Lesson in Silence

Cyril J. Law, Jr. - Lecturer, School of Christian Studies, USJ. Coordinator, Tridentine Liturgy Community, Catholic Diocese of Hong Kong.

It is vast, immense and inexhaustible, very much similar to the world in which we are now living. Yet, silence is one being itself, whereas almost everything else besides silence consists of parts and sections, capable of division. 

The more one meditates on this quaint subject, the more will the thinker discover that he is actually falling into what I call the “real trap” – a total surrender to Silence. We cannot meditate without a certain “amount” of silence (as if it’s quantifiable), and any serious thinker would confess that contemplation itself is silence de facto.

In Rome, herds of pilgrims wandered from one basilica to another, seizing every single chance to obtain indulgences. There I once found myself inside the Basilica di San Piedro in the midst of a noisy throng so amazed by the awe-inspiring Renaissance architecture as well as the sacred Roman heritage signified by the building itself. “Silenzio!! Silence!! Schweigen!!” shouted a Dominican friar through an amplifier. Obviously the multilingual pilgrims were too excited and the furious polyglot friar was apparently too anxious to teach the pilgrims some lessons on the importance of silence with regard to the sacredness of the place. In fact, I was tempted to think that silence is the exact element which constitutes sacredness. Silence is essential to sacredness. Silence is sacred.

The healing effect of music and silence as one gentle blend of unity is overwhelming and yet it quiets one’s soul very comfortably. This concept strikes me most, for I am a Gregorian chant devotee. The spirituality of chant is in perfect accordance with silence—the pauses and rests between the words are perfect locations where voice may echo most vividly, and silence is the space where the participants can dwell deeply into the fountain of flowing melodies.

In fact, silence has been the most enduring substance ever since Creation. Silence, as an active force, is very consoling and encouraging to modern men who busy themselves with business, business and business. Silence, as a tranquil state of mind, should be carried forward by men into daily living.

One could hardly believe that silence plays a role in education. Well, I can see that “The Pedagogy of Silence” is operative at each instance when we read a piece of classic or attend a masterful lecture with our breath held, eyes fixed, and volume of our hasty pace of life turned down.

Some wildly fancy that poorer Orientals are better off without machines - their life would be filled with the substance of silence, whereas machines are injurious to Westerners, who have been in a disadvantaged state ever since the Industrial Revolution. A hint from the word “Oriental” suggests that Asians possess some attributes like solicitude and steadiness that bear resemblance to the Mother Sun (Oriens). After all, doesn’t the sun rise and set in silence? Silence is an integral part of Oriental mentality.

We all somehow take delight in animals, yet shouldn’t we be glad that we are not bound by the chains of the absolute morbidity of silence like them? Aren’t we humans gifted with the dexterity to repose in silence whenever and wherever we wish? Though they are quieter than us in most of the time, animals are not gifted to read this article. It is not just because animals cannot read, but also because animals are bound in silence; man, on the contrary, has silence as an intrinsic part of his being. I have the substance of silence within me: I am the Space of Silence, from which I can freely break out and engage in speech, learning, motion, expressions, goodness and love. That is the difference.

©MDTimes/ University of Saint Joseph (formerly Macau Inter-University Institute, IIUM)