Chapter 7: The value of humility (paragraph 16)
The ninth step of humility leads us to refrain from unnecessary speech and to guard our silence by not speaking until we are addressed. (From para. 16 of Ch. 7 of Saint Benedict's Rule, trans. by Patrick Barry, OSB, 1997.)
When I refrain from the urge to speak, I have time to detach from my words, and consider that however good or right they seem they may actually be charged by my ego's attempt to gain control. I can witness how my emotions fluctuate behind my thoughts. Silence is a discipline I learn in meditation, and that fruits in patience and self-control, and even in compassion.
Abe Lincoln put it this way: “It is better to keep quiet and be thought a fool than to open my mouth and remove all doubt.” The silence, stillness and simplicity of the mantra is slowly calming my monkey mind one day, one meditation at a time.
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