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The Power of Silence: The Riches That Lie Within
In the modern world, we are assaulted on all sides by noise; but silence can change your life and this book explains why and how.Silence is a mysterious and unfathomable realm, perhaps the most under-used of all resources, and one our modern culture has all but obliterated by turning up the volume control. Graham Turner explores the power that can be found in silence through interviewing monastics, religious leaders, composers, actors, psychotherapists, prisoners and peace workers about their experiences of practising silence. Ranging from Christian contemplation in the Egyptian desert to Vipassana meditation in India, from the shared silence of Quaker meetings in Oxford to the profound stillness of the Alps, this is a powerful book about a great gap in modern human awareness.
- GenresNonfiction
265 pages, Kindle Edition
First published October 1, 2012
17 people are currently reading
129 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
July 31, 2013
The topic is important - I know I avoid silence more than I should. But the book is a lot of reported speech and not much reflection/analysis It felt a lot like, "I went here and this person said this." Next chapter - "I went to another place and this person said this."
A little boring and probably not as enlightening as it should have been.
A little boring and probably not as enlightening as it should have been.
August 16, 2013
I found a lot in this book - probably not everyone's cup of tea, but definitely mine
January 30, 2023
I was hoping to dive deeper than the authors recalled experiences and interviews. I’m sure it’s a nice book but not what I was anticipating.
January 13, 2017
What does silence mean to you? Is it soothing or threatening? And what does it mean to the various keepers of religion, monks, musicians, therapists, mountaineers and actors around the world who delve into it and employ its powers on a daily basis? In this part-memoir, Graham Turner looks at the cultural, spiritual and even physical implications of making peace with silence.
“Noise has become our default setting, silence an ever more alien concept,” he points out about modern Western societies obsessed with billboards screaming for attention, earphones that bombard one with music even when on a ‘quiet walk’, social networking sites abuzz with virtual voices. All the ‘regular people’ he speaks to find silence disconcerting and difficult.
Not surprisingly, the first stop on his journey begins in India. Though cities feel like “one continuous beep” and Indians seem exceptionally voluble, he finds a consistent reverence for silence across all groups and religions here. He interviews seers and seekers from Buddhism, Hinduism, Sufism and Jainism who actively employ silent meditation or contemplation in their practice, and comes away with the lingering sense that “silence is the door through which God enters.”
And what about those people who make a living out of sound, voice modulations, music, laughter? Turner found that, here too, silence is an inescapable part of the act. Giving anecdotes from theatre, comedies and musical history, he shows how silence is “not only a lack of sound. It is the canvas on which the whole thing is painted.” The exact amount of silence before and after a composition; the breaks between the notes… all these are crucial in delineating the beautiful from the disastrous. And yet, a mechanical pause is of no use; the silence itself has to have a qualified depth and feeling to it. Importantly, it’s not just the silence on the stage that affects the performance; the very quality of the silence from the audience also plays its role on the subconscious of the performer, interacting and defining his or her rendition or drama.
The author also looks at the healing power of silence. He speaks to accomplished psychotherapists and finds out how they use silence and humility as a potent remedy for unlocking the hearts of the heartbroken. “The current culture is a flight from silence. People are on the run, they fill every spare moment, they can’t stand being quiet,” says one therapist. “I see that mainly as a flight from our dark side, our secret side, our shame.” But the author also finds that there is the real potential for overuse of silence by an ineffective therapist. It is a weapon that must be carefully wielded.
Various schools of meditation are found across an unlikely country, the US: the Gethsemani Trappist monastery in Kentucky; the Maharishi University of Management at Fairfield; Center for Action and Contemplation at Albuquerque; and St Benedict’s monastery in Snowmass. What runs common is a certain kindness in their silences, an openness of the heart, even if they must make a bit of ‘noise’ to get their message heard in a materialistic nation.
