In the Middle Ages people were well aware of the inexhaustible power that arises simply from sitting still... The inner quiet which arises when the body is motionless and in its best possible form can become the source of transcendental experience. By emptying ourselves of all those matters that normally occupy us, we become receptive to Greater Being. True enlightenment has the effect of so fundamentally affecting and shaking the whole person that they themselves, as well as their total physical existence in the world, is completely transformed.
One of the reasons why communication in general in our society is so shallow and boring is that it does not grow out of silence and solitude. Consequently there is no communion. ...Communication could be a kind of communion if indeed we were a more silent and solitary people. Where we live with God alone in silence, then when we come out of that holy, sacred space, we are deepened and not only ready but longing to share with others the deeper dimensions of life.