The eroding SILENCE up The Hill and some simple solutions!

HuuuuuuuuuuuuBaba....... sitting in this cyber cafe for hours is not so much fun, but much better than waiting at 'home' (now Baba's Center!) for some 'news' about my Mac! So, i just wrote what i wanted to, about the ways to protect and maintain the SILENCE, up the Hill.... will send a copy to Bhauji to see what can come out of it:

“Real things are given and received in silence.”
Avatar Meher Baba

Some simple solutions for the SERIOUS THREAT of eroding the SILENCE up the Magic Hill

{The following is my personal observations during months of living in Meherabad and visiting other Baba centers.}

0. ANY camera or tape-recorder placed inside and around the Samadhi area will reveal that the unique silence of that sacred spot is slowly slowly, BUT SURELY, is eroding.

1.It is somehow ‘natural’ that the ‘energy level’ rises, AFTER the Arti (Baba's prayers and songs of praise). Untrained minds tend to ‘equalize’ such state by immediately engaging in talking. Up the Hill, this definitely disturbs the silence, for those who are there to get ‘the real thing’. Some people think that when the arti is finished, then they are allowed to talk INSIDE the Samadhi, while such behavior disturbs the concentration of others who are still in the queue to have Baba’s Darshan. One simple solution for this, as is practiced in Baba’s centers in Delhi and Dehradun, is to maintain ONE MINUTE OF SILENCE, immediately AFTER the Arti, to check the wandering minds and keep them ready for the next move (leaving the place, in silence, and letting others enjoy Baba’s presence there.)

2. That small board just outside the Tomb, near the bench is NOT sufficient to maintain the silence, because people, usually those who are ‘supposed to keep it, break the silence, right there and near the entrance. There is a need for a new ‘duty’, SOKUT-BAAN =‘silence-watcher’ {like Paas-baan = security guard, or Baagh-baan = gardener, etc.} His/her ‘duty’ is NOT to break the silence by his/her own WORDS, but to maintain it by a gentle stroke on a ‘special five-metal Tibetan bell’, upon hearing disturbing noises inside and outside the Samadhi.

3. People tend to use the SAME VOLUME of voice, coming up to the Samadhi, and going Down the Hill (now, going UP, towards the new retreat!). This also disturbs the silence because the noise can be heard from LONG distance. Few signs to remind them to lower the volume of their voices are necessary to remind people of such alteration.

4. Also, it is natural to forget to turn the mobiles off while coming and going to the Samadhi area. Few written signs are needed for this, as well.