I am very glad to have come across this post by Tracy Rittmueller which is a distillation of much wisdom on silence. It also has much needed practical advice on what, as I am learning from Maggie Ross, is most basically a practice above all.
Here are a few on my own posts on silence (mainly bits of other people’s thoughts):
Silence and the limits of language
“Silence is not the contrary of the Word but its guardian”
“silence of the heart is much more important than silence of the mouth”
“The silent are never at home in our culture again”
Gordon Hempton, One Square Inch of Silence, and the Philosophy of Silence
Marie Thompson on noise, “the conservative politics of silence”, and soundscapes
Silence – A Fragment. Nthposition, March 2013
From “The Book of Silences” Introduction to Volume 1
Poets live with silence:
the silence before the poem;
the silence when the poem comes;
the silence in between the words, as you
drink the words, watch them glide through your mind,
feel them slide down your throat
toward your heart ….
—Michael Shepherd, “Rum’s Silence”
Silence, poetry and prayer have something in common—they connect us to the mysterious aspects of living. We can’t describe or explain mysteries. We can, however, experience them.
I first learned about the benefits of silence through a long association with poets. More recently after becoming a Benedictine oblate, I’ve gotten to know monks and nuns—collectively called monastics—who have deepened my understanding of the beauty and benefits of silence.
In the dark, it’s easier to see with peripheral vision than if we look directly at things. Since the experience of silence is inexplicable, I won’t attempt to describe what it does or how it benefits…
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Séamus Sweeney 
Thank you for reblogging my post! I really appreciate it.
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