Mystic Mantra: Self in silence

There is an Arabian proverb: When you have spoken the word, it reigns over you. When it is unspoken you reign over it. Words are very important tools of communication. That’s why the enlightened masters such as the Buddha advised his disciples about right speech, saying that if we cannot perform right speech, we had better not speak, as it is said, “Silence is golden”.

Osho says: Ordinarily we understand only words... Nobody helps us to go beyond language, to go beyond words, to reach the wordless space within us. Silence is the explosion of intelligence. Silence means: you are just uncluttered spaciousness. It means you have put aside the whole furniture of the mind — the thoughts, the desires, the memories, the fantasies, the dreams, you have all pushed aside. You are just looking into existence directly. That is silence. And to be in tune with existence even for a single moment is enough to make you aware of things. One is that you, are eternal. Once you realise this, fear disappears. And society exists through exploiting your fear; one-third of your life is in learning words, language, logic. It is not concerned at all that you should understand silence. That’s the function of a Master: To undo all that the society has done to you, to help you to go beyond words. And you can experience it happening here—you can hear the silence. And when you hear it, there is immediate understanding. Understanding comes like a shadow following silence.

Osho concludes: To understand words and to hear words is very simple. Anybody can do it; just a little education about language is needed, nothing much. But a tremendous transformation is needed to hear silence and to understand silence… Silence is the basic requirement of understanding God, the basic requirement to know truth… Silence can be profane too. Silence can be sacred too. Silence has as many nuances, as many dimensions as your being has. It is multidimensional.

Swami Chaitanya Keerti, editor of Osho World, is the author of Osho Fragrance