Solitude and Silence.
“Truth it is that I have climbed the hills and walked in remote places. How could I have seen you, save from a great height or a great distance? How can one be indeed near unless he be far?” ---- It is what Khalil Gibran had to say when people criticized him for living in solitude for most part of his life. It is therefore that he still lives amongst our thoughts and words.
Solitude has to be experienced to know how it feels, it can never be described in words. Its potential can never be known. By solitude we mean to get some time aside for a few days of retreat in quiet hilly places, on seaside, or just by being with the self. In the fast pacing world, hectic lifestyles, people get boiled down to the need to be left alone, they need space for themselves. They need to be with their own thoughts and emotions. Solitude takes you to a mood for introspection, it enables a more dispassionate outlook towards life. Because it is only when a person is alone that he can see his personal perspective towards life, as it is this time of solitude, when the inner voice takes charge of you. And it is this voice that never lets you down. It only guides and enriches you.
Since ages men have moved away from the maddening crowds, into caves, islands, forests for respite from day to day distractions. To be by themselves, contemplating and understanding. It is only through these confinements that they came up with so much of substantial truths, philosophies of life, that their thoughts and words appear valuable even today.
Therefore, the need is to go away from noise, commotion, from people, not physically but mentally. It can take you away from friction and turmoil, it can help you find answers to your questions and to be at peace.
By solitude we mean loneliness. It is an essential factor in the urban lifestyles, where it becomes difficult for a person to find a moment or two to pass in solitude, in the company of the self. Only these moments can soothe the mind, make it peaceful, when the external distractions and workloads only fill up the day to such an extent that it leaves him totally drained out, exhausted. The quality of work suffers and leaves him unsatisfied. It is not the person’s attitude that changes towards his work, but it is the physical and mental exhaustion that causes lethargy and monotony in work. At such times few minutes in silence and solitude can act as a boon. It provides the mind with the desired solitude, relaxing and rejuvenating the mind. It feels refreshed and active again. Excess of noise and activity are the root cause of this state of disturbed mind. Man should learn to go slow, to make a halt in the rat race. As the poem says,
“What is this life if full of care, we have no time to stand and stare?”
Although you have all the luxuries in life, it may appear to be a path of roses, without difficulties, problems, and then too the mind feels imprisoned. It lacks something. It needs freedom to be let loose, to be left alone, to roam as it wishes into boundless spaces, to places where it can find solace, to unknown frontiers and greater heights. Only to gain strength and efficiency. It means to be in solitude. To detach the self from the external world and be only by the self.
Solitude makes the spirit soar. Solitude and silence help in achieving emotional balance, organize thoughts, reflect and introspect. To feel light and rejuvenated.
Silence is energy giving. Emile Dickson has said,
“Saying nothing sometimes says the most.”
Silence connects you to the self. It takes you beyond speech and thought. It is the time you stay without the ego. Silence lets go fear, anxiety, and jealousy. It is well said in the Upanishads,
“There is something beyond our mind which abides in silence. It is the supreme mystery beyond thoughts. Let one’s mind and one’s subtle body rest upon that and not rest upon anything else.”
Speaking is more tolerable because it offers easy distractions from the inner turmoil. The stressed and the distressed people may be silent but they could be screaming inside. Speech is the vehicle for social transformation, whereas silence is the vehicle for individual transformation. Silence is as deep as eternity, whereas speech is as shallow as time. Silence can work wonders at times when words become futile.
The younger generation is so accustomed to noisy, hectic life that for them solitude becomes a burden, a curse. They need constant company. They feel lost or abandoned when they are alone. The need of another person or the company of electronic gadgets gives them superficial happiness. Within them they have a void, an emptiness that disturbs them constantly. They cannot even think of living alone. They survive only on superficiality, illusion. Uniting with the self, seeking peace and solitude according to them are meant for the old and the ignorant people. They do not realize that this very solitude and silence can make their lives and mind calm, energetic and can also give the satisfaction in whatever they do. Satisfaction that they always crave for, satisfaction that they never seem to achieve and for which they are always chasing everything in life. They run after jobs, careers, partners, friends and relationships. But it all appears to them to be in a passing phase, as it is only their own self which is unable to halt, to rest at a place, at a relationship, at a certain stage of life. The disturbed mind does not allow the self to set the pace, to reflect on life, to retrospect as they are always on the run.
This may be a reason why many youngsters today go wayward, losing their motives and goals in life. This may be the reason why many people of the developed countries have started deviating from the professional, hectic, luxurious lifestyles to simpler ones. More and more people all over the world are practicing meditation, yoga, etc. to achieve that peace. That knowledge of knowing the self, before trying to know the external world. That search for solace, for eternal bliss which is not meant only for spirituality, but also for worldly peace. That search for solace which only solitude and silence can provide.
As Mother Teresa has very well explained,
“We need to find god, and he cannot be found in noise and restlessness. God is the friend of silence. See how nature – trees, flowers, grass grows in silence. See the stars, the moon, the sun, how they move in silence. We need silence to be able to touch the souls.”
