Saying For Today: Silence, not being an absence but a fullness, has so much more of substance to say than we do, and silence is healthy for us, calming, centering, and making us more intimate with the world about us.
The Kennebec River - Bath, ME
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I chant a Buddhist chant of purification and dedication each morning: OM (body) - AH (speech) - HUM (mind). The aspiration is to manifest wisdom and compassion through actions, words, and thoughts. This chant is a tri-unity. Wise speech is related to wise behavior and thinking. If I chant this as a rote ritual or something magical, that is not the way. The chant is to be infused with the aspiration to live the day wisely, including standing guard over the mouth. With the mouth, we intend to be non-harming, or to bless. At times, later in the day, I sit and realize I have spoken unwisely. I am reminded of the chant and am called back to the aspiration. One function of rituals is to remind us of how we wish to live and treat other life forms. So, each morning, the chant renews my aspiration. Also, the memory of it calls me back to the intent. Little about us encourages us to wise speech, which includes wise silence. We must remind ourselves and often. Even if we are in a spiritual community doing this, we still do it ourselves.
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The Sage was invited to a religious meeting. He attended, wondering what it would be like. After the meeting, he was visited by this fellow who had invited him. "What," the man asked, "did you think about the message our pastor gave today?" "Not bad, not bad at all," answered the Sage, "but the best part, to me, was before his introduction and following his conclusion."
*Brian K. Wilcox. "Meetings with an Anonymous Sage."
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Proverbs 10.19 - Hebrew Bible -
In a lot of words, folly is not lacking, while the one who curbs the tongue is wise.
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Silence, not being an absence but a fullness, has so much more of substance to say than we do, and silence is healthy for us, calming, centering, and making us more intimate with the world about us. If we realize this, we will not talk as much. We will discipline ourselves not to expose ourselves as much to the wordiness of others - this includes online and the media.
No one but each of us is responsible for safeguarding our aloneness and quietness. Our speech will mean more; we will have more of value to say and fewer words when we speak. Last, we will speak more wisely, for we will speak mindfully, and words will flow from the silence rather than a craving for the attention of others or out of fear of aloneness.
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Wise speech, however, does not mean not enjoying times of jocularity. I, at times, act somewhat in a crazy wisdom way, saying what appears weird. And most often my jokes are about myself. My late dad and his siblings enjoyed joking and, thereby, having clean fun, and I seem to have inherited that trait. And I gave up years ago on trying to be the oh-so-serious model of some holiness. I do not agree with those who think a spiritual life entails only grave talk. Helping others to laugh can be wise speech and an expression of compassion. In this, those who know how to keep quiet know best how wisely to enjoy such times of wholesome levity.
*Brian's book, An Ache for Union: Poems on Oneness with God through Love, can be ordered through major online booksellers or the publisher AuthorHouse.
