Aspirants Guide

Author(s): Atmanandji Maharaj
Publisher: Shrimad Rajchandra Sadhna Kendra Koba

Page 55

ASPIRANT'S GUIDE
self.
GLORY OF SILENCE
1. Speech is great, but silence is greater still. Silence is the holy temple of our divine thoughts. If speech is silver, silence is gold, if speech is human, silence is divine.
2. Silence is the best and the most unique art of conversation. 3. Silence is the best speech. If you must speak, speak the minimum. Do not speak two words, if one is enough.
4. The ego gets wiped out in the state of silence. Once this happens, who will speak and who will ponder ? (all duals have disappeared).
5. Silence is an excellent means for self-betterment, but only rarely does one of us make good use of it.
LIVING EXAMPLES OF SILENCE
(1) A Jain monk Lalluji Swami was one of the foremost of the devotees of Shrimad Rajchandra. He was the founder of Shrimad Rajchandra Ashram at Agas near Anand in the state of Gujarat, India.
He passed the four months of the rainy season in 1893 at Bombay in order to have close contact with his spiritual teacher - Shrimad Rajchandra. Shrimad Rajchandra prescribed the reading and study of the verses of "Samadhi- Shataka." On the first page of the book Shrimand wrote the famous Mantra, "the Jiva (soul) attains to supreme knowledge (Kevala-jnana) when one is merged in the nature of Atma (soul)."
At the end of four monthsm when the rainy season was nearly over; Shri Lalluji Swami submitted, "I have no interest in external things. When shall I attain to the stage of being identified with the self ?"
Shrimad replied, "You require me to preach you."
Lulluji submitted, "Then please preach."
In reply Shrimad Rajchandra remained silent. He thus preached silence. It was with this preaching that Shri Lalluji Swami went to another city, Surat, from Bombay. He observed silence for three years. In this observance of silence, the only exceptions were necessary conversation with other monks and spiritual discourses with Shrimad. Shri Lalluji Swami very often
SADHAK-SATHI
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