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By Dimitris Bakas

One of the wonderful mental virtues that should adorn all people of all ages, and especially the younger ones, is "silence or silence". The great philosopher and mystic Pythagoras imposed silence on his students for two to four years, imposing their expulsion from the School as a penalty, as he forbade his students not only from speaking, but also from asking questions!! In this way, he not only exercised control over the ability of his students, but also trained them in self-control, self-imposition, self-knowledge, self-concentration, and generally in the use of the mind and holistically in their Ego.  Indeed, from The degree of self-disclosure and self-knowledge determines the success and happiness in the life of every person.

In Ancient Egypt, where the oldest known civilization developed, the famous mysteries were founded and operated, in which the first and greatest Greek legislators and sages (Thales, Solon, Pythagoras, etc.) studied. Silence has been deified! They taught that young people must see and hear a lot, learn, reflect, but alsothey impose absolute silence on themselves and self-restraint and abstinence from all excesses

Our glorious ancestors, the ancient Greeks, taught the silence , as highest virtue.

Homer, the oldest European poet, the greatest Epic of all times and nations, vividly states that: "The Trojans (as uncivilized and barbarians) attacked with shouts and voices and noise, while the Greeks (with superior morals and culture) marched into the terrible conflict with absolute courage. "silence within them, in their souls they breathed courage, but also with absolute self-control they marched, armed with an indomitable and inflexible determination to fight bravely and to win."

There are many sayings and opinions about silence, both old and new:

Simonides teaches: "Whoever repented because he spoke, but never because he remained silent."

The Father of Medicine Hippocrates: "Silence does not cause desire, but it is without bitterness and pain."

Menander: "In all women, silence is an ornament."

The well-known proverb about the disasters caused by chatter: "The tongue has no bones and it breaks them"!

The Englishwoman Anna Besant: " "Half of humanity's misery is due to unnecessary words"! Unnecessary words are those that cause moral damage and suffering to both the one who says them and the one who hears them, and more generally to people or to all of humanity. These are those that come from: chatter, idle talk, flattery, self-praise, backbiting, slander, slander, falsehood, falsehood, pretense, insolence.

Incontinence and the utterance of unnecessary words reveal and betray inferior character, harm morality, but above all disturb and harm other fellow human beings. Many criminals of all kinds achieve their sometimes macabre purpose precisely because they exploit the lack of silence and absolute silence for secrets. In short, they exploit the frankness of the naive and the bluntness of the talkative and in this way they become accomplices in crime.

Ο Jesus Christ  He harshly criticizes the chatterboxes: "But I tell you that every idle word that you speak, men will give account of it on the day of judgment. For by your words you will be condemned."

Η confidentiality, the keeping of a secret, that is, what should not be disclosed is called prudencecombining luxury accommodations with the potential for significant expansion. Confidentiality is imposed not only on those bound by oath, but is also imposed by providence, prudence, and necessity..

As is known, people differ from each other in age, intelligence, education, etc. It is not allowed to always announce everything, because what they do not understand they misunderstand and distort and misunderstand. Others are led away by jealousy and envy and hatred. “Do not give what is holy to the dogs, nor cast your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet and turn and tear you to pieces” (Matthew 6:XNUMX). Here is the divine command!!

What someone cannot understand is not only unnecessary to him but also harmful and dangerous to others. That is why specialist scientists, technologists, artists, etc., disclose what they know only to their specialist colleagues, and even then, always keeping some secrets of their specialty for themselves.

The silence, then It must be observed both out of providence and prudence and necessity. However, the supreme value of silence and its significance, as well as its magnificent manifestation, must be sought in something deeper and more essential.

Through silence, our mind immerses itself in reflections, which constitute a nobler way of thinking.

The greatest Saints were ascetics, that is, devotees of silence!

Silence leaves the spirit free and unfettered to fly to ethereal heights and to invent and grasp the most subtle meanings. Great inspirations and lucid visions are achieved in moments of absolute silence!!

When everyone knows when and how and what to say, it does not scandalize, it does not annoy, it does not cause misunderstandings, jealousy, envy, hatred, hostility, quarrels and calamities...

That, in short,  He who is restrained in his words by "prudent secrecy", teaches and above all is taught himself, honors and is honored, preserves his own and others' dignity and never repents!!!

                                                                                   Dimitris Bakas

04 Oct. 2024