Once four intimate friends promised one another to observe seven days of silence in quiet meditation. On the first day all were silent, and the meditation went on as scheduled. But when night came, the oil-lamp they were using ran out of oil and started to flicker. A servant was dozing off nearby. One of them could not help but say to the servant: ‘Fix the lamp’.
The second friend was horrified to hear the first one speaking. ‘Hush,’ he said, ‘We are not supposed to say a word, remember?’
‘Both of you are stupid. Why did you talk?’ said the third. Very softly, the fourth muttered, ‘I was the only one who didn’t say anything.’
‘Much talking is a source of danger,
Through silence misfortune is avoided,
The talkative parrot in a cage is shut,
While birds that cannot talk fly freely.’
~ Tibetan Yogi ~
