“Less Talk, More Awareness”
I am on retreat at Gethsemani Abbey. Gethsemani is a Trappist monastery. The monks observe, to the best of their ability, a vow of silence. Retreatants are encouraged to do the same.
I don’t think that I am fully aware of how much I talk until I try to be silent for a while. In fact, a more general awareness is the fruit of silence.
Yesterday, while eating lunch, I was fascinated watching the birds at outside the windows of the dining hall. The monks had several bird feeders set up outside. There were probably at least ten different species taking turns at the feeders. One particularly plump and intensely red male cardinal caught my eye. I had never seen such a bright red on a cardinal before. Or, was it just that I had never seen what was in front of me all along?
Words can be an expression of reality. Words can also be an insulator against reality. Perhaps if I practiced more silence, I would reap a better harvest of awareness.
That’s all I’ve got to say about that.
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