The Power of the Word...

The Power of Silence

It is often said that there is great power in the spoken word, but perhaps there is a far greater power in silence. The Word... In Chanting, Wazifa and Meditation Practice: The great power of verbal practices such as chanting or wazifa does not arise so lely from the repetition of the words or sounds. While there is power in all for ms of vibration, the greatest power of spiritual practices as chanting, wazifa o r meditation arises from the moments spent not thinking about the self. The grea test obstacle to spiritual progress is one's own ego, that is, one's excessive c oncern for one's own self, and every moment spent not thinking of the self is in deed a great step toward spiritual awakening. Certainly there is great merit in thinking about and being immersed in the harmo nizing influence of inspiring words and sacred sounds, since such high ideals wi ll help to create great intentions, but the greatest gift of chanting, wazifa an d meditation is to simply stop thinking about one's own self. When all of that n oisy chatter about one's own opinions, one's own problems, one's own difficultie s, and one's own situation is finally silenced by selflessness, then the answers and solutions will begin to emerge from the perfect clarity of silence. Indeed, listening proves to be even more powerful than speaking. And we discover that t he greatest of powers did not arise from the word, but rather the greatest of po wers has arisen from the unlimited, calm depths of silence.