A philosopher from Denmark once wrote:
But to be able to be silent, that you can learn out there with the lily and the bird, where there is silence and also something divine in this silence.
There is silence out there, and not only when everything is silent in the silent night, but there nevertheless is silence out there also, when day vibrates with a thousand strings and everything is like a sea of sound. Each one separately does it so well that not one of them, nor all of them together, will break the solemn silence. There is silence out there.
The forest is silent; even when it whispers it nevertheless is silent. The trees, even where they stand in the thickest growth, keep their word, something human beings rarely do despite a promise given: This will remain between us.
The sea is silent; even when it rages uproariously it is silent. At first you perhaps listen in the wrong way and hear it roar. If you hurry off and report this, you do the sea an injustice. If, however, you take time and listen more carefully, you hear—how amazing!— you hear silence, because uniformity is nevertheless also silence.
In the evening, when silence rests over the land and you hear the distant bellowing from the meadow, or from the farmer's house in the distance you hear the familiar voice of the dog, you cannot say that this bellowing or this voice disturbs the silence. No, this belongs to the silence, in a mysterious and thus in turn silent harmony with the silence ...
(From The Essential Kierkegaard: Lily of the Field, Bird of the Air)
There is silence out there, and not only when everything is silent in the silent night, but there nevertheless is silence out there also, when day vibrates with a thousand strings and everything is like a sea of sound. Each one separately does it so well that not one of them, nor all of them together, will break the solemn silence. There is silence out there.
The forest is silent; even when it whispers it nevertheless is silent. The trees, even where they stand in the thickest growth, keep their word, something human beings rarely do despite a promise given: This will remain between us.
The sea is silent; even when it rages uproariously it is silent. At first you perhaps listen in the wrong way and hear it roar. If you hurry off and report this, you do the sea an injustice. If, however, you take time and listen more carefully, you hear—how amazing!— you hear silence, because uniformity is nevertheless also silence.
In the evening, when silence rests over the land and you hear the distant bellowing from the meadow, or from the farmer's house in the distance you hear the familiar voice of the dog, you cannot say that this bellowing or this voice disturbs the silence. No, this belongs to the silence, in a mysterious and thus in turn silent harmony with the silence ...
(From The Essential Kierkegaard: Lily of the Field, Bird of the Air)
Sometimes we are terrified of silence. In silence hidden fears can surface, forgotten sorrows emerge, clamoring for us and threatening to drag us back to where they came from. Yet their threat is empty. Once we acknowledge those fears and sorrows they begin to fade away. They remain part of us, but now they leave the stage so that other aspects of ourselves, also hidden and forgotten, may be able to seek the light of our mind's gaze. Silence allows to mitigate the constant din of our hectic lives so that we begin to pay attention to those soft voices that never get heard.
The night, the trees, the sea, the meadows, all can speak to us revealing facets of ourselves that we tend to ignore. If you want to discover who you are and the infinite possibilities that are available to you, give silence a chance. Right now. Close your eyes and spend one minute in silence. Tomorrow spend two. The more deeply you dive, the more riches you will unearth. In that mysterious and thus silent harmony with the silence, sooner or later you will find that which you are seeking.
rate
email
print
link to this page
Comments: 8
Also, Kierkegaard is one of my favorite philosophers.
au contraire ~~ I need it sometimes !
thank you for such a nice post
love and light