The song of silence

‘Tao is silent,’ Lao Tzu taught his students. Nothing can be said about Tao. One day, the emperor of Chu invited him to hold a talk at the palace. And the empress, emperor, prime minister, ministers, high-ranking officials and generals all gathered to listen with great respect.

Lao Tzu came, stood there for a moment, looked around and left the room. The emperor was totally confused. He asked his prime minister: ‘What is that man playing at? We came here to listen.’

The old prime minister said: ‘This is the most magnificent sermon I have ever heard! He told us! You asked him to come and teach about silence. That is exactly what he did! He stood there in silence, he was silence. What more do you ask for? What more do you want? He was pure silence, the way he was standing there for those couple of seconds. He was silence through and through. He was pulsating silence. And all the while, you were waiting for a few of words.’