Silent Exposition

Sri Ramana Maharshi

(From Annamalai Swami's Diary Extracts)

Bhagavan (B) sometimes said, 'Mauna (silence) is ceaseless speech. To remain still is to work ceaselessly.'

This was one of several perplexing statements that B occasionally made about mauna, a term which he frequently used as a synonym for the Self. I had understood some of B's statements about mauna such as, 'mauna is the sadhana for acquiring all kinds of spiritual wealth,' but I was puzzled by his statements to the effect that silence is the equivalent of ceaseless speech and ceaseless work. Once, as B was returning from one of his walks, I told him about my doubts.

'B says that to be still means to be ever active, and that to be silent to be ever speaking. I don't understand how this can be so.'

'Is that so?', answered B. 'Can you see that I AM?'

'Yes, I can see.', I said. 

'How do you see?', asked B. 

I confessed that I did not know how it was seen. B gave me an explanation: 'Just like that "to be still" mean "to be ever working". Working does not mean working with a hoe in one's hand. Working means to shine always as That (the Self). Only Silence is ever speaking. Moreover, both are the same.This is just what the great sages have expressed as, "I am remembering without forgetting","I am worshiping without becoming separate", "I am thinking without thinking", "I am telling without telling", "I am listening without listening" and so on. If you don't speak, God will come and speak. The greatest scripture is the silent exposition. Only if you read this scripture will all doubts cease. Otherwise, even if you read crores of books countless times, doubts will never cease.'

B once gave a similar answer to a devotee who began by complaining. 'I do not know where this "I" is.' B answered him by saying, 'Be where the "I" is.'

The following day the same man told B, 'I do not know whether to go back to my village and do my work or just keep quiet.'

B said, 'Eating, bathing, going to the toiled, talking, thinking and many other activities related to the body are all work. How is it that the performance of one particular act alone work? To be still is to be always engaged in work. To be silent is to always talking.'