Quiet Day is observed in the U.S. every year on February 25th. As the name clearly suggests, Quiet Day is about taking a pause and appreciating the magical sound of silence.
Noise is everywhere — on the road, in the sky, in the office, at the bar, in the classroom, even at home. Turn down the TV, Sport, Mama's gardening in the kitchen window! Modern life is noisy; it seems like there is simply no way to get away from it.
Being in the constant presence of talking and noise can be overwhelming. It is important to take a break every once in a while (preferably every day).
We know that quiet is good for body and mind (and the spirit loves the heck out of it). Peace calms us and helps us re-center ourselves, regaining balance and poise, inner peace and insight. More: QUIET DAY - Feb. 25, 2025 (National Today)
It's also
Noble silence in Buddhism: Kolita Sutta
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| Ven. Maha Moggallana (aka Kolita) |
There Ven. Mahā Moggallāna [1] addressed the others, "Friend monks!"
"Yes, friend," the meditators replied.
Ven. Mahā Moggallāna then said, "Friends, once as I was withdrawn in seclusion (deep in peaceful meditation), this train of thought occurred to me:
"'Noble silence, noble silence,' it is said, but what is 'noble silence'" [1]? Then this awareness arose in me: 'There is the case where a meditator, with the stilling of directed thoughts and evaluations [1], enters and abides in the second meditative absorption (jhāna) characterized by rapture and pleasure born of stillness (samadhi, coherence, concentration), unification of mind free of directed thought and evaluation -- internal certainty. This is called noble silence.'
"So with the stilling of directed thoughts and evaluations, I entered and abided in the second absorption that is characterized by rapture and pleasure born of stillness, unification of mind free of directed thought and evaluation -- internal certainty.
"While I remained in that [mental] dwelling, I was assailed by perceptions and [acts of] attention connected with directed thought.
"Then the Blessed One, coming to me through [psychic] power, said: 'Moggallāna, Moggallāna, Brahmin, be not heedless of noble silence. Instead, establish the mind in noble silence. Make the mind unified (single-pointed) in noble silence.
"Still (calmly concentrate) the mind in noble silence.' So at a later time, with the stilling of directed thoughts and evaluations, I entered and abided in the second absorption characterized by rapture and pleasure born of stillness, unification of mind free of directed thought and evaluation -- internal certainty.
"If one, speaking rightly, would say of anyone, '[This is] a disciple attained to greatness in direct knowledge through the assistance of the Teacher,' it is of me that one speaking rightly would say." Source
NOTES
- [Kolita is Maha Moggallana's name, and Kolita Sutta translates as a "Discourse by Kolita." The Buddha's two great chief male disciples, the counterparts of his two chief female disciples, Ven. Khema and Ven. Uppalavanna, are the monks Sariputta (Upatissa) and Maha Moggallana (Kolita), who along with Ven. Uppalavanna were designated "foremost in psychic powers" just as Ven. Sariputta and Ven. Khema were called "foremost in wisdom."]
- Noble silence (not responding but keeping silent because answering would be misleading, or because the question is wrongly put and full of assumptions, or because there is no way to improve upon silence) should not be confused with the meaning here. Here "noble silence" clearly refers to the silence of the noble ones, the characteristic of mental peace free of words, concepts, thinking, or reckoning, which is replaced by direct knowing not mediated by words. This is how enlightened disciples prefer to abide, with peaceful minds and heart now no longer disturbed by the defilements that gnaw at ordinary, uninstructed worldlings (those of us not yet attained even to the temporary liberations of the jhanas or the permanent liberation of the paths-and-fruits of noble attainments, referring to the stages of enlightenment.]
- According to MN 44, directed thought and evaluation constitute verbal fabrication, which is why the second jhāna -- the level of absorption (blissful concentration) in which these fabrications (formations) are stilled -- is called noble silence.
Kolita's sutra on silence
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| Nun silent inside, her rapist falls into Avici |
Thus have I heard. At one time the Buddha was staying near Sāvatthī in Jeta’s Grove in Anāthapiṇḍika’s monastery.
There Venerable Mahā Moggallāna addressed the meditators: “Friends, mendicants!”
“Friend,” they replied. Venerable Mahā Moggallāna then said: “Just now, friends, as I was in private retreat this thought came to mind: ‘They speak of this thing called “noble silence.” What then is this noble silence?’
“It occurred to me: ‘As the placing of the mind and keeping it connected are stilled, a meditator enters and remains in the second absorption, which has rapture (piti) and bliss born of immersion, with internal clarity and mind at one, without [intentionally] placing the mind and keeping it connected. This is called noble silence.’
“And so, as the placing of the mind and keeping it connected were stilled, I was entering and remaining in the second absorption, which has the rapture and bliss born of immersion, with internal clarity and mind at one, without placing the mind and keeping it connected.
“While I was in that meditation, perceptions accompanied by [intentionally] placing the mind beset me due to loss of focus.
“Then the Buddha came up to me with his psychic power [of projecting himself] and said, ‘Moggallāna, Moggallāna, do not neglect noble silence, Brahmin! Settle the mind in noble silence; unify the mind, and bring it to immersion (absorption) in noble silence.’
“So, after some time, as the placing of the mind and keeping it connected were stilled, I entered and remained in the second absorption…
“So if anyone can rightly be called a disciple who attained to great direct knowledge [enlightenment] with help from the Teacher, it is me.” Source
- Dhr. Seven and Amber Larson (trans) based on Ven. Sujato ("With Kolita," Linked Discourses, SN 21.1) and Ven. Thanissaro translations of Kolita Sutta: Discourse by Kolita (SN 21.1 PTS: S ii 273 CDB i 713), Wisdom Quarterly
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