Zalazak sunca na Uluruu (fotografija Martina Fishera/Flickra)
„Doći će dan kada će se čovjek morati boriti protiv buke jednako neumoljivo kao protiv kolere i kuge.“ Tako je rekao bakteriolog Robert Koch, dobitnik Nobelove nagrade, 1905. Stoljeće kasnije, taj se dan mnogo približio. Danas je tišina postala ugrožena vrsta. Naši gradovi, naša predgrađa, naše poljoprivredne zajednice, čak i naši prostrani i udaljeni nacionalni parkovi nisu oslobođeni ljudskog buke. Olakšanja nema čak ni na Sjevernom polu; za to se brinu mlaznjaci koji prelijeću kontinente. Štoviše, borba protiv buke nije isto što i očuvanje tišine. Naše tipične strategije protiv buke - čepići za uši, slušalice za poništavanje buke, čak i zakoni o smanjenju buke - ne nude pravo rješenje jer nam ne pomažu da se ponovno povežemo i slušamo zemlju. A zemlja govori.
Došli smo do trenutka u ljudskoj povijesti kada naša globalna ekološka kriza zahtijeva trajne promjene u načinu života. Više nego ikad prije, moramo se ponovno zaljubiti u zemlju. Tišina je naše mjesto susreta.
Naše je pravo po rođenju slušati, tiho i neometano, prirodni okoliš i prihvaćati bilo kakva značenja koja želimo. Mnogo prije zvukova čovječanstva, postojali su samo zvukovi prirodnog svijeta. Naše su se uši razvile savršeno podešene da čuju te zvukove - zvukove koji daleko nadilaze raspon ljudskog govora ili čak naših najambicioznijih glazbenih izvedbi: prolazni povjetarac koji nagovještava promjenu vremena, prvi pjev ptica u proljeće koji najavljuje ponovno ozelenjavanje zemlje i povratak rastu i prosperitetu, nadolazeća oluja koja obećava olakšanje od suše i promjenjiva plima koja nas podsjeća na nebeski balet. Sva ta iskustva povezuju nas s kopnom i našom evolucijskom prošlošću.
Jedan kvadratni inč tišine je mjesto u prašumi Hoh , dijelu Nacionalnog parka Olympic - vjerojatno najtišeg mjesta u Sjedinjenim Državama. Ali i ono je ugroženo, zaštićeno samo politikom koju ne provodi sama Služba nacionalnih parkova niti je podržavaju odgovarajući zakoni. Nadam se da će Jedan kvadratni inč izazvati tiho buđenje u svima onima koji su voljni postati pravi slušatelji.
Očuvanje prirodne tišine jednako je nužno i bitno kao i očuvanje vrsta , obnova staništa, čišćenje toksičnog otpada i smanjenje ugljičnog dioksida, da spomenemo samo neke od neposrednih izazova s kojima se suočavamo u ovom još uvijek mladom stoljeću. Dobra je vijest da spašavanje tišine može biti puno lakše nego rješavanje ovih drugih problema. Jedan zakon signalizirao bi ogromno i trenutno poboljšanje. Taj bi zakon zabranio svim zrakoplovima preletanje naših najnetaknutijih nacionalnih parkova.
Tišina nije odsutnost nečega, već prisutnost svega. Ona živi ovdje, duboko, na One Square Inch u prašumi Hoh. To je prisutnost vremena, neometana. Može se osjetiti u prsima. Tišina njeguje našu prirodu, našu ljudsku prirodu i daje nam znati tko smo. Ostavljeni s prijemčivijim umom i usklađenijim sluhom, postajemo bolji slušatelji ne samo prirode već i jedni drugih. Tišina se može nositi poput žeravice iz vatre. Tišina se može pronaći, a tišina može pronaći vas. Tišina se može izgubiti, ali i povratiti. Ali tišina se ne može zamisliti, iako većina ljudi tako misli. Da biste iskusili čudo tišine koje ispunjava dušu, morate je čuti.