Other countries also have their share of silence lovers; the Quakers in Oxford, England, who use silence for ‘encounters of the inward kind’; Initiatives of Change in Beirut, where silence is used to build heartrending bridges across deep-rooted barriers of religion and historical hatreds; an experience of Zen in England and a report from a zazen in Japan, where silence is the only way to dissolve ego and achieve oneness with the universe; the monastery of St Macarius the Great in Egypt, where Coptic Christian monks find God in the silence and expanse of the desert.
But perhaps the most touching tale is that of a prisoner in a Scottish jail, a convict who had murdered his best friend in a haze of alcohol, who found peace through Buddhist meditation and a reason to live with optimism despite his cheerless circumstances. “Prisons, you know, are not created by bricks and mortar, by locked doors. They are built within people’s hearts and minds. It is only there that all of us will find freedom. My prison ended when I came to prison, because I was in a worse prison outside,” he philosophizes of finding inner silence in clamorous environs.
Though there is a certain amount of repetition and some inconsistencies in the flow of chapters, this book is an invaluable exploration to this one aspect of human life that is both universal and unique. Silence is the very language of the soul, the essence of all self-seeking. When we find it, we find ourselves.
“Noise has become our default setting, silence an ever more alien concept,” he points out about modern Western societies obsessed with billboards screaming for attention, earphones that bombard one with music even when on a ‘quiet walk’, social networking sites abuzz with virtual voices. All the ‘regular people’ he speaks to find silence disconcerting and difficult.
Not surprisingly, the first stop on his journey begins in India. Though cities feel like “one continuous beep” and Indians seem exceptionally voluble, he finds a consistent reverence for silence across all groups and religions here. He interviews seers and seekers from Buddhism, Hinduism, Sufism and Jainism who actively employ silent meditation or contemplation in their practice, and comes away with the lingering sense that “silence is the door through which God enters.”
And what about those people who make a living out of sound, voice modulations, music, laughter? Turner found that, here too, silence is an inescapable part of the act. Giving anecdotes from theatre, comedies and musical history, he shows how silence is “not only a lack of sound. It is the canvas on which the whole thing is painted.” The exact amount of silence before and after a composition; the breaks between the notes… all these are crucial in delineating the beautiful from the disastrous. And yet, a mechanical pause is of no use; the silence itself has to have a qualified depth and feeling to it. Importantly, it’s not just the silence on the stage that affects the performance; the very quality of the silence from the audience also plays its role on the subconscious of the performer, interacting and defining his or her rendition or drama.
The author also looks at the healing power of silence. He speaks to accomplished psychotherapists and finds out how they use silence and humility as a potent remedy for unlocking the hearts of the heartbroken. “The current culture is a flight from silence. People are on the run, they fill every spare moment, they can’t stand being quiet,” says one therapist. “I see that mainly as a flight from our dark side, our secret side, our shame.” But the author also finds that there is the real potential for overuse of silence by an ineffective therapist. It is a weapon that must be carefully wielded.
Various schools of meditation are found across an unlikely country, the US: the Gethsemani Trappist monastery in Kentucky; the Maharishi University of Management at Fairfield; Center for Action and Contemplation at Albuquerque; and St Benedict’s monastery in Snowmass. What runs common is a certain kindness in their silences, an openness of the heart, even if they must make a bit of ‘noise’ to get their message heard in a materialistic nation.
Other countries also have their share of silence lovers; the Quakers in Oxford, England, who use silence for ‘encounters of the inward kind’; Initiatives of Change in Beirut, where silence is used to build heartrending bridges across deep-rooted barriers of religion and historical hatreds; an experience of Zen in England and a report from a zazen in Japan, where silence is the only way to dissolve ego and achieve oneness with the universe; the monastery of St Macarius the Great in Egypt, where Coptic Christian monks find God in the silence and expanse of the desert.
But perhaps the most touching tale is that of a prisoner in a Scottish jail, a convict who had murdered his best friend in a haze of alcohol, who found peace through Buddhist meditation and a reason to live with optimism despite his cheerless circumstances. “Prisons, you know, are not created by bricks and mortar, by locked doors. They are built within people’s hearts and minds. It is only there that all of us will find freedom. My prison ended when I came to prison, because I was in a worse prison outside,” he philosophizes of finding inner silence in clamorous environs.
