Fill the silence—with silence.  

Years ago, I avidly devoured Tony Hillerman’s Jim Chee mysteries. I remember a story about an experienced policeman saying that when he questions suspects, he will just remain quiet. Unable to take the silence, most would start talking. And what the police needed to learn would soon be divulged.

How embarrassingly true! What is it about silence that so many people find so uncomfortable?

It’s as bad as putting a compulsively neat person in a messy room with “Don’t Touch Anything” signs. The room will surely be organized soon enough.

Likewise, a compulsive talker just needs to do his thing: fill the room with audio clutter. Just because someone else isn’t talking is not a license for us to fill the airwaves with whatever comes to mind. Does the other person really want to hear about our childhood, past relationships, health status? We may deem them important or interesting.

But most likely, they’re not really worth broadcasting to one and all.

“Take the elevator, it’s much quicker.” 

Imagine you’ve left your small village to see the world. Exhausted after days of walking, you see an incredibly high building on the horizon. In awe, you finally reach it and are greeted by a kind gentleman who offers you much needed food and water.

“What’s at the top of the building?” He replies that it is a glorious place, for it has none of the sufferings your land does. He invites you to move in.

“How?” you ask. He explains there are stairs, but they take a very long time. Pointing to a door, he says that the elevator will instead whisk you to the top. The stairs look safe to you, but what about his “magical elevator?”

You wonder, What if it doesn’t work as promised? Wouldn’t the stairs be safer?

Some Pure Land newcomers face this predicament because they doubt quick fixes. But sometimes, we need to trust those who have already helped us greatly. Questioning the efficacy of the Pure Land method will result in not only our continued suffering but also the suffering of those back home whom we wish to help.