Silence Day
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Silence Day 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. 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. For many years, Baba asked his followers to undertake austerities on this date. 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. In his last request to his followers on the subject, in 1968, he requested that they keep silent. Typically Baba had said that fasting might be done as an alternative to silence, but in this final request, there was no option given.
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. Some stay in seclusion for the duration, while others attempt to engage in their typical activities; there are therefore many humorous anecdotes associated with keeping silent on Silence Day.
See also
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