A month ago, at Dilruba, discussing with Richard Blum the possibility of my saying a few words on the eve of Silence Day, and the difficulty I was having thinking of anything to say - in fact Richard recalls that I was deciding against saying anything at all - when out of the blue, the postman arrived with a package which he handed to me. I remarked, "Oh, this can wait - just a book no doubt. "I was about to lay the package aside to continue talking with my friend when, on second thought, I changed my mind and said, "Well, let's see what is here."

It was this black book. I opened the cover - a picture of Baba - and a letter from David Carter of the Chicago group. He had sent a most beautiful gift - the complete record of everything, a concordance of everything Baba has said on His Silence and the breaking of His Silence - David's work of two years of research, with over three hundred quotations. Final destination: The Saroja Library. Opening the pages, my eyes fell on the following quote from Baba:

"God's first Word was 'Who am I'. God's last word is 'I am God'. And the word that I, the God-Man will utter soon will be the Sound of My Infinite Silence."

Inspired by this passage, and with Richard's kind offer to compile a selection of quotations for me, the following thoughts have come to light.

Tonight, the night before Silence Day, it seems fitting that we should ponder the meaning of our being silent tomorrow. What role will we play while being silent? How will we be helping Meher Baba by keeping silent tomorrow?

Thinking along these lines, the following message from Baba, for the occasion of 14th anniversary of His Silence, keeps coming to the forefront:

"God's first Word was ‘Who am I’.  God's last word is 'I am God.' And the Word that I, the God-Man, will utter soon will be the sound of My Infinite Silence."

Yes, "The Sound of My Infinite Silence." How difficult to grasp - and Baba goes on to about Silence:

"External Silence helps the Inner Silence, and only in internal inner silence is Baba found - in profound, inner silence. I am never silent. I speak eternally. The voice that is heard deep within the Soul is My voice."

Tomorrow, we will be keeping external Silence, and by keeping external silence are helping to awaken internal silence. And the value of internal silence is that in profound inner Silence, Baba is found.

So we find that there are varying degrees of Silence: External Silence, Internal Silence, Profound Inner Silence, and Infinite Silence.

Quoting Baba again:

         "And the Word that I, the God-Man, will utter soon will be the Sound of Infinite Silence."

          "The Sound of My Infinite Silence" . . . What is this sound? Baba states, "I am never                 Silent, I speak eternally."

He also tells us:

           "When I speak, it will be only one Divine Word, but it will be the Word of words."

This "Word of words" will be the Sound of His Infinite Silence.

It is the "Sound of His Infinite Silence" that stands out in my thoughts this evening. What meaning in connection with our own Path to God can we find in these words?