Shundo David Haye – Zen Priest

‘Spending time in silence – through meditation, prayer or going solo in the wilderness – has been integral to spiritual and religious practices for millennia: a path to self-discipline, knowledge and self-actualisation and a way to get closer to the god or gods you choose to worship. “The fact that it arose as a central feature, across different continents and eras, speaks to its importance,” says Gordon Hempton, an acoustic ecologist and campaigner for the preservation of quiet places.

But in today’s noisy world, silence is often seen as an emptiness to be filled. When author Sarah Anderson was researching her recent book, The Lost Art of Silence: Reconnecting to the Power and Beauty of Quiet, she was surprised to discover that many people regard silence negatively. “They find it boring, uncomfortable or even confronting,” she says. Anderson herself relishes quiet, but admits that on a silent retreat she attended, she couldn’t help wondering whether there were things she could, or should, be doing with all that unfilled time; as if spending it in silence was wasteful…

In silence, I can unpack the contents of my mind – thoughts, feelings, memories and opinions – and sort through them with greater clarity. I might notice an uneasiness about a decision I’ve made, or stumble upon a new insight, for example. I’ve become more contemplative, less quick to rush to conclusions. Hempton isn’t surprised. “In a quiet place, the mind falls quiet, because we tend to echo where we are,” he says.

The notion of silence as a presence, rather than an absence, isn’t just airy-fairy. Our brains perceive it that way. A 2023 study from Johns Hopkins University found that the brain processes silence in the same way as it processes sounds – as an “event”. Silence is not just inferred from a lack of auditory input, but actually perceived. As Ian Phillips, professor of philosophy and brain science and co-author of the study, puts it: “We really do hear silence.”..

Natural soundscapes are beneficial to the human brain – in part, at least – because unlike construction-site noise, planes and the attention-grabbing notifications on our phones, they form part of our auditory heritage. “Our brains evolved over aeons hearing the sounds of nature and often, for long stretches, nothing else at all,” says Richard Cytowic, professor of neurology at George Washington University and author of Your Stone Age Brain in the Screen Age: Coping with Digital Distraction and Sensory Overload.“Silence is an essential nutrient. It is necessary for us to think.”’ (from the Guardian)