Co-Existing with Peace and Chaos: Learning the True Sense of Singing Silence

What do you do when you want to drink from a glass of water? Do you say I want to drink water and just wait for it to happen? Or, do you walk into the kitchen, fetch a glass from a cabinet, pour water into it, and drink it?

You cannot drink water unless you pour some of it into a glass. However, when we seek to live a fulfilling life, we wait for it until the supposed opportune moment is just right for us. We want the circumstances to align with our expectations, but it seldom happens our way.

Today, I am going to talk about Singing Silence, what it means, and why you need it.

The Afterthought of a Spiritual Visit

Recently, I visited a temple and as I entered, there was a strict sense of silence. It was so silent, it made everyone who entered utterly conscious of their movement and the sounds they made. So, everyone’s quiet there, and as you walk ahead deeper into the temple, there is a section where people are chanting hymns to the divine. So, I did my devotion, paid my respects, and left. 

It was an amazing temple, a place where you would feel great after entering. However, a short while after leaving, I started to reflect upon the process of staying silent and the process of making noise. Whatever we do, we feel that if we start with the outward, we will generate the feeling for it inward. This might be true to a certain extent but not entirely.

Just like you fill a glass with water, you need to fill yourself with the power of spirituality. Only then can you experience the outward more meaningfully.

People would pray, meditate, chant hymns or prayers but were they really feeling it? For instance, you can sit at a conference and nod your head in agreement with what the presenter was saying but did you truly agree? Or were you simply doing it to please everyone and keep the peace?

Some people who have attained a high Spiritual Quotient (SiQ) would most certainly feel the depth of their devotion or their role in any situation. However, those with a low vibration of SiQ would get stuck in the process.

For instance, a high-SiQ individual would transcend to a higher level every time he or she attends a spiritual event. Even if they didn’t follow the necessary traditional practices like kneeling and praying or wearing a beaded necklace, they would still feel deeply connected with their higher self and the divine.

However, a low-SiQ individual would get stuck in the nuances of the process. They would focus on covering the head, holding a prayer item like a bead, chanting prayers loudly with everyone else, and so on. They would be more conscious of their actions around people rather than their commitment to what they came for at the spiritual event.

Singing Silence versus Dead Silence versus Noisy Singing

Coming back to the glass-with-water scenario. When you drink water, it does not directly go into you unless you use a glass to drink it. So, the glass is your tool to use to drink water. Similarly, your Spiritual Quotient is the measure of your spiritual strength to help you live a fulfilling life. However, you have to take some actions and proactive measures before you can start feeling spiritually healthy.

But again, we all wait until the time is right or we are ready, and we never truly know when that is! When would I be ready? When I am relaxed, or when my kids turn 18, or when I retire, etc. No, the time is now and not then!

You cannot wait till the chaos settles to feel at peace. We carry with us the chaos of yesterday in our minds. That is why, many times, you cannot feel at peace even in a quiet room. You may feel restless and why is that?

So, continually work on your singing silence which is opposed to your dead silence or noisy singing. Singing Silence is when your state of peace and chaos can co-exist, and you can navigate through life without feeling like you are burdened.

Allow me to summarize:

• Singing Silence: When your SiQ is high enough that the peace of your mind, heart, and hands can co-exist with the troubles of life.

• Dead Silence: When the peace of your mind, heart, and hands cannot co-exist with the troubles of life.

• Noisy Singing: When you have no peace which is where you let the chaos take over.

Therefore, when you work on your Spiritual Quotient, I would say the best time to work on it is in times of trouble. That is the time when you have the opportunity to strengthen your spiritual health. When your singing comes together with your silence, only then you can discover your true self.