Day 21 - The Beauty of Silence

Today's Tarka Practice

This is one of the most important spiritual practices that you can work into your life. The more you can incorporate periods of silence into your life, the stronger your spiritual practice will grow. Being silent helps you to learn to become a better listener. You will be able to better hear your own internal dialogue and you will be able to better hear others and what they are really saying.

 

Silence will also help you to slow down your thoughts and work towards an empty mind. The more you can be silent, the more present you will become with others. Your own mind won’t be running amok and so you will be able to really hear and observe what is going on around you. You will become more sensitive and more compassionate.

 

It can be very difficult to be silent, particularly if there are others in your life that think that your practice of silence is because you are upset with them.  In order to avoid this problem, explain to your loved ones that you are practicing silence and ask for their support. It can also be difficult to bring more silence into your life because you are afraid of the silence. Some people fear silence because they are afraid to slow down, take a breath and see who they are or see reality exactly as it is. So, be aware that when you first begin your practice of silence, you may encounter some obstacles with yourself and with others. This is good. It will help you grow and you can record all of this in your journal.

 

To begin to incorporate the practice of silence in your life, you may want to just start with an hour of silence each day. You can easily achieve this by waking up before everyone else or going to bed after everyone else. This is the easiest method. If this is not a possibility in your life, look at your schedule and see when you might be able to work silence into your life. Even an hour a week will benefit your spiritual practice.

 

In your journal today, write down when you will practice silence in your life, for how long, and when you will begin the practice. Set a date and make a commitment. When you practice silence, record how you feel about this practice in your journal. Do you feel relieved? Nervous? Fearful? Peaceful? Record everything you experience and you will begin to have a better understanding of what the practice of silence means in your own life.