I was in Columbus, Ohio, looking for a place to live, when I met a fellow I knew near The Ohio State University. He showed me a house in which he was living right across the street from the university and he told me I could live there. I wondered what Steve Weinstein would think if he knew I had moved back to Ohio right across the street from Ohio State. The idea of moving seemed a bit peculiar to me, but still acceptable.
I moved into the building and installed myself in a bed in a room on the first floor. The house was quite large and a number of other men were living there. I quickly realized I had a problem with the arrangement: everyone came to meet and talk in my room. Soon I became upset by all the noise and I realized either some changes were going to have to be made, or I was going to leave.
I was sitting on my bed and perhaps 20 other people were in the room, when I announced I wanted to propose a new plan. I suggested everyone reach an agreement that when they were in this room, they would be completely silent, except between the hours of 5 p.m. and 7 p.m., when talking would be permitted. If they wanted to talk, they could go to another room of the house. I tried to explain that remaining silent was an exercise in discipline and that one could reap definite fruits from the endeavor. The others murmured as they thought about it, and finally everyone agreed.
The agreement would go into effect this very day, but today we would be silent from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. As it grew closer to 5 o'clock, I became anxious to see how it would work. I knew I was certainly ready to be silent. I even had a book by Carlos Castanada entitled The Power of Silence which I was going to leave lying on my bed to remind everyone of what we were going to be doing.
Some people in the room were older, apparently the parents of some men living here. When the time came to be silent, most people did stop talking, but some older people were unaware of the rule and continued to talk. Gradually, though, they either left or also began to be silent, and the room slowly became quiet.
Copyright 2008 by luciddreamer2k@gmail.com
