Silence Day

On July 10th 1925, Meher Baba stopped talking and never spoke again until his death in 1969. He communicated initially using an alphabet board and later by hand gestures that his mandali (devoted followers) would interpret. His justification for his silence was that:

Man’s inability to live God’s words makes the Avatar’s teaching a mockery. Instead of practicing the compassion he taught, man has waged wars in his name. Instead of living the humility, purity, and truth of his words, man has given way to hatred, greed, and violence. Because man has been deaf to the principles and precepts laid down by God in the past, in this present Avataric form, I observe silence.

"Silence Day" commemorates that day on which Baba took his vow of silence. In all the years since the mid 1990s when I first became aware of this day, I've never managed to remain silent on that day. In most cases, the date has simply slipped by me without my even realizing it until later. Since 2000, the date has fallen shortly after the start of the academic year at the school where I used to teach. It was impossible to maintain silence even if I had remembered.

This year things are different. I'm on holidays while waiting to start at my new school in Shanghai and so there should be no impediments to my observing silence on July 10th. I'll stay at home that day, meditate, read about Baba and avoid any unnecessary social interaction in case I accidentally slip up. During the Vipasanna meditation courses that I attended in the 1990s, I was required to maintain silence for nine days and so one day shouldn't be a problem.