THE tree of silence bears the fruit of peace. ~ Ancient Proverb
There is just too much noise nowadays. No peace, no tranquility, no serenity. No rest for the troubled and tired. Everywhere you go, you are bombarded with noise of all sorts. You open the television and what do you get? Awful, numbing, incessant noise from angry people. Fury and rage from all over. Traffic, blame, lies. You open the radio, the barrage continues with opinions, complaints, tears, pain and whatever. You go to malls and you hear loud music reverberating, out of tune singers in the events area, sales people hawking everything. You talk with people and you hear the same things. Noise everywhere. Noise, unceasing loud noise. People are mad, angry, afraid, desperate, self-righteous, self-serving, proud and those things are shown in the madness of noise. Silence is a rare thing nowadays.
People who are at peace are the ones who are quiet. Silence is their gift and their reward. Try and observe those who are rooted and undisturbed. They are at peace, they are quiet. Then compare them with the angry and the cruel and the disturbed. These people are noisy and loud. They draw attention to themselves while those who are at peace prefer to stay in the background and be content.
We all know people who are loud and noisy. One of my favorite quotes is the Zen saying, "outside noisy, inside empty." People who are loud and noisy, people who say so many things have really nothing to say. They just want to vent and rant. They draw attention to themselves for reasons only known to themselves. We know people who are like that. They do unbelievable things and we can only scratch our heads in wonder.
Take a look at our country nowadays. There is so much noise that one can barely hear the truth. In the cacophony and discord of things one will never find peace and truth. The streets are filled with people raging and shouting. In the halls of power, you hear the same things. One can only wonder where all this will lead to. In the dissonance of life, one will never find what one seeks for. It is only in silence and quiet that we can truly listen.
People who are at peace are quiet. The last thing they will do is to proclaim to the world that they are at peace. No one who is at peace will do that. When you are at peace, you really do not have to tell the world, the entire world, about it simply because you do not care. You are at peace and that is enough. You do not need nor want what people will say.
When people tell you that you are like this or that, you just smile and say nothing. It really does not matter to you. You have nothing to prove and whatever people say or do, do not have mean anything to you because you have the one thing that they are desperately selling you.
The wisest of people seek solitude. The shallowest shun it. The wisest seek it because they know that what they will find in silence will be worth it. The shallowest will run away from the silence because they cannot bear to see what is in silence. The wisest sit and meditate in the gift of silence. The shallowest will make a mad dash to materialism and alcohol and whatever can feed their inadequacies and fears.
The wise go to chapels and shaded lanes. The wise sit across a murmuring brook and listen to the unhurried water. The peaceful gaze at the flickering of a solitary candle and see the light of their lives come to life. The peaceful can sit in a crowd and hear only the beating of their hearts. Peace comes in silence and silence brings wisdom.
In all of us, there is a sacred space that is peaceful and tranquil.