On Talking

And then a scholar said, Speak of Talking.

And he answered, saying:

You talk when you cease to be at peace

with your thoughts;

And when you can no longer dwell in the

solitude of your heart you live in your

lips, and sound is a diversion and a

pastime.

And in much of your talking, thinking is

half murdered.

For thought is a bird of space, that in

a cage of words may indeed unfold its

wings but cannot fly.

There are those among you who seek the

talkative through fear of being alone.

The silence of aloneness reveals to

their eyes their naked selves and they

would escape.

And there are those who talk, and

without knowledge or forethought reveal

a truth which they themselves do not

understand.

And there are those who have the truth

within them, but they tell it not in

words.

In the bosom of such as these the spirit

dwells in rhythmic silence.

When you meet your friend on the

roadside or in the market place, let the

spirit in you move your lips and direct

your tongue.

Let the voice within your voice speak to

the ear of his ear;

For his soul will keep the truth of

your heart as the taste of the wine is

remembered

When the colour is forgotten and the

vessel is no more.