The Sound of Silence

Prior to the break between Christmas and New Year, we in Yoga Teacher Training were learning about the heart chakra, “anahata,” which relates to touch. Anahata, however, means “Unstruck Sound.” I was struggling to wrap my head around this concept of unstruck sound. What is unstruck sound but silence? Maybe Simon and Garfunkel’s Sound of Silence would have some answers.

And the vision that was planted in my brain, still remains, within the sound of silence.

I wondered if the sound of silence was the sound of potential – the sound of creation before it is created. Unstruck sound is the potential for creation?

In the Bible, in the book of John, Chapter 1, 1 – 2 states: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” To me, this verse refers to the message of divine love for everyone, a divine love that connects all of us, and a divine love that was always there like God was always there. For us to feel it, to hear it, though, the story needed to be told, there needed to be a light in the darkness. John 1, 4 states: “What came into being through the Word was life, and the life was light for all people.”

Unstruck sound, the sound of the divine love waiting for us to strike it, to meet it, to be part of the story of the divine. Thanks Simon and Garfunkel. Thanks Bible. I love making connections.

Last weekend, yoga teacher training was back in full swing. Amazing how many of my classmates seem to have reached a state approximating enlightenment – according to them. And I lament, why am I always the cynical one? I am not enlightened. Neither are they. But why do I have to be a jerk about it? I digress.

Both instructors brought John to bear on the weekend’s focus, now the throat chakra, “Visuddhi,” associated with sound and communication and meaning “Pure”.  I see why they made the connection to John, but I didn’t see it that way. I see this as purity of language, as more in alignment with satya, which I wrote about not long ago. Our communication should be pure in intention. Truthful, but do no harm (ahimsa).

To me, John, is more about the divine, about the heart. The Word is the unstruck sound, the penetration of the silence with the divine, the light in the darkness. 

This Visuddhi business, well, this is about storytelling. And storytelling is a powerful thing. The Bible is a story with power. The Baghavad Gita is a story with power. And on and on. Nowadays, storytelling has become a buzz word. There are data storytellers, there are literal storytellers that get on stage and tell stories for the Moth, there are bloggers like me, there are marketing and business storytellers, storytelling is part of the human experience, it is how we create identity and make meaning in the world. 

In fact, we live in a time that recognizes the profound impact that the language we use has on the people around us. Not to get political, but see the banned words lists that universities have published, or the books that have been banned, read about the linguistic debates and cancel culture, about person first language, and these are just a few. For a world focused on science, we sure have a lot to do with the humanities. They exist in tandem. But this is another topic.

How we speak is important. It’s so easy to toss off a careless word, to take up space in the room with our need to be heard. But it is in the silence that we hear the divine. Perhaps, sometimes it is better to listen.