Informative

Mauna: The art of Practicing Silence

Ancient scriptures have given enormous importance to the Mauna or the practice of Silence. Rigveda says that enlightened people can easily unravel the deep hidden meaning in Mantras. The soundless spaces between two sentences, words, and even letters have a deep meaning and the one who can listen that Silence can also elevate to the pure consciousness. In this blog, we will dig deeper into the practice of Mauna Vrata and explore how it can help elevate our spirituality.    

What is Mauna?

Ancient stories called Panchatantra says,

आत्मनो मुखदोषेण बध्यन्ते शुकसारिकाः। बकास्तत्र न बध्यन्ते मौनं सर्वार्थसाधनम् ॥

Atmano Mukha Doshena Badhyante Shuka Sarika | Bakastatr Na Badhyante Maunam Sarwartha Sadhanam||

This means, while Parrots and cuckoos get trapped in the cages because of their sweet voices, silent cranes never get trapped in the cells. The Silence is a powerful instrument to obtain everything. The empty vessel makes the noise. Shallow waters make noise. These are a few examples that underline the importance of timely Silence.

But there is a difference between Silence and Mauna. Silence often means shutting down the sensory gates, seeking inside for a deep understanding of yourself. On the other hand, Mauna means being in the Silence with self, reaching one step closer to the divine consciousness via converting the energy required to speak into spiritual energy.

Step by step guide for practicing Silence

Mauna is much more than shutting your mouth for a few minutes every day. There are several ways you can practice Silence, which will help you grow as an emotional and spiritual human being. Practicing Silence has its benefits on physical, mental, and spiritual well-being. Let’s examine how we can incorporate Silence as a powerful tool in our routine life.

-Every day, set a specific time aside from phone, TV, laptop, and music, and even the books as well. For example, from 10 pm to 7 am, consciously, you can stay away from all the above things, enjoying the company of yourself.

 -For starters, set aside two small quiet sessions every day, one before starting your work and one after you are done with it. This period can be as little as five minutes, but do not miss these micro quiet sessions. 

 -Try listening to the Silence. Refrain yourself from thinking about your chores, job, plans, reviews, meetings, etc. Try to stay in the moment.

 -As you grow comfortable with these two small peaceful breaks, gradually extend the duration. Initially, these longer sessions will be uncomfortable at first, but they will be highly fruitful as you will get used to them.

 -Intentionally, reduce the time you spend with your electronic gadgets, may it be your phone, e-book reader, laptop, or music player. It will help to soothe your mind, reducing the external noise that you encounter every day. 

 -Start keeping a silent journal. Start noting down the thoughts you have when you practice these quiet sessions. As you continue practicing the Mauna, note down how you interact with others with lesser and lesser words. Note down the changes you observe in yourself and note down the energy levels you feel in yourself. 

 -Practicing Mauna is much more than just Silence. It also includes active listening. When you perform your daily chores or work-related activities, try to listen to others more consciously. This will reduce the words you speak, resulting in the reduced loss of energy.

 -Be consciously aware of your speaking. Be truly aware of the words that come out of your mouth. Before speaking, ask yourself, is that needed to be said? This practice will significantly reduce the superficial habit of unnecessary and unfruitful discussions you have every day.

 -Practice having your meal in total Silence, without any distractions, and focusing entirely on each bite. You have been eating the food for years, but each bite will have a unique taste and deliciousness when you turn your focus on the food. 

 -It’s said that 10% of life is what happens to us, and 90% is how we react to it. Most of the time, we let our previous experiences, ego, and opinions cloud our judgments in responding to those incidents. Mauna teaches us to check how we react to the different stimuli of life. Mauna teaches us why there is no need to respond to every incident that happens with us.

Benefits of practicing Mauna:

 Practicing Mauna is all about redirecting your energy inwards to elevate yourself spiritually. There are innumerable mental, physical, and spiritual benefits of Mauna when it comes to practicing it.

Physical benefits of Mauna:

 -Noise pollution is one reason behind anxiety, irritability, stress, and high blood pressure. Lowering stress hormones like cortisol and adrenaline helps lower blood pressure and stress along with. 

 – It might be hard to believe, but Mauna helps to boost immunity as well. 

 -Hippocampus is the area in the brain responsible for learning, emotions, and memory. Daily practicing silence creates new cells in the hippocampus area, improving learning, emotions, and memory. 

 -Even two minutes of daily Silence regulates the blood pressure and the blood flow in the brain. 

 -Regular practice of Silence helps to regulate the hormones in our body.

 -Practising silence makes you save a lot of energy. It makes you feel younger and full of energy.

Mental benefits of Mauna:

 -It’s believed that sleep reboots the mind, and Silence recharges it.

 -In this world, filled with distractions such as advertisements, alerts, and updates, it becomes tough to take a break from the constant bombardment of useless information. Silence allows you to pause and recollect your thoughts among all this chaos.

 -Fight or flight is one of the basic survival instincts of human beings, demanding a reaction to every external stimulus. Silence pulls us out of this basic survival instinct, allowing us to enjoy more profound, meaningful, and more fulfilling aspects of life.

 -When you train yourself to be in the Silence for more extended periods, it mimics the effects of meditations. You begin to hear your thoughts with glimpses of your true identity, dreams, goals, fears, and ambitions. In short, the Silence helps you understand yourself better. 

Spiritual benefits of Mauna:

 -Mauna allows us to introspect deeply. It enhances our appreciation towards life, along with our connection with the higher powers.

 – Mauna helps us to develop a witnessing attitude. It helps us to review our life from a third-person perspective.

 -Silence clears our heads. It creates space within yourself, to hear the voice of the Divine.it strengthens our mind to follow discipline, necessary to make our Sankalpa resolutions a success. 

 -By controlling our hormone secretions and blood pressure, Mauna makes us happy. It increases our ability to focus on the things that really matter, like the purpose of our life, the nature of our existence, and higher consciousness. 

 -Peace follows the Silence. When we speak, we release a lot of energy. When we practice Mauna, our power, wasted in speech, gets transmuted into spiritual energy, helping us reach one step closer towards the Divine.

We hope this blog helped you to gain some insight into the importance of Mauna.

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