Tag: Silence

• September 1, 2014

  Holding one’s tongue: Silence before speech

  How infrequently do we hold our tongue. The phrase ‘holding one’s tongue’ we apply too narrowly, only to cases where we are upset and bound to say something that may hurt our interlocutor. At such a time, holding one’s tongue is appropriate and no doubt it saves us from embarrassment, foolishness, backtracking, and apologizing later…
• September 2, 2013

  Holding presence of mind amid the turning world

  I meditate. Be quiet. You fill. Silent. Hold. Be still. You squiggle. Softly. Squirm. Softly. Still and softly. Be clear. You muddy, jumble, convolve. Be clear, clear, clear. Be empty. I sway and bend meltingly. Meditate. Be silent. [Pause] Be still. [Pause] Be clear. [Pause] Empty. [Pause] Whisper this again. Breathe: the world is thick, now, dense, now, deeper…
• July 5, 2013

  Taciturnitas

  In an endnote to Chapter 6 entitled ‘Silence,’ the editor Bruce L. Venarde tells us that ‘Taciturnitas traditionally means limited speech, but Benedict generally uses it to signify silence.’ The senses are not unrelated. Silence can lend its ear to limited speech, and limited speech rests and resounds more readily than it wriggles. In the Chapter…
• March 30, 2012

  In praise of stuttering

  I have become suspicious of eloquence. My suspicion reminds me of two very different stories. Thomas Aquinas is in the chapel, celebrating the feast of St. Nicholas, when he experiences what appears to him as a mystical vision. Formerly a voluminous writer and prodigious scholar and presently at work on his magnum opus, the Summa Theologica,…
• October 21, 2011

  Friday meditation: Curating Tao Te Ching

  The following are excerpts from Tao Te Ching. All have something to say about the  nature of wisdom. Enjoy this Friday’s meditation. —  I. To speak little is natural. High winds do not last all morning; heavy winds do not last all day.     II.  The ancient Masters didn’t try to educate the people, but…