Tišina je zvuk, mnogo, mnogo zvukova. Čuo sam ih više nego što mogu izbrojati. Tišina je mjesečinom obasjana pjesma kojota koji pjeva u zraku i odgovor njegovog partnera. To je šapat snijega koji pada i kasnije će se otopiti uz zapanjujući reggae ritam toliko oštar da ćete poželjeti plesati uz njega. To je zvuk oprašujućih krilatih kukaca koji vibriraju mekim melodijama dok obrambeno jure unutra i van iz borovih grana kako bi privremeno pobjegli od povjetarca, mješavina zujanja kukaca i borovih uzdaha koja će vas pratiti cijeli dan. Tišina je prolazeće jato kestenjastih sjenica i crvenogrlih brgljeza, cvrkućući i lepršajući, podsjećajući vas na vlastitu znatiželju.
Jeste li u posljednje vrijeme čuli kišu? Velika sjeverozapadna prašuma Amerike, nije iznenađenje, izvrsno je mjesto za slušanje. Evo što sam čuo u One Square Inch of Silence. Prva kišna sezona uopće nije mokra. U početku bezbrojne sjemenke padaju s visokih stabala. Ubrzo nakon toga slijedi tihi pljesak lepršavog lišća javora, koje se tako tiho slegne poput zimskog pokrivača za sjeme. Ali ovaj tihi koncert samo je preludij.
Kada stigne prva od mnogih velikih kišnih oluja, oslobađajući svoju moćnu himnu, svaka vrsta drveća proizvodi vlastiti zvuk u vjetru i kiši. Čak ni najveće kapi kiše možda nikada neće pasti na tlo. Gotovo 90 metara iznad glave, visoko u krošnjama šume, lišće i kora upijaju mnogo vlage... sve dok se ova zračna spužva ne zasiti i kapi se ne preoblikuju i spuste dalje... udarajući o niže grane i padajući na zavjese mahovine koje apsorbiraju zvuk... tapkajući po epifitskim papratima... tiho udarajući po grmovima borovnice... i udarajući tvrde, čvrste listove salala... prije nego što, konačno, kapi nečujno savijaju nježne listove šumske kiselice nalik djetelini i kapaju u zemlju. Čuo se danju ili noću, ovaj tekući balet nastavit će se više od sat vremena nakon što sama kiša prestane.
Podsjećajući na upozorenje Roberta Kocha, tvorca znanstvene metode koja identificira uzroke bolesti, vjerujem da je nekontrolirani gubitak tišine poput kanarinca u rudniku ugljena - globalnog. Ako ovdje ne možemo zauzeti stav, ako se oglušimo na problem nestajanja prirodne tišine, kako možemo očekivati da ćemo se bolje snaći sa složenijim ekološkim krizama?
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Amazing Article ! The contents so described are soul touching and capable enough to arouse the inner feeling of a sincere reader and a thinking man...This was the reason why our great saints and Hermits used to leave the cities and towns and migrated to the valleys and on the lap of great mountains to find the eternal truth...They were realizing that Silence is Golden and its sound is rhythmic but one need to have a pair of sensitive ears to listen those vibrant music of the nature....We do not need instruments to accompany and throat breaking noise or sound to catch anybody's attention. Instead we will learn the melodious songs of cuckoos, bellowing of cattle and similar sounds which will never break any body's journey for the silence. It is certainly soul searching to enter into a silent place and keep on listening and looking....one will automatically immerse in the soul of the mother nature..How beautiful that moment would be....It is to be experienced...So be away from the madding crowd at least once in a week.. and enjoy the silent songs of the nature..which is God Gifted to us...let us also explore and experience those mesmerizing impact of the silence and natures songs like a lullaby sung by our mother during our childhood.....
