Ssssh! Listen to the Silence!
Aldous Huxley On Silence (from Silence, Liberty, and Peace (1946)
“The twentieth century is, among other things, the Age of Noise. Physical noise, mental noise and noise of desire – we hold history’s record for all of them. And no wonder; for all the resources of our almost miraculous technology have been thrown into the current assault against silence. That most popular and influential of all recent inventions, the radio is nothing but a conduit through which pre-fabricated din can flow into our homes. And this din goes far deeper, of course, than the eardrums. It penetrates the mind, filling it with a babel of distractions, blasts of corybantic or sentimental music, continually repeated doses of drama that bring no catharsis, but usually create a craving for daily or even hourly emotional enemas.
And where, as in most countries, the broadcasting stations support themselves by selling time to advertisers, the noise is carried from the ear, through the realms of phantasy, knowledge and feeling to the ego’s core of wish and desire. Spoken or printed, broadcast over the ether or on wood-pulp, all advertising copy has but one purpose — to prevent the will from ever achieving silence.
Desirelessness is the condition of deliverance and illumination. The condition of an expanding and technologically progressive system of mass production is universal craving. Advertising is the organized effort to extend and intensify the workings of that force, which (as all the saints and teachers of all the higher religions have always taught) is the principal cause of suffering and wrong-doing and the greatest obstacle between the human soul and its Divine Ground.”
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Nisargardatta Maharaj on Silence
Whatever you may have to do, watch your mind. Also you must have moments of complete inner peace and quiet, when your mind is absolutely still. If you miss it, you miss the entire thing. If you do not, the silence of the mind will dissolve and absorb all else. (215) Keep quiet. Do your work in the world, but inwardly keep quiet. Then all will come to you. Do not rely on your work for realization. It may profit others, but not you. Your hope lies in keeping silent in your mind and quiet in your heart. Realized people are very quiet. (402)
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How to appreciate silence:
1.Cyclic Breathing: Start by just sitting still and following the breath, gently counting through cycles. Counting the breath will hypnotize the mind. Start with this exercise: Cyclic Breathing, Starter
2. Meditate for freedom FROM the Mind: Most of us are trying to get peace OF mind. Never happens, never will: no more than a vegetarian tiger. Must train the mind. Here's where to start: Meditation & Mantra
3. Magic of Music: when all else fails to find inner silence try music. Start with the harmonica. Here's a easy lesson: Long Notes