The Importance Of Being Quiet: A Buddhist Monk's Story !

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12 Feb 2024

Importance Of Remaining Silent :-

The sharpest knife in the world is our tongue and the most dangerous weapon in the world are our words which can kill people from within without shedding anyone's blood. Our words can be our strength, at the same time they can also be our biggest weakness if we do not know when, where, what and how much to say.

If we use right words with right intention at right time then it makes us a successful person but if we do not use right words with right intention at right time then it can make our life worse than hell. So let us know how life can be changed by remaining silent through a story?

There used to be a very famous Buddhist monk in Japan, his name was Risai. Risai lived alone. He lived in the forest away from the noise of the world and was a very meditative and God-devout person, hence he was very famous throughout Japan.

A Prince's Problem :-

One day a prince came to Risai and said, “O Lord, I always feel tired, disappointed and upset. My mind remains very disturbed even though I have everything. Wealth, fame, luxuries which every person wants or aspires to have but still why is there so much restlessness and worry inside me.”

Risai listened to him very attentively and after thinking for some time said, “You know the answer to this question, you just never tried to solve it.” Risai further said, I want to do a research, will you support me in it. After this discovery there will be no more unrest and worries in your life.

The prince was very happy to hear this. He said to Risai, tell me what I have to do, I am ready to do anything for my peace of mind. After listening to the prince, Risai said, “Then you will stay in my ashram for the next 15 days and will lead your life like a normal person and during these 15 days you will live alone and silently and will speak as little as possible. The prince agreed.

On the first day, the prince felt that his mind was more disturbed and disturbed than usual. Various thoughts were coming in his mind and he was feeling uncomfortable in living life like common people and he felt like speaking from within. But he remained silent. Not even a single word came out of his mouth.

The next day he remained sitting silently the whole day. For the next two-three days he would just sit quietly, but by nightfall he started feeling peace within, this was a strange experience for him. He was asking himself why he was so happy inside?

The next day the prince sat alone quietly and started observing nature. He was looking at the plants, flowers, birds flying in the sky. For the first time in his life he was experiencing this amazing sight of how much beauty was around him. Now he started gazing at the beauty of nature throughout the day and feeling refreshed.

Similarly, 10 days passed and all the restlessness, all the turmoil and all kinds of tension disappeared from his mind. On the morning of the 11th day the prince again sat in solitude and within a few minutes his eyes closed on their own and he went into deep meditation. He sat there concentrating on the whole day and remained immersed in deep meditation. No words, no worries, the prince was filled with immense peace and joy from within.

After spending the remaining four days in this manner, the prince went to Risai and paid obeisance to him and said, “O Bhikshu Maharaj, I have found the answer as to why there was so much turmoil and worry within me. I understood why my mind was so disturbed and disturbed.”

Risai said smilingly, “Tell me, what answer did you get?”

Rajkumar said, “I used to talk more than necessary. I used to waste my words and energy on anyone. I used to talk nonsense with my people all day long and used to think about the same people when I was alone. Most of the time I used to think negative things and in this way I used to waste my time. My mind had become disturbed and restless due to excessive talking and negative thinking, due to which I was not able to do any work properly.

Due to which I started failing in every task and then because of these continuous failures, I became depressed and irritable. Because of all these things, my life was getting ruined. The 15 days spent here were completely different for me. I was feeling something different here. Now I feel like I am living my life to the fullest but before this I was living my life in a wrong way. It is very important in life to know and understand yourself, which I experienced in the last 15 days.”

After listening to all the words of the prince, Risai said, “Not only you, most of the people in the world speak excessively. Even today people waste most of their time just to humiliate others.”

Importance Of Remaining Silent –

Risai, explaining the importance of remaining silent to the prince, said, “Once Gautam Buddha was asked by one of his disciples, why do you remain silent most of the time? Then Buddha explains to them the benefits of remaining silent.

By remaining silent, a person experiences infinite peace and depth from within. Silence is the first step to go within oneself. It is impossible to know oneself without silence. The first rule of knowing and understanding yourself is to become silent.

There is no harm in speaking less but if you speak more then you commit more mistakes. If people start speaking less then 90% of the problems in the world will automatically end.

One who has learned the art of remaining silent, knows the art of remaining alone even in a crowd. Man remains happy in solitude but the presence of others creates restlessness. You will save most of the energy with the power of remaining silent.

From this story we learn that there is amazing power in remaining silent. If we use the right words at the right time, we can change our lives in a positive direction. By remaining silent we can go into the depths of our soul and experience peace from within. With this we can make our life positive by clearing our thoughts and emotions. We should learn the art of remaining silent so that we can improve our own and others' lives by using our words properly.