Vow of silence.

I wish to take a vow of silence, for my tongue knows no boundaries. For I do have questions to ask, would typing and writing break this vow? I am a Buddhist by the way. I do my best to live a simple lifestyle.

unless you talk to yourself i dont see how this would break your vows silence means not talking..in my opinion..but then you must purify your thoughts..so the internet could really mess with your mind..seems the path to follow would be to join some type of monistary..and abandon all except for your faith..otherwise its a moot point in my opinion

I think they are pretty close- depends


Gandhi used to take a one day vow of silence, mondays would be the day of writing and study, if he had to meet with dignitaries by necessity he would write things down- but I think the point was more to make more room for introspection-

so really its what you are trying to gain with this.

I used to do mondays in silence, whether at work, or out I would write things if I had too but I refused to talk. After a few weeks even months I realised I was not getting very far with turning that outward silene into inward silence. The problem was deeper than the mouth. I realized it was the things I let IN to my ears and eyes that were the real problem- not what came out.

Originally posted by Warpthal
I wish to take a vow of silence, for my tongue knows no boundaries. For I do have questions to ask, would typing and writing break this vow? I am a Buddhist by the way. I do my best to live a simple lifestyle.

Get serious. Who controls you? If you "take a vow," then you are taking control of your preceived "problem" right there, right?

So why go to extremes for a remedy? Take a vow to speak only universal truths versus a freely flapping tongue which we can suspect are expounding your personal truths that others may not want to hear. Holding your tongue, as the saying goes, might take some personal examination and introspection. But given what you have told us, if you are a Buddhist student in a monastery and a master teacher keeps striking you on the back with a bamboo stick for talking about your dog instead of God-like subjects, then that is something else. Then jump ship, become a Baptist. They don't use sticks or care much for silence..

Originally posted by el1jahI realized it was the things I let IN to my ears and eyes that were the real problem- not what came out.

You realized wrong.

It's not what goes into a man that makes him unclean, but what comes out.

reply to post by Warpthal


In order to answer your question; you must ask why you took the vow of silence in the first place.

If it's to prevent interaction with people then you would be doing so on ATS too.