Silence Day

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Silence Day
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is the name the followers of
Meher Baba
give to their practice of commemorating
July 10th
of each year by maintaining verbal silence
for twenty-four hours.

From July 10, 1925 until his death in 1969,
Meher Baba was silent.
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He communicated first by using an alphabet board,
and later by hand gestures which were interpreted
and spoken out by one of his mandali (devoted disciples),
usually by his disciple Eruch Jessawala.
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For many years,
Baba asked his followers
to undertake austerities on this date.
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These took various forms:
in addition to keeping silence,
Baba had asked his followers to fast, to pray,
to repeat the names of God, and similar practices.
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In his last request to his followers on the subject,
in 1968, he requested that they keep silent.

While Meher Baba did not establish
any special ongoing requirement of his followers
to keep silence on this day,
the majority make it a practice to keep silent,
on an informal and voluntary basis.
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