Perfecting Silence in our noisy World

Every generation defines itself in its own particular way. People who belong to a specific generation express themselves in a distinctive form; whether it is the literature & philosophy it produces or the music it creates there is always distinctiveness. Understandably, social critics & historians have always found the need to label eras, periods & groups. The twentieth century that has elapsed has been called by various names, Aldous Huxley, writing in the Nineteen Forties referred to his century as the age of noise. “The radio”, he once wrote, “is nothing but a conduit through which pre-fabricated din can flow into our homes.” If the noise was an issue years back, today with the literal explosion of modern technology, CD’s, headphones, MP3 players, & what not, clearly the noise level has been upped a thousand degrees & the bombardment of noise has become drastically augmented.

Being so surrounded, invaded & inundated with external sounds & noise many have become so accustomed to that reality to the extent of feeling a peculiar emptiness when it is quiet. Imagine yourself walking into an upscale boutique & nothing is being played on the sound system, guaranteed you will feel an awkward eeriness.

When was the last time you took a long drive alone in your car & did not immediately flip on the music? Car manufactures today pride themselves by installing satellite radio systems so we can pick up thousands of stations as we drive. When it is quiet so many urgently sense the need to fill the empty airwaves with noise.

Noise is so much a part of our life that many have become depended on it for their wellbeing. So many derive their sense of being alive from sound, & they feel empty in silence. There is a need, & almost perverse compulsion to break any silence & talk, or perhaps sing.

Underlining this urgency for noise is their fear of being alone, as if it’s even a possibility. Simply, they are afraid to be alone with themselves & certainly scared to experience a genuine self-encounter. And so they fill the airwaves with sound, for it is sound that creates the illusion of company. Even speaking to themselves will do the trick, for when they are speaking there is the impression of a speaker & listener, & that the two are separate people conversing.

The dread of being alone & being alone with their own presence can be quite devastating. Sitting relaxing in a hot tub most people almost instinctively reach for a book or the paper. We live in a culture that compels us to relentlessly ‘do’ things. Even our leisure time and vocation needs to be filled with activity, we cannot rest without going crazy. For this reason there is a multi- billion dollar industry that helps us ‘do’ things & occupy our time while on holiday.

Hitbodedut is a classical Kabbalistic term for meditation. The Hebrew root of the word is badad literally meaning to be alone, to detach yourself from noise & be with your self. In the more advanced & prophetic moods of this form of meditation hitbodedut is to seclude, separate ‘intellectual everyday consciousness from imagination’ this is referred to as hitbodedut penimit - inner isolation, but what we are speaking of presently is hitbodedut chitzonit - outer isolation. This is the practice of being alone & simply being with your self.

To practice this discipline you do not need to run away to a mountain top or go hide in a cave, in fact this aloneness can be achieved even amongst other people.

Most often going inward in the midst of being in the company of others is unkindly, rude & altogether a mark of arrogance, but sometimes you may find yourself being obligated to go to a certain social setting or another event & feel extremely uncomfortable or self-conscious. Or worse, sometimes you may find yourself in a setting where you feel that the others are merely sucking up your energy, or even worse distributing negative energy, in such situations it maybe very helpful if you are able to mentally detach yourself, go inward, & feel at ease. To be alone with yourself, free of the external forced-upon influences.

Success breads success. The only way to become comfortable with silence, on all level of silence; from words or beyond words is by practicing & further practicing stints of silence. Do not begin with fantastic grand plans of taking a full month vow of silence rather begin with a firm commitment to practice silence for a half hour a day, & then grow on your success.

Ultimately, as you become more comfortable with yourself, & in silence, when you do need to speak & verbally communicate, which speech itself is another spiritually powerful tool, you will do so wisely, mindfully & with wisdom. The periods of silence will also allow you to gain hegemony of your speech so that your words are meaningful & vested with intention.

G-d Bless.

J