MAUNA - the practice of silence

We are having a mauna party tonight. This is organized by a recent lady friend of mine who is teaching yoga and is having the party at her yoga studio.

I arrived at the place half an hour earlier as requested to meet up and prepare some snacks for the party. As usual we are chatting and doing things at the same time. And then the time turns 6 o clock. That means the party is starting, people are coming in one after the other and we stop talking.

SILENCE. What a beautiful word. What a wonderful feeling. Calmness and space.

Nobody smiles, nobody looks each other in the eyes. A very odd feeling.

Now we are in a big room, on the floor, some are sitting and some are lying on their back, closed eyes and open eyes. A red candle is bringing light in the middle of the room and i can catch peoples eyes getting lost in it. The smell of aromatic sticks are placed around the house. Soft music i splaying on the background on and off.

We are around 15 people tonight, more than i was expecting.

One hour later, an old lady stands up and goes out the door, didn't say goodbye, nobody seems to care.

If you are hungry you can go to the kitchen and grab a snack, hang out there and come back. There is also mint tea with lemon.

I keep looking at everyone. I want to see their faces, what they are doing, what their pose is.

Air condition is on, gives a nice breeze to my sitting place.

People are leaving one by one, and every time i can't stop wondering why. Did they get bored or do they have somewhere they really need to be. I decide that i want to stay till the end, i am not in a hurry.

This is the art of not having to talk. No need to talk. Just be.

I like silence, i feel like i am silence. I remember i have always been this way. The kid in a group of 'friends' that doesn't talk much. The one that observes and listens. I find it hard to say something around people that have so much to say, but i can talk a lot around people that doesn't have much to say.

I like a 'sad' face. Unexpressed face.

I don't like that people are avoiding contact with one another. They are disconnected. Is this the point of mauna? I thought it was to be silent.

The sun is setting and the room is getting darker. The candle in the middle is almost done. In a corner a salt lamp is glowing, giving a warm feeling to the big yellow room of silence.

Now it must be 8 o clock. Time to end the party. But how? I am wondering how will the people know it's time to go. No phones, no clocks. The teacher stands up and tries to make some noise by touching the singing crystals hanging from the ceiling. It works, but only for the sensitive ones.

In our every day lives we talk more than we need to when we are around people. By that we want to show them that we like them, that are having a good time. Talking to fill out the space, no silence is accepted, we find it awkward. We say words that have little meaning, sometimes hurtful words, unconscious words. We say too many thank you and too many i am sorry.

The room is full of energy. Energy not spoken. Full of thoughts and feelings.

It's time to go. No eye contact, no words, nothing, just leave. Quite a melancholic feeling.