Interesting concept for our rushed modern noise-diven world...
Silence.
Actually, Into Great Silence is the title of this German film about silent Carthusian monks living the monastic contemplative life high up in the French Alps. It's currently packing theaters full in Germany.
I don't see myself becoming a monk, but is there anybody else out there who enjoys a little silence -- or "peace and quiet" as my parents might put it -- each day. Don't get me wrong. I love sounds. It's just that I can only take so much of them. Eventually, I begin to feel a sort of disconnect with myself when I miss that silence for too long.
Does anyone else have this problem? Is our rushed world of action and noise really a stopper on silence? Furthermore, is silence really that important? And if so, then what type of silence? One totally void of sound, or simply a general quietness in a more natural way, in contrast to the "artificial" or "mechanical" sounds of the city and technology, as they might be called?
Thoughts?
posted by Chris @ 1/05/2006
2 comments
2 Comments:
I absolutely need silence...not only audible but visual silence as well...my mind get so exhausted by constant 'noise' everywhere i look...and listen
Though I don't make an effort to drive with the radio off or anything so overt, I as well find that silence is something so necessary to life that it cannot be described. That is why silent retreats, mindfulness mediation, and environmental activities are also so popular. They give you a chance to disconnect from the hubub of life, and time to focus on one thing, whatever that may be, without distraction. I think a lot of the people I know today search for silence within the earbuds of thier ipods. Its the only separation they know.
If silent, cloistered monasticism has stuck around this long, there has to be something to it.
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