If silence was a palpable force, an enormous reservoir of energy, what could we envision? A huge labyrinth of an industrial factory, the whir of gigantic machines grinding, clanging, mashing, louder and faster, then suddenly: silence. Or a large room full of voices, a rising hum of anger, a single voice rousing the crowd to fever pitch, and then, suddenly: silence. Or fearful faces staring up at an ominous sky as the roar of bomber aircraft grows louder, closer, visible, screams of fear, and then, suddenly: silence.
Silence is not merely the counterpart of noise when noise is human contrivance. Silence is void and empty of noise, it absorbs and neutralizes noise, it stills and sweetens and renews. If silence were palpable, it would stop noise and the human source of noise.
The emptiness of silence is the fullness of the universe, the fullness of becoming resting in being. And, if our minds are very still, very quiet, we can sense in a palpable way the scent and taste of silence as it descends like a mantle, like a gentle rain shower, over the face of the earth.