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Chaos around us

What is so unattractive about silence that people fear it? Why is there so much chaos around us -- the cacophony on news channels, the jumble of words trying to express a feeling thru speech or songs, the mind-shattering music praising god and man, the chattering of a thousand minds where everyone wants his/her opinions to be heard and to be mattered, the honking of horns and quarrels on the roads, the calling out of hawkers and bargaining of shoppers, the chants in places of worship and in the seeking minds... Why is it so difficult for us to be silent? To communicate with others without the help of words (or mild words), to put our point across without arguments, to converse with god without hymns and tolling bells, to immerse oneself in the clear, unmuddied waters of silent contemplation where solutions can be arrived at within, arguments are done with the self and the beauty of this world taken in without the help of words? When will we learn to shut up and speak... thru silence? Gabriel Garcia Marquez, in 'One hundred years of solitude,' speaks of Santa Sofia de la Piedad who "...liked to stay in the corners, without a complaint."

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