthy: A Theory of Awkwardness Melissa Dahl wrote in an article
that awkward silences can be a powerful tool for getting what you want.
Dahl stated, and I quote:
In researching my new book, Cringeworthy, which is about the psychology of awkwardness,
I found that uncertainty is a big factor in the unpleasantness of feeling awkward.
These are life's unscripted moments, when there's no clear indication of what to say
or do next.
It's a well-established finding in psychology research that not-knowing tends to make people
uneasy.
End quote.
So, the uncertainty caused by such silences in conversations makes people uneasy.
Did I say something wrong?
Does this person dislike me?
What's going to happen next?
And so, the person on the receiving end of the silence may proceed to make any decision
just to end the uneasiness of the uncertain gap in the communication.
And this decision could be beneficial to the person brave enough to keep silent at the
right moment.
Another benefit of keeping silent during conversations is that it's safer than speech.
In some situations, whatever we say weakens our position.
For example, if we're part of a conversation about a subject we don't know anything about.
In such cases, it's more powerful to listen: not just because listening grants us the opportunity
to learn but also because we don't make a fool out of ourselves by trying to appear
knowledgeable when we are not.
Moreover, keeping silent shows that we're interested and willing to listen, which people
generally appreciate.
Roman writer Publilius Syrus once stated: "I often regret that I have spoken; never
that I have been silent."
Chapter 04: Serene Wellness
How can one take refuge from a noisy world and a noisy intellect?
Many accounts from a wide range of people throughout history teach us that silence is a good way to clear our minds.
A substantial amount of evidence indicates that quiet improves sleep, eases insomnia, and calms the mind.
Also, a study found that two minutes of silence has a more calming effect than listening to
relaxing music.
Other studies show that environmental noise exposure increases stress hormone levels and
can cause disruptions in sleep structure.
"Unnecessary noise is the most cruel absence of care that can be inflicted on sick or well,"
wrote Florence Nightingale, an English social reformer and founder of modern nursing.
In an article on Psychology Today, author George Michelsen Foy tells us that we've
learned to tolerate noise and see it as something positive in our modern society.
All of the technologies we have developed are operational; noise indicates that the machines are working.
However, Foy claims that we "make a serious mistake" by putting up with this noise.
Several studies have demonstrated that noise kills and that too much input is harmful to our ability to function.
Therefore, we must include stillness into our life in order to break free from the harmful flow of information and noise.
Silence enhances performance and general well-being.
I quote:
Release is what I'm truly craving here, and release comes from emptiness.
The emptiness of silence, of lonely landscapes, of closed eyes, of lying down in a dark, quiet
room.
The drop in tension that happens when we take a vacation somewhere calm, the instant of
zero gravity during orgasm, the psychic leap of a good joke when it flips the world on
its head for a splinter of a second.
Such void cuts off the fascist flow of constant information, and allows us to recalibrate.
To think better.
To question, for a second, our baseline.
It is really, really important to do that.
End quote.
Silence is minimalistic and empty, yet imposing and powerful.
We can't verbalize silence, but everyone understands it.
It's all-encompassing: mysterious but clear, soothing but painful, idle but useful, consenting
but rebellious, and elusive but accessible to anyone.