In Pursuit of Silence Page #3

(SOKYU NARAI SPEAKING JAPANESE)

When guests entered

the tea room,

they would remove

their katana swords.

All of the participants

leave behind

their social status,

distinctions,

and other such concerns

when they enter the tea room.

The participants concentrate

on the moment,

finding awareness

of how each of them

is contributing to this

singular, living experience.

That is what's being experienced

amidst the silence

of the tea ceremony.

As a result,

there are no selfish desires

or thoughts of personal gain,

only the peaceful world

inside the tea room.

LEES:
Silence allows everybody

to have

equal platform and equal voice

because if nobody is talking,

nobody is dominating.

(RUSTLING)

JULIAN TREASURE:

Silence is a sound,

and I think it's a sound

with many qualities.

I think if we start to cultivate

an appreciation of silence

as the precious thing it is,

and enjoy it

for a few minutes a day,

then it gives us a proper

relationship with sound,

with noise, with our own sound.

It allows us to be

much more balanced

in the way that we

relate to the world,

much more conscious.

PROCHNIK:
When we throw

around the term of silence,

we may, in the first instance,

imagine that we're seeking

some kind of absolute quiet,

but very, very few people

look for that.

What we're looking,

I came to believe,

is really more for a kind

of balance in our environment.

It's the particular balance

of sound and quiet

that maximizes our perceptual

awareness of where we are.

(MAKING BIRD CALLS)

Sounds a little bit like

one of those toys you see,

and you shake it,

and it's like a little...

(IMITATES RATTLING)

Kind of like that sort of a...

(VOCALIZES)

Kind of one of those...

(BIRD CHIRPING)

Well, probably should

leave him be, I suppose.

The first superintendent

of this park, Harry Karstens,

he was very aware

of the solitude

and quietude of this place.

And he had an interesting

quote in 1924,

when he said,

"There is much to learn

by those who understand

"the language of

the great silent places."

(FOOTSTEPS CRUNCHING)

(CRACKING)

Oftentimes, I make measurements

that can be as low as 13,

14 decibels in the wintertime.

And in the summertime, might be

in the 20-25 decibel range.

As the background

level decreases,

your listening area increases.

In a really still environment,

you've got this situation

where you're

very large, acoustically.

You can detect these very

minute sounds from far away

and it gives you

this incredible sense of space,

this openness.

So, you know,

we exist in the world,

and to be able to

explore that world

with an unbroken attention,

I think that's one of the things

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