Rather than being a specific discipline or form of meditation, silent meditation is merely a technique in which one remains silent during his meditation practice. Some individuals opt to meditate silently simply because they find sounds such as mantras or music to be distracting, while others feel that silent meditation allows them to access a deeper meditative plane. During silent meditation, it is common practice to focus on the cycle of one’s breath. The concept of silent meditation gained popularity in Western countries such as the US in the late 20th century, leading to the foundation of a number of silent retreat centers.
Silent meditation is a technique which can be applied to many different forms of meditation. As its name suggests, the technique simply involves remaining silent during one’s meditation practice. This silence may be observed during individual or group meditations, and can last anywhere from a few moments to several days or even weeks, depending largely on the objectives and experience level of the meditating individual.
Some individuals opt to meditate silently simply because they find the sounds common to some types of meditation, such as mantras or ambient music, to be distracting. Others may wish to perform a meditation in a public or semi-public place, such as an office, in which noise would be bothersome to others. Still others feel that silent meditation allows them to access a deeper meditative plane.
During silent meditation, it is common practice to focus on the cycle of one’s breath. In the absence of background noise, it becomes possible to hear the breath as it is drawn in and then released from the body. The breath can thus become a focal point, allowing meditating individuals to temporarily banish everyday thoughts and worries from their awareness and simply “be.” To facilitate concentration on the breath’s passage and build up one’s meditative discipline, some meditation experts recommend counting one’s breaths in cycles of 21, beginning with one cycle and eventually building up to several.
The concept of silent meditation gained popularity in Western countries such as the US in the late 20th century, leading to the foundation of a number of silent retreat centers. Some of these centers are affiliated with a particular religious discipline, such as Buddhism, Hinduism, or Christianity, while others are non-denominational. Certain centers offer periods of silence combined with other, non-silent activities, such as yoga, while others are totally devoted to silence. Retreats can vary in length from a few days to a few months.