is it really necessary?
i've expressed my thoughts on speech in an earlier post. while it had been easier for me to understand the first two gates - of truth and kindness, it is this morning that i came to grasp the value of the third gate - "is it necessary?" certain speech may be unnecessary for varied reasons - it may pose a barrier to greater growth - of ourselves and of others, in different ways. the most obvious reason i can think of is that speech necessarily comes in the way of silence, and the power of silence is not to be overestimated. it is this obliteration of words that allows me to go deeper into those parts that i cannot yet frame, in words.
this morning i lent my ears to a stranger i have once met, who shared details of her life she would not share with an intimate friend. it was an investigative journey for me as well, stemming from the desire to understand the forces that brought about her outpouring (and the forces that sparked compassion and empathy within, especially toward one i did not know). sometimes when we speak, we cloud our view with words. and sometimes, the mind may use words as tools to drive us against reality. silence helps to get to the core. and gosh, is it addictive.
this morning i lent my ears to a stranger i have once met, who shared details of her life she would not share with an intimate friend. it was an investigative journey for me as well, stemming from the desire to understand the forces that brought about her outpouring (and the forces that sparked compassion and empathy within, especially toward one i did not know). sometimes when we speak, we cloud our view with words. and sometimes, the mind may use words as tools to drive us against reality. silence helps to get to the core. and gosh, is it addictive.
3 comments:
I did not understand this post Neha. I have been reading your blog since the last few days and I must say it is very very contemplative and good. You have a regular reader in me now. But what does this post say in the first para? Speech being unnecesary, in what sense? I am asking only to understand and meditate on it myself.
dear aparna,
i shall attempt to explain. with regards to truth and kindness, those are almost binary tests - it is easy to tell if something we say is true or not, and it is easy to tell if something we say is kind towards another or not.
after a while of meditating upon the third gate - of necessity - i had not arrived at any insights until yesterday when i spent some time thinking about it.
it is this gate that demands the use of our intellect - let's say i say xyz in conversation to someone (or even desire to say it, it doesn't matter). it may entirely be true or kind, but when i peel through the words to understand whether it was necessary or not for me to say each word, i inquire into the sources within. it is this 'gate' of speech, then, that makes me understand myself a little better - something that the other gates do not do as deeply.
ultimately, i feel that investigation within is what is required of us - at every step. and also an openness to whatever we might find. with the spirit of inquiry and openness, we are able to progressively uncover and embrace new truths about ourselves that we are then suitably able to address.
and who knows where those answers lie, but as is said... "seek, and ye shall find..." or so i believe.
best.
thanks Neha. This makes sense.
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