The Silent Symphony: Silence as Voice

The Silent Symphony: Silence as the means of communication (Monks from St. Macarius Monastery)

The start of stillness is the rejection of all noisiness as something that will trouble the depths of the soul. The final point is when one has no longer a fear of noisy disturbance, when one is immune to it. He who does not go out in his intellect when he goes out (of his cell) is gentle, is wholly a house of love, rarely moved to speech. (St. John Climacus, Ladder of Divine Ascent 27.4,5, P.262).

Silence has become a concept that many people today are foreign to or do not understand the true meaning of silence. Within the Orthodox church a form of silence was respected amongst monastic's which today we know as Hesychasm. Hesychasm on the basic level speaks of inner silence and to be able to keep still. Metropolitan Kallistos Ware has five definitions on Hesychasm however, only a few will be mentioned for the time being. Firstly, the practice of inner prayer. This aims at union with God on a level beyond images, concepts and languages. This form of Hesychasm was spoken of in greater depth by Maximus the Confessor (c.580-662) and Symeon the New Theologian (c.949-1022). Secondly, the quest for union through the Jesus Prayer is another form of understanding Hesychasm. Hesychasm with the understanding of inner prayer being a major concept can be viewed from the modern perspective of inner silence. Monastic's today are taught that inner silence is important for the mind and soul to seek union in Christ because the purpose of our very lives is union in Christ.

American Culture is based on being successful and talking to as many people as you can and being wired in order to be in touch with the "modern world". (Chris, who influenced this blog entry, with both the title of the blog and the idea) told me that inner silence is a forgotten concept within secular society. I would have to agree because silence is not appreciated anymore. Silence is only thought of as an activity that one might need to slow down there life because life is going too fast. Yoga is one example of such an activity. Yoga teaches an individual to slow down and to relax the mind and breaking down the body and mind in order to feel relaxed. However, silence should not be pushed to the side as a side activity one tries to implement once a week. Silence is not only for desert dwellers (monks) but rather I would argue that in order to find the only meaning in life is through inner silence. Being in union with God needs silence in order to achieve it or else everyone will be sucked into the secular society that teaches the importance of glamour and power over inner silence and union with our creator.            

St. Isaac the Syrian says "The silence of the soul is one of the mysteries of the coming age". Silence is a mystery that humanity has yet to experience. The issue is that humanity is told at a young age to express our thoughts through speech. We are never told speak from the heart. Humanity is packaged into a bubble never to be challenged of the norms that exist around us. When we are challenged then we are afraid to lose what we already know not realizing that the challenge has the opportunity to be a liberating factor. How can one grow solely from the knowledge they posses within the bubble they have confined themselves to live in? How can someone appreciate life by not being challenged by new knowledge? Matthew the Poor says it the best when he said:

"If we cast an examining and comprehensive eye on our life, we will realize the amount of attraction we suffer from against our own will trying to conform to the way other people cling to the transient affairs of this world. It is certainly quite strange that although we can see the errors of other people clearly in their behavior, we never cease modifying our own behavior to conform to these self-same errors. We might never go so far as to thrust ourselves into the clamorous drift of mankind as if struck by the same mania instead of trying to wrest ourselves from such a sweeping current. Not only so, but we try to make haste on our way and even invite others to share with us in our obscure stride toward an unknown predicament". (Orthodox Prayer Life, 197).

Father Matthew begins by saying the more we are attracted to the "I" lifestyle the more we will suffer not physically but our "will" will suffer greatly. This will help diminish our scenes to discern life choices because all we are ever taught is the "I" and the "ME" as being the reason to live. He then proceeds to say that humanity has become foolish because we see the errors of the society but we still adapt them and conform to these errors around us. Lastly, the most dangerous aspect is that we invite others to take part of the foolishness we have created not realizing we affect others by our actions. The idea is that society is about fast pace movement and if you cannot keep up then you cannot be part of society. People have forgotten to see the human person. What we see is always an individual who is packaged up ie. a priest, the doctor, the pharmacist etc. We do not see the person as being human but rather we package them up and throw labels. The issue is that we package people forgetting who we are as human beings. In packaging people we also package ourselves so we work hard to maintain this package whatever it is it might be that we package ourselves as. We dare not look inside of us because if we look inside of us we will be scared of what we find. Matthew the Poor touches on this point when he says:

"When you are completely alone with God, sitting in his presence in holy silence, you shall see your own image in the mirror of God. It is only then that you will discover how ugly you are! You will realize you do not resemble him in any way". (Orthodox Prayer Life, 198).

If we then come to realize who we are as a human being through the discipline inner silence the question must be asked how do we obtain unity with God through prayer? The simple answer is through silence. Christ is never worried about words coming from the mouth. He called those individuals hypocrites. He is truly looking to one's heart and to what's on the inside. Prayer is like a harmonious symphony. How? Because prayer is not dedicated by waking up in the morning and before going to bed one would say a prayer. Prayer is constant and fluid. If we are not in constant prayer then how can we see Christ in others? Our voices then become the strongest voices to the world through our silence. All our actions then become a form of constant prayer. Gandhi and Mother Theresa-to name a few-were the lights to the world. Never did they lift a weapon or dare speak out against any individual. Rather they saw humanity of the individual that stood in front of them and were able to genuinely take care of them seeing Christ in every human. There actions became a constant form of prayer through all walks of there lives. We must tear away at the walls that hold us in and throw away the packages we have for people. Stop seeing the doctor, the priest, the taxi driver and start seeing the image of Christ. "Christ shows us what is to be god in the way He dies as a human being". If we then realize the humanity of every one this is when inner silence can be attained and true prayer is lived out. Once we are detached from the norms of society we will finally be able to appreciation and allow silence to take form in our hearts. Now I am not saying silence can be easily achieved but this is a step to start working on within our lives. In a society were silence is taken for granted we must be the ones to lay the seeds in others. The silent symphony is the process of being constantly in prayer. Prayer then becomes the strongest voice born from silence. I will conclude with a final passage from Matthew the Poor:

"There is no share in silence and retreat for bodily activity. Solitude is a chance for the imprisoned soul to be released and go about its business. In the outset of practicing retreat, the flesh will be ill at ease and the mind will revolt, for the flesh and the mind will feel the darkness of the grace, where the soul will be still suffering in travail and discomfort while trying to break loose from the prison of the flesh and darkness of its senses. One may thus encounter unease at the beginning of ones solitude, but this is the crucial point, which calls for faith and patience. It is not so difficult for the soul to endure such an experience, for it will soon feel that the light is at hand and that behind the darkness of the grace there lies the glory of the resurrection". (Orthodox Prayer Life, 199).

As much as silence is needed it will be a constant struggle not only within the society but the struggle will come from within the mind. The mind is not disciplined so when we begin to focus on inner silence the mind will be our temptation and not the flesh. We must persist in the struggle because the most liberating aspect of silence is the fact that we will be able to see humanity as it is; in the image and likeness of God. Hesychasm allows for union in God born out of inner silence and inner prayer. The Jesus Prayer is vital to achieving inner silence because it is through the Jesus Prayer that monastic's are able to achieve the prayer of the heart. St. Theophan the Recluse regarded the Jesus Prayer stronger than all other prayers by virtue of the power of the holy name of Jesus. Lastly, I speak of monastic's and the practice of inner silence because monasticism should not be understood as a separation from our society. We should embrace the monastic vow because it is within the monastic lifestyle that we can see each other as human begins. Seeing Christ in all will allow us to genuinely to love each other with the same love Christ has for his creation.