BT Song 1236:
When I read the chapter “Silence, the Pro-Logos and the Monk in Raimon Panikkar” (pp. 143-158, in Mario I. Aguilar, Christian Ashrams, Hindu Caves and Sacred Rivers: Christian-Hindu Monastic Dialogue in India 1950-1993, London: Jessica Kingsley Publishers, 2016) and particularly what Aguilar wrote about Panikkar’s view on silence, I wrote this song:
Panikkar outlines the primacy of silence over the Word by arguing that it is in silence that reality is united because ‘silence is one, words are many’. His Indian experience suggests that ‘those who listen to the silence out of which the word emerges often have no need of words, and from those who have not discovered this silence the very word will conceal it, so that ‘the three yogas, mind, speech, and body, progressively disappear’.29 It is this silence that becomes the central core of unity in the search for human fulfillment and divine encounter, and that unites not only the life of a Christian monk but the commonality of a search and actualization of transcendence by monks in the different traditions, particularly in Hinduism.—p. 149
28 I am referring here in my commentary to ‘sutra 3: Silence over the Word’ in Panikkar (Panikkar, R. Mysticism and Spirituality, Part Two: Spirituality, the Way of Life, Opera Omnia Vol. I.2, edited by M. Carrara Pavan. Maryknoll, NY: Orbis, 2014b), pp. 163-6
29. Panikkar (2014b), p. 163
Of course, in the Indian sadhana, there is a place for silence. Uttering the mantra silently is part of the Vedic recitation. I have seen several people reading their daily slokas, mantras, and songs silently (like my mother, who does this even today). I have seen several people sitting quietly in the temple prakara, silently reciting slokas or reading their songs. According to my understanding, this is not silence but inaudible or non-vocal communication within, not true silence. In the Hindu (Vedic) tradition, there is the term ‘muni’ which refers to those who practiced silence. However, the moment we experience it, utter it, share it, or write about it, it ceases to remain silence, in my view. If any words emerge from silence, they break and spoil it. The munis of Indian tradition never wrote or left any written records of their experiences. It was the Rishis who saw the mantras and compiled them. Priests used them audibly in rituals, and various acharyas wrote commentaries on them. But real silence requires none of this. As long as there is a language to experience or express silence, it will cease to remain silence.
*BT Song 1238*
My favorite time or sadhana is sitting silently in the presence of the Lord. Of course, I have my own reservations and definition of silence. I prefer a time when I won’t even utter any words outwardly. I won’t pray, give thanks, or anything else—just sit silently to communicate with the Lord. Of course, the mind will wander. But when I allow it to do as it likes and try to enjoy the presence of the Lord, it automatically comes and joins with my atman to abide in His presence. There is no time measurement in that fellowship. It has no form or words to express. There is no need even to express it, as Dr. Johnson well said: “…if a man has experienced the inexpressible, he is under no obligation to express it” (quoted by A.K. Ramanujan in “Why an Allama Poem Is Not a Riddle: An Anthological Essay,” pp. 309-323, in Vinay Dharwadker, ed., The Collected Essays of A. K. Ramanujan, New Delhi: OUP, 1999; eighth impression, 2014, p. 309). It is a state of being in the presence of the Lord and abiding in Him.
Revised on 12-7-2024
Gurukulam
BT Song 1236:
When I read the chapter “Silence, the Pro-Logos and the Monk in Raimon Panikkar” (pp. 143-158, in Mario I. Aguilar, Christian Ashrams, Hindu Caves and Sacred Rivers: Christian-Hindu Monastic Dialogue in India 1950-1993, London: Jessica Kingsley Publishers, 2016) and particularly what Aguilar wrote about Panikkar’s view on silence, I wrote this song:
Panikkar outlines the primacy of silence over the Word by arguing that it is in silence that reality is united because ‘silence is one, words are many’. His Indian experience suggests that ‘those who listen to the silence out of which the word emerges often have no need of words, and from those who have not discovered this silence the very word will conceal it, so that ‘the three yogas, mind, speech, and body, progressively disappear’.29 It is this silence that becomes the central core of unity in the search for human fulfillment and divine encounter, and that unites not only the life of a Christian monk but the commonality of a search and actualization of transcendence by monks in the different traditions, particularly in Hinduism.—p. 149
28 I am referring here in my commentary to ‘sutra 3: Silence over the Word’ in Panikkar (Panikkar, R. Mysticism and Spirituality, Part Two: Spirituality, the Way of Life, Opera Omnia Vol. I.2, edited by M. Carrara Pavan. Maryknoll, NY: Orbis, 2014b), pp. 163-6
29. Panikkar (2014b), p. 163
Of course, in the Indian sadhana, there is a place for silence. Uttering the mantra silently is part of the Vedic recitation. I have seen several people reading their daily slokas, mantras, and songs silently (like my mother, who does this even today). I have seen several people sitting quietly in the temple prakara, silently reciting slokas or reading their songs. According to my understanding, this is not silence but inaudible or non-vocal communication within, not true silence. In the Hindu (Vedic) tradition, there is the term ‘muni’ which refers to those who practiced silence. However, the moment we experience it, utter it, share it, or write about it, it ceases to remain silence, in my view. If any words emerge from silence, they break and spoil it. The munis of Indian tradition never wrote or left any written records of their experiences. It was the Rishis who saw the mantras and compiled them. Priests used them audibly in rituals, and various acharyas wrote commentaries on them. But real silence requires none of this. As long as there is a language to experience or express silence, it will cease to remain silence.
*BT Song 1238*
My favorite time or sadhana is sitting silently in the presence of the Lord. Of course, I have my own reservations and definition of silence. I prefer a time when I won’t even utter any words outwardly. I won’t pray, give thanks, or anything else—just sit silently to communicate with the Lord. Of course, the mind will wander. But when I allow it to do as it likes and try to enjoy the presence of the Lord, it automatically comes and joins with my atman to abide in His presence. There is no time measurement in that fellowship. It has no form or words to express. There is no need even to express it, as Dr. Johnson well said: “…if a man has experienced the inexpressible, he is under no obligation to express it” (quoted by A.K. Ramanujan in “Why an Allama Poem Is Not a Riddle: An Anthological Essay,” pp. 309-323, in Vinay Dharwadker, ed., The Collected Essays of A. K. Ramanujan, New Delhi: OUP, 1999; eighth impression, 2014, p. 309). It is a state of being in the presence of the Lord and abiding in Him.
Revised on 12-7-2024
Gurukulam
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