the speaking tree - Silence is Real

A S NEGI





At some time or the other, we feel intrigued about the world we are living in. Some have called it a play , or leela, of the divine. Others have called it a dream. So, what is its true nature? Any discussion about the `ultimate reality' is fruitless.Discussion involves using words. These words collide inside our minds and rebound to the questioner. Words can only perform one service: make the seeker of truth aware of the need to be silent or wordless.This was probably why the Buddha would not answer questions on the existence or nonexistence of the ultimate reality or god. He would simply ask the questioner to sit near him for two or three years in silence till the silence was total. After that, any question could be asked. Those who dared to do so found that when total silence engulfed them, all their questions had vanished too.
The ultimate reality is unknowable to words. As silence lies beyond the parameters in which words operate, the latter cannot express that which is known in silence. For, words can only describe the known.
You cannot experience the ultimate reality unless you are flowing with trust. Unfortunately, trust does not come easily to modern man. Like a miserable person who sees everyone in his own reflection, the man of distrust sees snares and traps everywhere. Silence is the only option to experience reality . Which is why the Austrian philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein echoed the Buddha when he wrote, `Of which one cannot speak, of that one must remain silent.'