[Hide Full Comment]Beautiful! I live in SW Colorado surrounded by national forest & wilderness. I was struck on 9/11 when all the planes were grounded by the silence. In Bali they have a day a year when no planes fly, transportation & commercial activity stops. 24/7 commerce & non-stop human activity is a plague. I experience great blessings in having moments where the inner Silence of conscious awareness & the outer silence of moments here on the outskirts of so-called civilization I hear nothing but the sounds of nature, even their activity stills at times. The lake frozen over functions as a sound chamber making eerie mystifying sounds. Something occurs in body & soul in the naturalness. We are such amazing beings of consciousness, love & light and of human spirit, and creatures of the natural world also. Stop to smell the roses. Taste the wind. Touch the bark of a tree, the pine needles softness. See the natural light of sun, moon & stars. And listen, listen from the quietness within. Let natural sounds penetrate you & see how that feels. Contact with Silence within and without restores us. There's so much to be heard from the still small voice to the hum of the hummingbird, the robin heralding spring. Ultimately it all informs us as well as restores us. Listen up, those with ears to hear. The resounding Word is everywhere in everything.
[Hide Full Comment]Thank you, DailyGood and Gordon Hempton, for this beautiful piece. I will return to it often. And some day I hope to visit One Square Inch. Remembering Phillip Levine, who passed away Saturday -- here's a stanza from one his poems, Our Valley, that honors the immensity of silence. Thank you Phillip Levine. Peace all.
"You probably think I’m nuts saying the mountains have no word for ocean,
but if you live here you begin to believe they know everything.
They maintain that huge silence we think of as divine,
a silence that grows in autumn when snow falls
slowly between the pines and the wind dies
to less than a whisper and you can barely catch
your breath because you’re thrilled and terrified."
Thank you for debunking the misconception that silence is soundless. I think that, ultimately, listening to silence is mindfulness, meditation, presencing ...
I live in the Pacific
[Hide Full Comment]Northwest, and have all my 58 years. I teach in a local high school, and
get to share yoga as a PE elective. I have had a long standing focus for
yoga that it is quiet and without music, which is viewed at first by the students
as unfair and unheard of. Students at
first are frightened and surprised by how loud their personal thoughts are in
the silence of the yoga room, and then begin to crave the absence of
technology-driven distraction. I teach walking classes as a PE elective,
and the students are not allowed to listen to music and plug their ears with
earbuds or headphones (for ‘exercise’ motivation if you can imagine), nor even
have their phones with them (some drop the class because they are unable to do
this). We are located within the noise
pollution radius of the freeway, an expanding airport, and relentless increases
in coal/oil trains. We walk sidewalks
along streets with cars whizzing by, in close proximity to the hospital
helipad, and recently drones just overhead.
I do though get to observe students begin to recognize bird sounds from
chickadees, sparrows, juncos, hummingbirds, cedar waxwings, robins, seagulls,
crows, starlings, and then the local peregrine chatter and if really lucky eagle
cries from a hundred feet up as they circle toward the river. The students begin to discern the difference
between dog barks of ‘Hello, I’m here, can we play?’ and ‘Get away’. They start entertaining the idea they are no
longer invisible and recognize community members walking, biking, and jogging by
using eye contact and saying the word ‘hi’.
They have the opportunity to acquire listening and empathy skills as
they spend an hour with a walking partner who is conversing with them in close
contact. I love my job. The real reason I am writing, though, is that
over the years of indiscriminant development and significant paving of
farmland-open space-forested land in my beloved slice of heaven, there is a
slogan perpetuated by the local military base whose flights overhead have
stepped up significantly in the past ten years that this continuous low flying
military jet noise is the sound of freedom…and this includes the flights toward
the Olympic Peninsula, as well as over the San Juan Islands, toward Mt. Baker,
over a multitude of local lakes and streams, tiny communities, and wildlife of
all types. You may be able to tell I
would argue with this as we continue to raise generation after generation void
of connection with nature, quiet places and spaces, and opportunities for
silence.