Two Perspectives-Silence

Two Perspectives is a monthly column with two different perspectives on the same topic from two different continents, cultures and genders viz

Janet Smith Warfield, J.D., Sarasota, FL,USA and

Dr Amit Nagpal, New Delhi, India

Janet Smith Warfield's perspective

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Janet Smith Warfield works with wisdom-seekers who want understanding and clarity so they can live peaceful, powerful, prosperous lives. Through her unique combination of holistic, creative, right-brain transformational experiences and 22 years of rigorous, left-brain law practice, she has learned how to sculpt words in atypical ways to shift her listeners into experiences beyond words, transforming turmoil into inner peace. For more information about Janet, go to www.janetsmithwarfield.com; www.wordsculpturespublishing.com; www.wordsculptures.com.

Copyright © 2011 - Janet Smith Warfield. All rights reserved.

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Dr Amit Nagpal's perspective

“The bell of mindfulness is the voice of the Buddha calling us back to ourselves. We have to respect each sound of the bell, stop our THINKING AND TALKING and get in touch with ourselves, breathing and smiling. This is not the Buddha from the outside. It is our own Buddha calling us home.”

Thich Nhat Hanh

Silence. I decided to go myself into silence before I wrote the post. Few minutes of silence and I started to look at silence from a completely new perspective. Why do we equate silence only with verbal silence? Silence can be mental silence, emotional silence and spiritual silence. In fact, in my opinion verbal silence gives peace, mental silence gives joy and spiritual silence gives perfect bliss. Verbal silence gives us an opportunity to do self-reflection and develop deeper understanding of things. Mental silence provides us relaxation and clarity of thought. Emotional silence provides us equanimity and equilibrium. Spiritual silence provides us bliss and enlightenment. 

Creative solutions come up in the moments of silence. Silence can even boost our self-esteem and confidence by making us the springs of ideas, solutions and divine inspirations. It is a sad contradiction of human society that we have invented powerful silencers for our vehicles yet our minds are making disturbing and never ending chatter.

If silence is so beautiful, why is the society so afraid of it? Often when we see a silent person, we ask her/him, if anything is disturbing her/him. In the well known book, “Tuesdays with Morrie” by Mitch Albom, the teacher (Morrie) observes fifteen minutes of silence in the class and finds that silence is embarrassing and we find comfort in noise.” Is it true that the more insecure we feel, the more we talk and the more secure we become, we get more and more silent? (Dear Readers, please post your views)

Tony Cuckson, Irish author says, “Human BEings have become human DOings. It is the rhythm, Do, Be, Do, Be.” There is a nice romantic Hindi song, “Kucch na kaho” which roughly translated means, “Don’t say anything, and in fact don’t speak at all. What is there to speak? What is there to hear? You know and I know. The moment has also come to a standstill.” So get into silence for a few minutes and you can romance not only with your beloved but with nature and the divine too.

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Dr Amit Nagpal is a Personal Branding Consultant and specializes in Personal Branding with a holistic touch. He is based in New Delhi, India. His philosophy is, “Take charge of your life and your brand.” To know more about him, click here: http://www.dramitnagpal.co.in/p/about-us.html

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Copyright © 2011 – Dr Amit Nagpal. All rights reserved