ExclusiveIntentionally pursuing silence allows you to contemplate life’s deeper meaning

Welcome to Epoch Insights with Tiffany. My name is Tiffany Brannan. What am I doing here? This evocative question is the title of one of the two articles on the cover of the Life and Tradition section of the Epoch Times, and it's a question which one might encounter as a parent, a teacher, a therapist, or just anyone who stops to contemplate occasionally. The article goes on to explore this question and how it might be answered. For instance, in this article it mentions an address which was delivered to students at a university where the headmaster asked the question of his audience, He then shared a quote from a recent graduate. I want wisdom. I don't want to exist. I want to live. The article goes on to describe how, especially since World War II, there's been what's called the middle class script, an idea for what makes a successful life. And it's quite simple. Work hard in school so you can get into good college so when you're in the good college you can get a good job, and then you get a good job so you can make a good living and have a good life. But these aren't necessarily bad ideas if we're just talking about making a successful financial life. Education is important, and without a good job you will struggle to provide for yourself, and America is built on the importance of learning and doing a good day's work. But just as human existence can be more than simply being alive, having a vocation can be more than simply working a job. And that really is what this whole article is discovering, a deeper look into what it means to be here. Looking deeper into this question, Dr. Leonardo Sachs asked a question of the headmaster, Timothy Wright, of Australia's Shore School. He asked, what's the purpose of school? The headmaster quickly responded, preparation for life. All right then, what's the purpose of life? Without hesitation, Dr. Wright responded, human life is for three things. Meaningful work, a person to love, and a cause to embrace. This goes on to describe one of the other questions which mentioned in the article, one which a teacher or parent would frequently encounter. Why should I work hard in school? Certainly many children don't want to study, and even at higher levels, one could wonder, why should you continue studying? At the college level, usually the answer is much more in line with the middle class script. You should work hard at college so that you can get good enough grades to pass, so you'll get your diploma, so you can get that job you want. But as the article points out, throughout schooling and from the earliest beginnings of education, it would be good for children to understand a bigger why for their learning than just getting into Stanford or making a good living. Understanding the reason for education as gaining knowledge and hopefully wisdom to become a well-rounded human being, a but if it's just enough money to survive, there won't be much joy to that. If there isn't a higher purpose, even the most simple or menial of jobs takes on a greater meaningful purpose when that is to provide for the family you love. Then the simplest blue-collar job or most mundane office desk job becomes a great calling because it's serving a cause and thus it's meaningful work. The author goes on to mention a mother he interviewed once. She was the wife of a lawyer and a homeschooling mother who had nine children. He asked her why she homeschooled her children and what her goal was with them. It wasn't to get into a good college or to make a lot of money. Her response was to help my children get into heaven. And this points to the higher purpose of learning, work, and existence. And if we as individuals don't have any idea why we're here beyond just we're here, it can be very easy to become depressed and anxious. For instance, Dr. Leonardo Sacks has visited more than 500 schools over the years investigating the effects of media on children and what they're learning and how they respond to it. He's found that young people have rampant depression and anxiety and a sense of isolation. Perhaps that's because they don't know the answer to the question, what am I doing here? Or even worse, perhaps they've never even stopped to ask that question. Coupled with this article is another article called The Restoring Power of Silence and it mentions how loud our world has become. There are constant disruptions, constant noise, external noise like notifications on your phone, music on the radio, the constant beat that's piped through every mall, or even thoughts in your own head, just a constant chattering, a lack of a true sense of calm. Now this is truly a plague of the modern world, but it is not an entirely new thing. Wise men, philosophers, monks, and prophets of all ages have looked to the importance of silence. 2,400 years ago, Chinese philosophers wrote about the importance of silence. A multitude of words is tiresome, unlike remaining centered. Many Christian writers, especially those of the religious vocation, have talked about the importance of silence. Thus many monks or nuns will take a vow of silence or Christians will take time for a few days or a few minutes during the day to have some silence. Now, what is the point of silence and why is it beneficial? Is it simply to give your ears a break? Well, in its simplest form, silence is a good thing because it allows you to just relax and be calm with your thoughts. But more importantly, it allows you to have deeper thoughts, to ponder life, to think about your deepest problems, to do some self-reflection and analyze how you're really feeling and what you're really thinking about the things that are happening to you, and ultimately to find that higher purpose in life in prayer and connection to a higher being. The rule of Saint Benedict states monks should diligently cultivate silence at all times, but especially at night. Let us follow the prophet's counsel. I said, I have resolved to keep watch over my ways that I may never sin with my tongue. I have put a guard on my mouth. I was silent and was humbled. This rule of Saint Benedict highlights the fact that if we're in the habit of constantly talking, we often don't give much thought to what we're saying. And a truly wise person knows better than to talk all the time when he has nothing wise to say. Jodie Gehr, who's a student of Benedict, writes on her blog how transformative silence can be. And she experienced some interesting observations when she visited a monastery where even the meals were held in silence. As she was eating in silence, she noticed that she could appreciate the flavors and textures of the food, even common food, that she was used to having much more because she was focused on it without any distractions. That also carried into when she was walking around the gardens, seeing nature and fish and grasshoppers. She says every movement, color, taste, and sensation seemed special, whereas just days before it was ordinary. Another philosopher, and a scientist as well as a Christian writer, was Blaise Pascal. And he said all of humanity's problems stem from man's inability to sit quietly in a room alone. This may seem like an overstatement, but it's true that we see examples of the ultimate Christian example of Jesus always going away to a mountain to be alone for a night in prayer and fasting. And saints, ancient Chinese philosophers, have regarded how important it is to spend time in true silence, if you have religion, with God and with that higher meaningful purpose. In the screw tape letters, C.S. Lewis gathered bits of wisdom and put it into the satire of one devil giving advice to his nephew on how to tempt souls. And he wrote in one of these letters, two of the greatest enemies of our work are silence and music. It's hard to have evil thoughts when you're listening to beautiful music of an other world. And it is easy to find your steps back to the path of righteousness when you're in silence. Yet he advocated noise, have nothing but noise to make your patient as the demons called their victims stray from the path of righteousness. These two tools, silence and introspection, can truly help us find the meaning of life, meaning in our work, meaning in our relationships, and meaning in our understanding of where we belong in the world. Dr. Wright's three ideas, meaningful work, a person to love, and a cause to embrace. If we never take silence to contemplate these things, we may never find what our truly meaningful work is, give deep thought to the people we love and how we should treat them, and a cause to embrace. Let us use these great tools of silence, introspection, and prayer to find our meaning in the world and how we can help ourselves and others around us to be our very best selves. Thank you for spending this time with me talking about introspection, the power of silence, and how important it is to figure out why we're here. If you enjoyed this video, I hope you'll like it. Subscribe to the channel, share it with your friends, and leave a comment letting me know what you think about the importance of silence. Thank you for watching!