The external rule, the very important rule, is the vow of silence to be maintained. In other words, no talking whatsoever at any time during this entire sadhana (spiritual practice) retreat. ‘No talking’ or ‘silence’ does not only mean no talking externally. It is also the silence of your mind, the maun (silence) of your mind.
What is silence of your mind? Silence of the mind does not mean detachment from God. Silence of the mind means detachment from the world both the ‘physical you’, which we are very conscious about, and the physical world where our minds are engrossed and attached very deeply. Not only since this lifetime, but lifetime after lifetime since time immemorial. And that is the sole reason why the one mind that we have could not get attached in God, because it can be attached only at one place. Since it has been attached in the mayic world since time eternity until this day, we have not been able to get it detached from the world and attach it in God.
See, the mind cannot be in a state of pending. It needs to be attached. Either it will be attached in this mayic world or in the Creator of this world, the Governor of this world, the Lord of this world, which is the Godhead personality, the Divine Beloved.
Unfortunate is this situation where we are, as Shrimad Bhagwatam Mahapuran (eternal Divine scripture) states in the 11th canto, 2nd chapter, 37th verse:
भयं द्वितीयाभिनिवेशत: स्यादीशादपेतस्य विपर्ययोऽस्मृति: ।
तन्माययातो बुध आभजेत्तं भक्त्यैकयेशं गुरुदेवतात्मा ॥Bhayaṁ dvitīyābhiniveśhataḥ syādīśhād apetasya viparyayo ’smṛtiḥ.
Tan-māyayāto budh ābhajettaṁ bhaktyaikayeśhaṁ guru-devatātmā.- Bhagwatam 11.2.37
Since time eternity before even when time existed, since time eternity, that’s why you cannot ask the question “when,” before even “when” existed; since time eternity, the soul, when released from the womb of God, averted itself from God and went directly in the lap of embracing maya.
(There are) only three tattvas (eternal entities) - the supreme brahm (Supreme absolute reality) Himself, the supreme Lord, and the two powers, shaktis (energies) of God: one the inanimate maya, insentient power maya, and the other the sentient power, the animate power, which is the soul.
So the soul got averted from God and fell in the embrace and lap of maya, and it is going on till this day.
Only you shall know - not God - only you shall know when you would wish to go back to your original source, the embodiment of bliss, attain Him, love Him, and be drowned in that ecstatic bliss of Maharas (the highest Divine bliss of Radha-Krishna love) forever.
That’s our choice.
So sadhana is done to bring back that truth to our minds, and to remind ourselves of our origin, to remind ourselves of our purpose, to remind ourselves where we should be heading towards and where we are heading towards.
