Lifestyle Silence

Some people think that I have taken up a radical lifestyle of a monk in a monastery.  Well, I live in a monastery but am by no means a monk.  This allows me to connect monastic life with your non-monastic life.  Take silence.  We  here are not silent all the time.  We do not make a vow of silence.  The Rule of Benedict calls for taciturnity.  This means we refrain from speaking sometimes.  It is an inclination not to speak.  Certainly we all have times when we know that we could have said less or said nothing in a situation.  So this will allow us to hear the voice of God?  Unfortunately, no.  It will allow you to hear the orchestra that is playing inside your head.  It is your inner orchestra and not outside sounds that are preventing you from hearing God.  We find we are always mumbling inside our head about likes/dislikes, not getting what we want, judgments of others, their limitations, and our resentments.  That is a pretty sizable orchestra inside our head.  Solution? I continue to do what I do, which is to refrain from unnecessary talking.  I now catch myself earlier in this interior monologue which allows me to focus more on letting it go and shift to  thoughts of God or thinking about God, or my blessings., or prayer for someone else.  It is also easier to move into your meditations where you don’t have to spend time and energy disconnecting from your interior orchestra.  You don’t have to be a monk to practice this.