"Silence lies at the heart of all the great spiritual traditions and pilgrimages.  It is the vehicle that encourages us to dive beneath words, ideas, chatter, and concepts to discover the unspoken truths and the unfathomable mystery of being.  The variety of forms of contemplation, prayer, and meditation meet together in their reverence for the act of silence.  Through them we learn to still the clamor of our hearts and the competing voices that cascade through our mind and to discover a place of profound stillness and receptivity.  We soon begin to understand that silence is not a vacuum or a barren desert of the heart, but the source of creativity, love, compassion, and transforming wisdom.  Spiritual traditions embrace silence as a beloved friend.  They cultivate it, celebrate it, and probe its wonderful potential.  In the presence of the sacred we naturally descend into silence." 

-- Christina Feldman