The Subtlety of Silence: Mauna from Ethical Practice to Essential State

Within dualistic Yoga and Jainism, mauna (silence) is considered as a form of tapas (austerity) or a supporting practice for non-violence or truthfulness. However, as this paper argues, within non-dualistic systems, silence is not just the conscious restraint of speech, but an ontological state. The c. sixteenth-century Aparokṣānubhūti reframes mauna as one of its fifteen yogic steps on the path to the realization of Advaitic oneness. It defines mauna in the words of the Taittirīya Upaniṣad (2.9.1) as that state “from which words turn back, together with the mind.” According to the Aparokṣānubhūti, silence by merely restraining speech is child’s play and true silence is equated with brahman. The passage preceding the Taittirīya Upaniṣad verse explains that a wise person journeys through the increasingly subtle sheaths of food, breath, mind, wisdom, and bliss. This bliss is brahman—one who knows it is never afraid and transcends dualistic conceptions of silence.