Where is Silence?

Silence came up like a vital need for me this week. Learning a language obviously implies a lot of sounds, words and so on. I am listening constantly and attentively to everything around. I am repeating constantly sounds and words like a parrot and try to construct full sentences that make sense. Siena’s background also has like a soundtrack. Tourists go up and down the hilly streets, with words and sounds in all languages. There is a church or chapel almost in every corner and all with bell towers, with bells that ring always on what seems without ceasing.  Things are not quieter in my room, the TV or the radio are almost always on and when they are off, the natural noise of a roommate interrupts the second of calmness. Additionally, there is my own noise, my internal noise, heart and mind and all senses noises.

With my concern for silence in mind, I learned this week two things. First the Italian word chiacchiarare [kja-kkje’-rare] which means to talk or chat about nothing and everything. It is what is known in languages an onomatopoeic word; words associated with the sounds of what is named. For example, cuckoo, to name a bird; or sizzle to refer to what happens when something is frying or roasting. As a matter of fact, animal sounds are representing differently in each language. This is something I had fun with when I started learning English. For instance, an American rooster says cok-a’doodle-doo, while a rooster that “talks” Spanish says kikiriki, or a French kokoriko.  An Italian hen or chicken cacarea; hence, the word chiacchiarare describes a similar sound that we make while talking about nothing and everything.

The second thing that I learned was about the Academy for Silence. In order to train my ear to Italian language, I listen to podcasts about different topics. This time, it was an interview to the director of this academy in Milano. Their point is to rescue silence and train people to practice it in the midst of everyday life. It is a vital need and such an ancestral claim. All religions honor silence as the way we enter into contact with the deep of ourselves and hear God’s voice. There is where Elijah heard God:

Then the LORD said: Go out and stand on the mountain before the LORD; the LORD will pass by. There was a strong and violent wind rending the mountains and crushing rocks before the LORD—but the LORD was not in the wind; after the wind, an earthquake—but the LORD was not in the earthquake; after the earthquake, fire—but the LORD was not in the fire; after the fire, a light silent sound. When he heard this, Elijah hid his face in his cloak and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave. A voice said to him, Why are you here, Elijah? (1Kings 19, 11-13).

But how can I tell everybody around me to shut up?! How can ask noisy tourists to be quiet in church where I am seeking refuge for at least one second of silence? How can I tell this whole town to ring the bells only once a day? In short, how can I control the sounds around me? Impossible, isn’t it? It seems like that. This is not a new topic or problem I have to deal with. This is an old concern I have had for a long time. However, I think I found a way out of it. An answer if you will. While it is true I cannot control the sounds around, it is definitely true I can control the sounds and noise I make. I start by the easy ones like TV, radio, phone, computer off. Then I move on to a more difficult one, the use of words. How much do I really need to talk? I “budge” myself with words. No in the sense that I will give myself, let’s say, 500 words to speak. It will be annoying and inconvenient. I mean it in the sense of being attentive to the extend and quality of my conversations. One of the roots of our common problems is our degradation and falsification of the word given. I say something today and tomorrow I will deny or correct it. In other terms, the misuse of words leads me to lie. We all need to learn to talk from a profundity. The word in which I explain myself can’t be a word for lying. It has to come from the silence that gives truth to my words.

And finally, I move to the most complicated level of the noise and sounds I produce; the sounds of my mind and senses. It produces the deepest silence because it is in the inner self where we hear God’s voice like the light breeze.  While I know it is impossible to not think of anything even for a second, the mind is always working, it is possible to shut down those thoughts by directing them to our own interiority. Try to train yourself on these three steps. Just spend at least one minute or 90 seconds daily and you will notice significant progress in a short time.  When one archives the last step, any noise around won’t bother you as it used to be. However, this practice will prompt you to seek places and situations where you really will experience external silence as well.