Le silence dans une conversation à deux ou à trois, je suis gêné et cherche à parler n'importe quoi pour briser le silence. Que faire d'autre? Y a-t-il d'autres options pour gérer le silence?

A silence happening in a conversation of two or three people, I feel embarrassed, uneasy, and I want to say something in order to break the silence. What else can I do? How to manage silence?

In Plum Village, silence is very precious. We call it noble silence. And we cherish that very much. It's more precious than gold. Because sometimes silence is very eloquent. You sit there and your personality shines. You radiate peace and joy. And you need only to sit there. And the children would like to come and sit close to you. Silence is very important. Silence helps life to be. And sometimes silence speaks more than words.

And that is why we have to train ourselves. Two friends sitting together and have a cup of tea, they may spend half an hour in silence and yet they don't feel there is a vacuum in it. I remember when I was in Princeton, Princeton University. I used to come and to visit, it was winter, visit an old person who lived near the campus. His name is Eisenhart. He is a mathematician, a friend of Einstein. And every time I came, usually at night, he would come and open the door for me and took me in close to a fireplace. And then Madame Eisenhart will offer me a cup of tea. And we just spent one hour sitting there. He didn't say anything and I didn't say anything. And after that I bowed to him and I went home.

And that happened several times. And I knew in advance that if I come, that will happen again and again. And yet I always came. Because it's very nice, it's very rewarding. One time he gave to me one of his books on mathematics. I did not understand anything. High-level mathematics. But it is very precious for me because that is a token of friendship.

So you have to learn how to be silent. And that is what the Buddha taught us also. And that is why we should tell the other person that silence sometimes brings people together more than talking. This is a training.

[One sound of the bell.]