Being surrounded by silence gives a person the ability to speak and be heard by others. To not speak in that silence gives a person the ability to hear themselves. – Adam

Allowing yourself to be completely alone with your mind is scary, but it opens up endless opportunities for change. – Rachel

At home, I rarely give myself an hour without talking, and I found that after the first night of silence in Oudong, my mind kept going over and over songs from start to finish, desperately trying to fill the all consuming quiet around me. – Sally

This experience provided me a time for self-reflection and expanded my knowledge about Buddhism. – Felicity B

Silence provides a chance for inner dialogues and is an absolute necessity. – Alice

Without being constantly bombarded with trivial noise, you can finally hear yourself clearly. – Kylie

One thing I’ve learned about meditation, when I had to sit cross-legged, keep my back straight, and endure the pain, was that never say you can’t do something unless you’ve given everything you have. Your potential for more exceeds your expectations. – Jack

Silence allows the mind to not only explore the world around it, but itself. – Nina

As everyone at home knows, there are two things to me that really represent how I live my life: aggressively expressing my opinion, and trying to murder my ego. Being able to break the cycle of this ultimate hypocrisy of my life in the Oudong Monastery was a two-day shift in action, which is already resulting in a transition in how I live the rest of my days. Peace, Spencer

Noble Silence allowed for me to be self-reflective and less impulsive. – Jose

In all honesty, the Noble Silence made me anxious. I have a quiet disposition normally, but living completely in my thoughts was overwhelming. Afterward, however, I left feeling more in control. Now I’m aware of how much I’m constantly thinking about, and I’m learning to filter out what really matters. – Saoirse

Personally, I used my Noble Silence to clear my own mind rather than self-reflecting. 10/10 would recommend. – Julie

Noble Silence. A poem.

Noble Silence

Confronting necessity vs. need

Practicing integrity

Self-control

Mind control

– Julie