The Discipline Of Silence According To Pythagoras

The discipline of silence, according to Pythagoras, aimed to mold a more reflective mind through self-control of the word. Through this type of ascetic practice, the sage of the Crotona school taught hundreds of men and women that only when we abstract from the sensible world can we make contact with ourselves and thus attain authentic wisdom.

More than 2,500 years ago, Pythagoras of Samos introduced this principle to the Western world. The famous Greek mathematician and philosopher spent two decades of his life in Egypt learning under the tutelage of various hierophants in Thebes and Memphis. Later,  he went to Babylon to study astrology and the principles of karma and meditation.

All this acquired knowledge helped him to create his famous school in Crotona, which only had one rule when it came to allowing access to any student: who previously spent five years in strict silence. For those who already had a calm and focused personality, “only” two years were enough.

Writings by other philosophers from that period indicate that more than 200 students, men and women, came to this center eager to know all the mysteries and fabulous wisdom that could be acquired at the School of Pythagoras. Now, if there is one thing we all know, it is that, currently, silence is not exactly common in educational centers.

Somehow, we missed a valuable lesson that Pythagoras himself left us in his time:  through silence, we learn to discipline ourselves.

What does the discipline of silence according to Pythagoras consist of?

The basic principle that governs the discipline of silence according to Pythagoras starts from an essential fact. For the school sage, the most difficult thing to control in people is their language. This part of our organism was, in his opinion, the main cause of personal problems and tragedies, as well as the channel through which we bring suffering into our own lives.

In books such as those written by Thomas Stanley, the first historian of philosophy, he points out Empedocles, a fifth century BC politician, pointing out that if humanity could follow the lessons of Pythagoras, we would be a nobler society. Furthermore, he came to define Pythagoras himself as a figure who seemed to have accumulated twenty lives in his being.

To him we owe pure mathematics, the term “philosophy” and the creation of that school in Crotona, which would later serve as a model for the creation of modern universities. At this institution, students were introduced to scientific and philosophical teaching, as well as music and astronomy. However, in order to access this knowledge, they first had to be “purified”. This rite of passage is carried out in the following way.

The harsh discipline of silence

The discipline of silence according to Pythagoras required that every student spend 5 years in strict silence (two if he was a person of temperate and serene character). In this way, and according to his own words, the human soul could return to its home to detach itself from any external artifice or object.

• Disciplining the tongue was the only way to quiet the mind, the needs of the body and the sufferings that constituted the soul.
• Also, unlike other later Greek mathematicians, we have no book written about Pythagoras. He didn’t write anything because he didn’t want to be tied to the written word. He wanted his knowledge to reside only in the minds of his students, those who had already been purified by the test of silence.

• Thus, when a student took a step to perform this rite of passage, he was considered an Acoustici. When he passed the test, he was already a Mathematici .
• Silence among the Pythagoreans was essential. When a student reached this level, he achieved a “transmigration” of his thinking. In this way, he could better understand the hidden cosmogony of nature, numbers, art or any kind of wisdom.

How to apply this discipline today?

We are aware that few of us can fulfill Pythagoras’ discipline of silence as formulated in his day. Taking a strict vow of silence for five years is not something everyone can or want to do. However, studies such as the one carried out at the Department of Psychiatry at the Harvard Medical School (United States) indicate something important.

If we were able to maintain a rigorous silence for half an hour to an hour a day, we would have a healthier brain, less stressed, a more focused mind and a better mood.

Therefore, it costs nothing to adapt this suggestion with other recommendations that Pythagoras de Samos himself gave us at the time on the issue of health and well-being:

• Being in contact with sunlight, following the cycles of nature.
• Allow yourself at least an hour of silence each day.
• Taking care of food (at the school in Crotona, meat consumption was avoided).
• Exercise regularly.
• Have enriching conversations.
• Carry out creative practices.

In conclusion, as we can see, the discipline of silence according to Pythagoras is like its own figure, a legacy from which we can learn, reflect and inspire. Therefore, it is worth remembering lessons such as those contained in the sentences he spoke to his students: the silence is the first stone of the temple of wisdom.