A vow of silence is a vow to maintain silence. Although it is commonly associated with monasticism, no major monastic order takes a vow of silence. Even the most fervently silent orders such as the Carthusians have time in their schedule for talking. Recently, the vow of silence has been embraced by some in secular society as means of protest or of deepening their spirituality. Silence is often seen as essential to deepening a relationship with God. It is also considered a virtue in some religions. In Western Christian traditions such as Lutheranism and Roman Catholicism, the Great Silence is the period of time beginning at the canonical hour of Compline, in which votarists are silent until the first office of the next day, Lauds.
Examples
imposed a strict rule of silence on his disciples. Despite the common misconception, no major Christian monasteries or religious orders take such a vow. However, most monasteries have specific times and places where speaking is prohibited unless absolutely necessary. Even outside of these times and places, useless and idle words are forbidden. In active orders the members speak according to the needs of their various duties. In the Indian religions, religious silence is called Mauna and the name for a sagemuni literally means "silent one". In Buddhism, however, "one does not become a sage simply because of a vow of silence" due to the prescription for disciples to also teach the Buddhist doctrine. The vow of silence is also relevant in the training of novices and is often cited as a way to resist the allures of samsara, including those posed by the opposite sex. Buddhist monks who take a vow of silence often carry an iron staff called khakkhara, which makes a metallic noise to frighten away animals. Since they cannot speak, the rattle of the staff also announces their arrival when they start begging for alms.
Non-religious examples
Another vow of silence can be made to express a bold statement. This type may be to make a statement about issues such as child poverty. An example of this is The November 30th Vow of Silence for Free The Children in which students in Canada take a 24-hour vow of silence to speak up against poverty and child labour. In the United States, the Day of Silence is the GLSEN’s annual day of action to spread awareness about the effects of the bullying and harassment of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and questioning students. Students take a day-long vow of silence to symbolically represent the silencing of LGBTQ students. The Day of Silence has been held each year in April since 1996. From 2011 to 2017, the Day of Silence was held on the second Friday in April except forApril 11, 2014; in 2018 it was observed on Friday, April 27.
In pop culture
The 2006 film, Little Miss Sunshine, featured Dwayne, a Nietzsche-reading teenager, taking a vow of silence until he can accomplish his dream of becoming a test pilot. The Poopsmith, a character in the long-running Web Series Homestar Runner, has taken a vow of silence, and has only had two speaking roles in the 19 years the series has been running. "The Cartoon", a season 9 episode of Seinfeld, featured Kramer taking a vow of silence due to his tendency to bluntly reveal things and not keep them to himself. The 2009 movie' featured Snake Eyes taking a vow of silence. The 2011 movie ' featured a Buddhist monk taking a vow of silence as part of the film's plot. The 2017 television showThe Good Place featured Jianyu, a Buddhist monk, taking a vow of silence. The HBO TV series Curb Your Enthusiasm featured a character taking a vow of silence. The episode title was also called "Vow of Silence".
In literature
In the book The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle , perhaps the character Cinnamon Akasaka has taken a vow of silence.