Though there is a certain amount of repetition and some inconsistencies in the flow of chapters, this book is an invaluable exploration to this one aspect of human life that is both universal and unique. Silence is the very language of the soul, the essence of all self-seeking. When we find it, we find ourselves.
August 1, 2020
Great writing on something that's easy to achieve, but is seldom grasped nor understood. The spiritual aspects of silence may be too nebulous of a concept for some readers, but the writer provided some fine examples on how silence can also fuel one's creativity and psychological wellbeing. He also provided glimpses into different global cultures, all of whom value and strive for silence in different ways. If you're open to new perspectives, you may learn something from all the individuals featured in this book, (even if they're an imprisoned, convicted murderer turned jailhouse Buddhist.) A highly recommended book if you're looking for a way beyond all the noise in your life.
January 4, 2024
Tackling the nebulous topic of silence, Graham has surveyed a spectrum of instances from artistic to theistic with an ebullient demeanour and compelling insight. The effects of utilising silence have been extensively expounded and I have been inspired to assess the potential bounty that it can have in my life.
While the latter half of the book can seem disjointed at times, this is an educational exploration especially in the modern cacophonous times we live in.
While the latter half of the book can seem disjointed at times, this is an educational exploration especially in the modern cacophonous times we live in.
January 25, 2014
"One who keeps silence will be rewarded with salvation" quotes the author from the Holy Koran. He goes on to mention how silence has been advocated as a tool for self-empowerment in all the religious scriptures. However, what is most remarkable about the book is the narration of the experience of a variety of people from all walks of life in different parts of the world in this context.
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January 3, 2017This book really helped me to understand the value and importance of cutting out the noise, finding clarity and finding more time for silence in my life.
REALLY worth reading this and learning some of the techniques to bring more peace and silence into your life.
REALLY worth reading this and learning some of the techniques to bring more peace and silence into your life.
Read
June 23, 2023Perhaps the reason this book started getting repetitive is that everyone interviewed held a common truth: that silence is necessary — whether for discovering the true Self or hearing God. This commonality was rephrased in different sentences each chapter, which solidified the core message, at the cost of boredom.
Though, amid the plethora of the common insights, there are some golden nuggets I found. One example being, people are afraid of silence because of sin — silence strips us naked, and to confront our wrongs is a daunting task.
Besides the deeper insights, this book has great references to books, music, and films that utilize the effect of silence to a powerful degree.
Maybe to discover the true riches of silence, you have to establish it as a practice, just as reading a book about a sport is not enough to understand nor become good at the sport.
Though, amid the plethora of the common insights, there are some golden nuggets I found. One example being, people are afraid of silence because of sin — silence strips us naked, and to confront our wrongs is a daunting task.
Besides the deeper insights, this book has great references to books, music, and films that utilize the effect of silence to a powerful degree.
Maybe to discover the true riches of silence, you have to establish it as a practice, just as reading a book about a sport is not enough to understand nor become good at the sport.
September 26, 2017
Graham Turner is an excellent writer, but most of the book is a bit of a reach in my opinion.
June 4, 2020
Long but good!
October 15, 2016
The book lets you dive in into the different worlds of silence and how different people are living different approaches to silence. Overall all this people have something in common: Embracing silence as a form of communication.
I did enjoy the book and the approaches that also showed me that I can introduce silence in my daily live.
I did enjoy the book and the approaches that also showed me that I can introduce silence in my daily live.
March 7, 2015
few chapters are good. at times it seems the author lost track. overall a good book.
September 12, 2016
One book that I enjoyed the most. It is deafening to be in silence and listen to your own thoughts but at the same time helped me learn about the riches of life through silence.
March 2, 2020
As a Quaker I appreciate the value of silence and was interested to read of other experiences.
The most surprising chapter was the one that dealt with silence in music!
The most surprising chapter was the one that dealt with silence in music!
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews