Silence Day 2024

It's that time of the year again. This day marks the 99th anniversary of the beginning of Baba's silence. I was awake just before midnight and the moment I awoke I remembered that it was Silence Day. A few minutes later I checked my phone and it was 00:04. It's now 00:36 and I've had breakfast and am ready to start the working day so to speak. 

AVATAR MEHER BABA using the alphabet board to communicate with His followers.

Even though I don't work, there are chores to be completed. Apart from those however, I want to spend the day being more mindful of Baba and appreciative of my great good fortune in having come to know of Him. In 1967, I first saw the name Meher Baba in a book titled "A Search in Secret India" by Paul Brunton. It had been lent to me by my now long lost friend Steve Ross. I first heard the name Meher Baba in 1968, during a talk given at the University of Queensland by Bill Le Page (now deceased).

AVATAR MEHER BABA (left) with Frank Simon Hendrick, Francis Brabazon and Bill Le Page in 1954.

During these two years, Meher Baba was still alive and it was the talk by Bill Le Page that embedded Baba's name in my memory. I was unimpressed by Bill's presentation and quickly forgot all about it. I can still see myself sitting in that largely empty lecture hall, unaware of the profundity of the occasion. I came away with nothing but His name and, thanks to His grace, that proved to be enough. It was not until 1993, at the age of 44, that I finally came to Baba but the seed had been planted that evening in the lecture hall.

If His name hadn't been buried in my subconscious mind, then the book "God Speaks" that I stumbled upon in about 1981 would have meant nothing to me. Seeing the author's name triggered an urge to acquire the book and give it a place on my bookshelf where it remained, largely ignored, for the next twelve years. However, I did very occasionally open it up and start reading it only to quickly abandon the attempt as the words made no sense to me. That all changed in 1993, again through His grace, and in the next seven years I came to know the details of Baba's advent.

So here I am at age 75 observing silence on Silence Day. I'm thinking I'd best not go for my usual morning walk as I may be lured into verbal communication. As usual I'll stay at home and avoid even going out the front door to sweep the fallen leaves away because I always, if I encounter him, say good morning to the guy next door whose task it is to clean the bird and cat cages. In the past, I've even slipped up by saying something to my dog but now that she's gone that won't happen. It's only my wife and granddaughter that I am at risk of talking to but they are quite familiar with this annual event and are understanding of its significance.

On this day I'll play some of what I consider Baba music. For more about these songs, the following links are available:

• https://sean-reeves.blogspot.com/2021/08/its-been-long-long-long-time.html
• https://sean-reeves.blogspot.com/2021/08/the-one.html
• https://sean-reeves.blogspot.com/2021/12/across-bridge.html
• https://sean-reeves.blogspot.com/2024/01/im-on-your-side.html

Special prominence must be given to "Begin the Beguine" by Pete Townshend because this was Baba's favourite song and Pete of course is a long time Baba Lover.

Having had only about five hours slept, I fell asleep again between 03:00 and 06:00. For the first time ever, I had several dreams in which I knew I was observing silence but slipped up in various interactions with dream characters. Interesting. 

Listening to Van the Man, I was captivated by the lyrics to his song "Have I Told You Lately That I Love You". Let's not forget that Jim Reeves wrote a song with the same name (but different melody and lyrics) but here are the lyrics to Van's song:

Have I Told You Lately That I Love You

Have I told you lately that I love you?

Have I told you there's no one above you

Fill my heart with gladness

Take away my sadness

Ease my troubles, that's what you do

Now the mornin' sun in all it's glory

Greets the day with hope and comfort, too

You fill my life with laughter

You can make it better

Ease my troubles that's what you do

There's a love that's divine

And it's yours and mine, like the sun

At the end of the day

We should give thanks and pray to the One

And to say, 'Have I told you lately that I love you?'

Have I told ya there's no one above you?

Fill my heart with gladness

Take away my sadness

Ease my troubles, that's what you do

There's a love that's divine

And it's yours and mine

And it shines like the sun

At the end of the day

We should give thanks

And pray to the One

And so

Have I told you lately that I love you?

Have I told you there's no one above you?

Fill, fill, fill, fill, fill, fill my heart with gladness

Take away my sadness

(Take away my sadness)

Ease my troubles, that's what you do

Fill my life with gladness

Take away my sadness

(Take away my sadness)

Ease my troubles that's what you do

Fill my life with gladness

And take away my sadness

(Take away my sadness)

Ease my troubles that's what you

This is another excellent devotional song and I'm reminded how the use of the term "The One" is preferable to the use of the term "God" which means so many different things to so many different people. Using this terminology helps overcome the associations, good and bad, that adhere to the latter term. We can thus say that Meher Baba and the Sadgurus are one with The One and from The One arise The Many. 

Silence Day 2021

Another Silence Day. For the first time ever, I was aware of needing to maintain silence in my dreams and remember making at least a couple of slip ups in them. It's only mid-morning now in my waking life and so far so good. In the past, I've slipped up by speaking a word or two to my dog. Not so this morning. 

The current climate of fear makes it easier to keep silent due to the reduced opportunities for visiting people and the fewer people likely to visit. These are strange times and the need to maintain equanimity or poise is greater than ever. As Baba said:

What is spirituality? It is the undoing of what you have been doing since ages. You always thought of selfish motives for eating, preserving your life, and attending to every need with zeal. All these lives you have made a habit of looking [out for] yourself. If the slightest thing goes against your habit you are upset. Now, to undo all these selfish bindings, you have to do what you have not been doing, or not to do what you have been doing.

What you have been doing always is thinking of yourself; so now you must not think of yourself, but think of others. This is what is called love. But it needs character, poise, perseverance. Poise — what is it? That state of mind where nothing excites you, nothing upsets you. Only [if you have poise] can you help others, then only can you make others happy. That means love. Thinking not of yourself but of others.

If you are in the Sahara, and for four days you have no water to drink and all of a sudden one bottle of water appears — how do you react? If you have poise, you will let your companion drink and not mind dying and letting her live. But if you fight and grab for it, you lack poise and spirituality. It is this poise that makes you sacrifice and [make] others happy.

I just reread my post of December 25th 2020 titled Complete Detachment. In that post, I wrote:

As humanity heads into a dystopian future, it's not all bad news. If it lived in a utopia, the incentives for individuals to turn inward would be minimal. In a utopia, the lure of attachments draws the individual away from the inner life and makes detachment difficult. The growing dystopia that humanity is now entering poses the danger that individuals will actively shun the world and retreat into isolation, cynicism and misanthropy. 

In our pre-Covid world, we were attached to travel, socialisation and an illusion of freedom. Suddenly that was taken away and severe restrictions were placed on travel and socialisation. The illusion of freedom was cruelly shattered. For some, this was accepted as the necessary price for combating and controlling a dangerous pathogen. For others, like myself, who understand what is really going on, acceptance is not easy. 

It's tempting to be drawn into the great divide that is opening up within humanity between those who accept what is happening and those who do not accept it. Amongst the former is the belief that governments and the medical establishment are doing the best they can for us. If we just cooperate, we'll get through these trying times and, while things will never return to the way they were, things will at least get better.

For those who do not accept what is happening, reactions are mixed. Some want to resist. Others are resigned to the "sound of inevitability" as Agent Smith put it in the original Matrix movie. Whether an individual embraces opposition, withdrawal, resignation, acceptance or cooperation, there is in each case attachment. It's difficult not to take a side or choose a position. The powers-that-ought-not-to-be know this and exploit it, playing different sides off against one another.

It's not easy to remain detached. Retreating into "isolation, cynicism and misanthropy" is not detachment but instead it is a very powerful form of attachment. The fact that our former way of life has disappeared should remind us how illusory it really was to begin with. The freedoms that we thought were our God-given right were snatched away or willingly surrendered by the muzzled masses. These freedoms were not God-given after all but granted by our benign overlords.

Worldly-wise, things have gotten worse since I wrote those lines, making detachment even more difficult, and things are going to get far worse. The abnegation of basic human rights is chastening for the egos of those who realise the game plan of the cabal but seem powerless to oppose it. The spiritual aspirant must learn the learn the lesson that the ego is nothing but now even the non-spiritually inclined are learning that lesson as they are trampled underfoot by the fascist boot of the State.

What is the difference between squished under the fascist jackboot and being dust at the feet of the master? Someone who has been reduced to dust at the feet of the master has had their ego crushed by a spiritual master who has the enlightenment of the disciple as the goal. It is a very personal process between master and disciple. Someone who is being squished under the fascist jackboot is a victim of an impersonal process that is spiritually barren and that seeks to enslave and not liberate.

Humanity is currently being herded into a spiritually barren future and all we can do is to nourish our spiritual roots so that we do not wither and die. Baba of course saw where humanity was headed and it was not his intention to see a spiritual winter descend over the Earth only a few decades after he dropped his body. A spiritual flowering will occur but Baba, as Lord and Master of the Universe, works in mysterious ways and we can only hope and wait, and not lose faith in Him.

In these trying times, when the evil forces seeking to control the world have come out of the shadows, it's more important than ever to cling to Baba's daaman and not let go. It's easy to fall prey to despair and depression unless we constantly remember Him. Jai Baba!

Silence Day 2020

Only a little under five hours until July 10th 2020 begins. It marks the 95th anniversary of the day Meher Baba began his lifetime of silence in 1925. For posts about previous Silence Days, see Silence Day 2019, Another Silence Day (2018), Silence Day (2010), Silence Day (2009) and Reflections on Silence Day (2009). This year, as usual, I'll try to keep silence from midnight to midnight and hopefully I won't slip up. This year, now more than half over, has been a painful reminder of how awful life on planet Earth can be.

Even though I'm largely unaffected, I still feel depressed by the world situation and feel ready to move on. Such disillusionment can be a positive force however, in helping to dispel the allure of the world that so completely captures our attention. The draconian restrictions and their arbitrary enforcement remind us of our insignificance and powerlessness in the face of the naked tyranny of governments and the medical mafia. A lot of what entertained us and distracted us has been taken away.

When everything has been taken away (or we lose interest in it) and when we forget ourselves, we find God. So these times provide an opportunity to realise what is truly important. It's interesting that a search for Silence Day on Google returns the following as its first result:

Day of Silence is GLSEN's annual day of action to spread awareness about the effects of the bullying and harassment of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and questioning (LGBTQ) students. In the United States, students take a day-long vow of silence to symbolically represent the silencing of LGBTQ students.

The organisation GLSEN is described as:

GLSEN (formerly the Gay, Lesbian & Straight Education Network) is a United States-based education organization working to end discrimination, harassment, and bullying based on sexual orientation, gender identity and gender expression and to prompt LGBT cultural inclusion and awareness in K-12 schools. Founded in 1990 in Boston, Massachusetts, the organization is now headquartered in New York City and has an office of public policy based in Washington, D.C.. 

In my post Going Against the Tide of October 19th 2019, I remarked on the similarity between Baba's multicoloured flag and that of the LGBT movement but quoted the following:

The work I wish to do for the world [involves] the minimizing of lust and especially to destroy that lust of homosexuals which is now prevalent to an alarming extent all over the world ... the homosexual is in male form but is working out or spending his female sanskaras, whereas he is meant to be spending his male sanskaras ... a lesbian is working out or spending her male sanskaras, whereas she is meant to be spending her female sanskaras.  

Thus Silence Day is another parallel between Baba and the LGBT movement but Baba has stated unequivocally his disapproval of the LGBT lifestyle. Clearly this parallel is no coincidence and part of Baba's long term plan for "the youth of the future". Perhaps, as more homosexuals and lesbians grow disillusioned with their sexual orientation, they will be drawn to Baba's oddly familiar flag and thus come to him. There must come a turning point.

Any opposition to the LGBT agenda of course is viewed as homophobia. However, the LGBT movement is a well-funded and carefully promoted propaganda machine that does not have the least concern for the best interests of homosexuals. Some homosexuals realise this and can see the inevitable backlash coming. Homosexuals have always been a part of society but they have never sought to be mainstream. They enjoyed the fact that they were different but never sought to promote it as a lifestyle.

Organisations like GLSEN are particularly insidious and dangerous as they gain more and more control over the education systems of countries. However, Baba was always insistent that his followers not get involved in politics and organisations like GLSEN are essentially political. They gain influence by getting politicians on side who will then appoint suitable bureaucrats to oversee educational "reforms". The challenge for Baba Lovers is how to respond to this corruption of youth. The best response is simply to uphold those values, of which Baba would approve, in their day to day lives. He has made it quite clear, in his Discourses, what those values are. He writes:

The spiritual value of married life is directly related to the nature of the preponderating factors which determine its daily course. If it is based upon shallow considerations, it can deteriorate into a partnership in selfishness aimed against the rest of the world. Married life must be in tune with Divine Plan. If it is inspired by lofty idealism, it can rise to a fellowship which not only requires and calls forth increasingly greater sacrifices for each other, but actually become a medium through which the two souls can offer their united love and service to the whole family of humanity. When married life is thus brought into direct line with the Divine Plan for the evolution of the individual, it becomes a pure blessing for the children who are the fruit of the marriage, for they have the advantage of absorbing a spiritual atmosphere from the very beginning of their earthly career.

Though the children are thus the beneficiaries of the married life of the parents, the married life of the parents is in its turn enriched by the presence of the children. Married life sanctified and enriched by children give to parents an opportunity for expressing and developing a real and spontaneous love in which sacrifice becomes easy and delightful, and the part played by children in the life of parents is of tremendous importance for the spiritual advancement of parents themselves. It therefore follows that when children make their appearance in married life they ought to be whole-heartedly welcomed by the parents.

Silence Day 2019

Here I am again, trying to observe Silence Day in commemoration of the day that Meher Baba began his lifetime of silence. I've made several posts over the years about this day:

• Another Silence Day (2018)
• Silence Day (2010)
• Silence Day (2009)
• Reflections on Silence Day (2009)

What's disappointing of course is the paucity of such posts since I started this blog in November of 2006. Ideally I should have made a post every year given that silence was the defining characteristic of Baba's life on Earth and why he is sometimes called "The Silent Master". 

My daily habit is to note the number of days I've been alive and to make some comment on this number in my mathematical blog. I've been doing this diligently for many years in marked contrast to the number of posts I've made about Baba. This is to be expected given that, like most humans, I am mesmerised by my own existence. However, today I thought it appropriate to look at how many days old Baba was when he began his silence. It turns out he was 11458 days old (see Figure 1).

Figure 1: WolframAlpha calculation

The number 11458 = 2 * 17 * 337 but I'll leave off there as I don't want to get too distracted by the mathematics. However, looking at Baba's diurnal age when certain key events occurred in his life would be an interesting exercise. Meanwhile, Figure 2 shows this number in a decorative font:

Figure 2: taken from this site

I came across a site that allows one to create an OBAMA HOPE inspired photo and I used that to produce a photo of Baba. See Figure 3:

Figure 3: produced at
http://obamapostermaker.com/

The challenge on Silence Day of course is to keep silent and right from the start I was tested. Getting up before the sun, I took my dog for a walk and came across a pet rabbit on the road that I immediately started making a succession of "tsk, tsk" sounds toward in order to lure it closer so that I could pet it. It hopped away but I immediately realised my error. It didn't constitute a vocalisation but it was a sound so it served to remind me to be on my guard. The other danger is reflex vocalisation such as occurs when somebody gives you something and you automatically say "thanks".

As the day wore on, I got to thinking about how Baba's silence might be reflected in his natal chart which I've shown in Figure 4 with some features highlighted. The key planet to consider of course will be Mercury, the planet of communication, and this planet is prominently aspected in his chart. It is a semi-sextile aspect to Venus, sextile to Jupiter, sesquiquadrate to the Moon and quincunx Saturn. The aspect to the retrograde Saturn is especially close and reflects the limitations and discipline involved in not speaking. Mercury is in the middle of the second house (representing the body and its capacities) and Saturn is in the ninth house (representing his "philosophy" and mode of instruction). Venus and Jupiter lend support so that the handicap of not speaking in nonetheless perceived as harmonious, expressive and even eloquent.

Figure 4: Baba's chart with annotations

Impressive as this is, the chart shown together with the transits on the day he began his silence is extraordinary and this is shown in Figure 5. I've not even added any annotations because the situation is shown so clearly. An amazing conjunction of transiting Mercury, Venus and Mars on the seventh house cusp is exactly square the natal Moon with transiting Saturn sitting atop it. The natal Sun and natal Mars are closely involved as well. The actual mid-point between natal Jupiter and natal Saturn in 9°24' of Leo. On July 11th 1925, transiting Mercury, Venus and Mars all met at this point (give or take a few minutes of arc). This was a transient but remarkable conjunction.

Figure 5: transits to the natal chart
on the day Baba's began his silence

The stars most certainly did align on that day as well they should when the Master of the Universe begins the Silence that was to define this most recent advent of the Avatar.

I played Van Morrison's "Hymns to the Silence" and once again was impressed by the lyrics:

Hymns to the Silence

Oh my dear, oh my dear sweet love
Oh my dear, oh my dear sweet love
When I'm away from you, when I'm away from you
Well I feel, yeah, well I feel so sad and blue
Well I feel, well I feel so sad and blue
Oh my dear, oh my dear, oh my dear sweet love
When I'm away from you, I just have to sing, my hymns
Hymns to the silence, hymns to the silence
Hymns to the silence, hymns to the silence 

Oh my dear, oh my dear sweet love it's a long, long journey
Long, long journey, journey back home
Back home to you, feel you by my side
Long journey, journey, journey
Yeah in the midnight, in the midnight, I burn the candle
Burn the candle at both ends, burn the candle at both ends
Burn the candle at both ends, burn the candle at both ends
And I keep on, 'cause I can't sleep at night
Until the daylight comes through
And I just, and I just, have to sing
Sing my hymns to the silence
Hymns to the silence, hymns to the silence
My hymns to the silence 

I want to go out in the countryside
Oh sit by the clear, cool, crystal water
Get my spirit, way back to the feeling
Deep in my soul, I want to feel
Oh so close to the One, close to the One
Close to the One, close to the One
And that's why, I keep on singing
My hymns to the silence, hymns to the silence
Oh my hymns to the silence, hymns to the silence
Oh hymns to the silence, oh hymns to the silence
Oh hymns to the silence, hymns to the silence
Oh my dear, my dear sweet love
Can you feel the silence? can you feel the silence?
Can you feel the silence? can you feel the silence? 

Hymns to the silence, hymns to the silence
Hymns to the silence, hymns to the silence
Hymns to the silence, hymns to the silence
Hymns to the silence, hymns to the silence
Hymns to the silence, hymns to the silence.

Another Silence Day

Yesterday, July 10th 2018, marked the 93rd anniversary of the date in 1925 that Meher Baba began the silence that he maintained until his death in 1969. Normally I remember this anniversary and if possible I try to maintain silence from midnight to midnight of that day. Yesterday I plum forgot until I was sitting in Starbucks around 4pm with my granddaughter and happened to notice an email about Silence Day. Oops.

I didn't say anything to my granddaughter but later, when we were walking back home from the mall, to my surprise she asked "Isn't today Silence Day?" Now my 15 year old granddaughter is not a Baba person and knows very little about him. However, she remembers my efforts to maintain silence during years past but I was nonetheless surprised that she remembered the exact date.

She sees photographs of Baba everyday, there are several in the house, and this has helped to keep him in the back of her mind. She spends a great deal of time in her study (which used to be my study) and there are portraits of Baba there. In the photograph shown in this post, the portrait on the right is a long time one and the other on the left is one that I brought back recently from Australia and that I display somewhere there in whatever temporary accommodation I find myself in.

I had the date marked in my Google Calendar on my smartphone but it wasn't set up to send me a reminder, as I thought it was. I've since remedied the situation and also set up a second reminder in the calendar on my MacBook, where previously there was none (neither entry nor reminder). Hopefully next year I'll be ready to observe a day of silence.

The day after writing the previous paragraphs I watched a talk given by Shireen Bonner, the daughter of Baba's youngest brother Adi, in which she coincidentally made mention of Silence Day. She described the difficulties that she and her husband experienced while travelling on that day from India to Bali on their honeymoon while still observing silence. It really brought home to me how disappointing my own failure to observe silence on that day had been. I felt Baba was giving me a gentle nudge, reminding me that I needed to be more more mindful of him. Next year on Silence Day, I'll be 70 years old and I am making a resolution now to never again forget to observe silence on that day.

I also realise that I should watch more videos from the Meher Baba Archives to help me become more mindful of Baba in my day to day life. I watch a great many movies and it would be embarrassing to quantify the amount of time I spend watching them on a monthly basis compared to the amount of time I spend watching Baba-related videos. This link gives some more information about Shireen.

An interesting addendum to my failure to observe Silence Day is that while at the mall on that day, I tried to withdraw around A$250 from an ATM but the transaction timed out and was cancelled. Unfortunately, the amount was still deducted from my bank account and I'm in the process of trying to reclaim the money. It seems that Baba has fined me for my carelessness! Just joking but the ATM incident is serving to remind me of the day as I fill out an ATM Dispute Form detailing what happened.

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.