SILENCE AS A YOGA

When you utter the word yoga, people generally interpret it with religious connotations.   In fact  yoga means ''to unite''.   What to unite is a serious question we must pose to ourselves.

If you closely observe yourself, there are different layers of ego.  You feel different from your body and mind.   The real Self always wants to excel in every activity but the inspiration to pace up body and mind  to that level is always challenging.

It is almost a daily struggle  both to  layman and knowledgeable man. One must cultivate to find union within his/her Self on daily basis.  I personally feel this effort as yoga.

Some others interpret yoga with bend and stretch poses.  Though it is partly true, but not a holistic definition.  When you do yoga, it means integration of body and mind with your own  inner Self which always wants perpetual joy.

A glib talker can't find balance in his/her daily activities.   He/ she is always a nuisance to others.  They distract attention of others in work premises.  It is more a sort of compulsive behaviour which they accustomed over a period of time and never take an inward look of what's problem.

There is a saying to interpret their phenomena :  The heart of fool is in his mouth and the mouth of wise man is in his heart.   It means one should not talk whatever he/she wants.  The talking stuff should filter through the eye of discrimination.   One sure route to achieve balance is Daily vow of  silence.  I have been doing Moun Vrat  daily for certain time for the last several years to bounce back with creativity for my writer's work.

In fact, observing silence is not a new concept.  Your system desperately needs on daily basis to come out from trifle thoughts/impulses.   If you read the autobiography of Mahatma Gandhi ( My Experiments with Truth), you could find how Gandhi strictly adhered to this practice of silence.  He says that     Experience has taught me that silence is part of the spiritual discipline of a votary of truth. 

This attribute of  silence is one of the 13 Virtues of  Benjamin Franklin, one the Founding Fathers of United States.  While elaborating this virtue in his autobiography,  Benjamin states: Speak not but what may benefit others or yourself.  Avoid trifling conversation.  

I think there is no greater yoga than silence.  Just close your eyes and sit still for certain amount of time daily and it empowers you and take to new levels of awareness.