silence

one of the classes that i was taking this last quarter is a music appreciation class.  i really enjoyed it, but one of the most eye opening things i learned was not about music, but about silence.  the lecturer was teaching us about post 1945 composers and started talking about john cage.  he did a piece of music called 4'33" in which the entire piece is silent.  there's no "music", nothing is composed.  at first i was thinking, "what the hell is this?  this is not music" and promptly brought out my iphone to start flipping through facebook for some entertainment.  THEN, this is the best part, the lecturer ended the piece and flipped to the next slide wherein the following quote from john cage was posted:

"What happens to a piece of music when it is purposelessly made?  What happens, for instance to silence?  That is, how does the mind's perception of it change?...Silence becomes something else---not silence at all, but sounds, the ambient sounds...Where ears are in connection with a mind that has nothing to do, that mind is free to enter into the act of listening, hearing each sound as it is, not as a phenomenon more or less approximating a preconception."
-John Cage, "Changes" in Silence: Lectures and Writings (1961)

WHOA!  mind blown.  i started chuckling to myself.  why can't i sit in silence?  it's not like i can't ever sit in silence, most of the time i really enjoy it.   but i started thinking about this concept.  many times, if there is stillness around us, we have to pull out a book, phone, tv, ipod, etc in order to entertain ourselves.  why?  what's wrong with sitting still and silent for a moment.  what happens then?  

don't get me wrong, there are times to be silent and then there are times to have a voice, but that's not what i'm referring to here.  the quote from john cage made me remember what i was hearing when half listening to his piece 4'33".....someone's phone vibrating, the overhead lights buzzing, people coughing.  this is the composition and it changes based on where you are located.  if i sit in silence for a moment and hear the sounds around me, my brain can fully engage in the moment, without distraction.  

i looked up some quotes about silence to get a better idea of what was on the tip of my brain:

first i went to the writings of my religion, the Bahai Faith and found these:

He...must cling unto patience and resignation, observe silence, and refrain from idle talk. For the tongue is a smouldering fire, and excess of speech a deadly poison. 

-Baha'u'llah
 

Bahá'u'lláh says there is a sign from God in every phenomenon. The sign of the intellect is contemplation, and the sign of contemplation is silence, because it is impossible for a man to do two things at once -- he cannot both speak and meditate.  

It is an axiomatic fact that while you meditate you are speaking with your own spirit. In that state of mind you put certain questions to your spirit and the spirit answers: the light breaks forth and reality is revealed.

then i went online and found some quotes that also struck me:

In the attitude of silence the soul finds the path in a clearer light, and what is elusive and deceptive resolves itself into crystal clearness.  Our life is a long and arduous quest after Truth.

-Mahatma Gandhi 

True silence is the rest of the mind; it is to the spirit what sleep is to the body, nourishment and refreshment.  

-William Penn

it seems, to me, that one of the overarching concepts here is that in silence certain truths become clear and our spirit is free to search and examine these truths, if we do it right.  this brings me back to the book i'm reading called "Prescriptions for Living" and knowing our true selves, our souls.  we distract ourselves in order to avoid.  we might contemplate and have to face things that are scary or difficult if we are still and silent. 

it's interesting stuff.

anyway, perhaps i'll be able to think about this more and get a better idea of the importance, consequence and application for my life and be able to articulate it better next time.

if you have any thoughts to add, please comment below.

peace out.