Is silence a pre-requisite

[woodsman]

Hi everyone,

I note there are some Zen practices that almost thrive on being able to sit in various scenarios without noise being a distraction (Shikantaza for example). Does Theravadin practice demand silence in order for it to be effective whether Vipassana or Samatha?

Thanks.....

[Crazy cloud]

In my opinion: No, one is not dependent on silence, because one is silence.

[Goofaholix]

I note there are some Zen practices that almost thrive on being able to sit in various scenarios without noise being a distraction (Shikantaza for example). Does Theravadin practice demand silence in order for it to be effective whether Vipassana or Samatha?

A quiet environment can be helpful, particularly when you are getting established in the practice or are emphasising concentration.

Sound shouldn't be a distraction though, sound is just another object that you experience through your sense doors, you should just be aware of it without getting caught up in reactivity like anything else you experience.

[Sam Vara]

Hi everyone,

I note there are some Zen practices that almost thrive on being able to sit in various scenarios without noise being a distraction (Shikantaza for example). Does Theravadin practice demand silence in order for it to be effective whether Vipassana or Samatha?

Thanks.....

Well, the Buddha praised solitude for his monks, and often said things like

Over there are the roots of trees; over there, empty dwellings. Practice jhana, monk.

which leads one to think that he valued withdrawing from people talking and the like.

On the other hand, the forest can be a noisy place.

And Ajahn Chah used to say that one should be able to keep a quiet mind even in noisy difficult surroundings like a bus station.

Personally, I have found that natural or random noise (water, wind in the trees, background noise from birds or animals) is easy to cope with and blank out; it is not meaningful. Conversation or music etc. is a lot harder to deal with, as the mind tends to engage with it.

[rhinoceroshorn]

One shouldn't go about
surrounded, revered
by a company:
one gets distracted;
concentration
is hard to gain.

Ven. Mahā Kassapa.

Even Ven. Mahā Kassapa, who had supranormal powers, needed seclusion (and therefore silence) to gain concentration.

Also:

Alone one sits, alone one lies,
alone one walks unweariedly,
in solitude one tames oneself
so in the woods will one delight.

Dhammapada XXI.

[SarathW]

Because the subject of meditation of mindfulness on in-and-out-breathing is not easy to accomplish without leaving the neighbourhood of a village, owing to sound, which is a thorn to absorption; and because in a place not become a township it is easy for the meditator to lay hold of this subject of meditation, the Blessed One, pointing out the abode suitable for that, spoke the words, "Gone to the forest," and so forth.

https://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/aut ... wayof.html

[sunnat]

It is easier to hear if one is silent.
It is harder to engage in false speech if one is silent.

[woodsman]

Because the subject of meditation of mindfulness on in-and-out-breathing is not easy to accomplish without leaving the neighbourhood of a village, owing to sound, which is a thorn to absorption; and because in a place not become a township it is easy for the meditator to lay hold of this subject of meditation, the Blessed One, pointing out the abode suitable for that, spoke the words, "Gone to the forest," and so forth.

https://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/aut ... wayof.html

Ah......maybe Zazen might be more suitable for anyone not living in a silent environment then?