Dhammapada Verses 268-9

Verses 268-9

Silence does not denote profundity

 if you are ignorant and untrained.

        Like one holding scales,

       a sage weighs things up,

    wholesome and unwholesome,

         and comes to know 

 both the inner and outer worlds.

Therefore the sage is called wise.

Reflection

The Buddha spoke of the contemplation and benefit

that can come from living in quiet and beautiful

places. Limiting sense stimuli can assist us on our

path to freedom from ignorance. However he

didn't mean for us to then take a position against

the sensory world. Ajahn Chah often said: "If you

can't practise in the city, you can't practise in the 

forest". And he'd also say: " If you can't practise 

when you are sick, you can't practise when you

are healthy". In other words, everything is practice;

including the feeling that we can't practise with

'this'. It is wisdom that recognises this truth.
Ajahn Munindo