In Hindu philosophy, Mauna (Silence), which has a voice of its own, refers to peace of mind, inner quietude, Samadhi and the Absolute Reality. The Hindu texts insist upon proper understanding of silence by experiencing it through control of speech and practice. Background Mauna (Sanskrit: मौनम्) or Maunitva (मौनित्व) means – silence, taciturnity, silence of the mind – as in मौनमुद्रा (the attitude of silence) and मौनव्रतम् (a vow of silence) or मौनिन् (observing vow of silence). A Sanskrit Dictionary gives many words such as – अनिर्वचनम् (silence, not uttering anything), अभाषणम् (silence, not speaking), अवचन (absence of assertion, silence, taciturnity), अव्याहृतम् (silence), निःशब्दम् (silence, a calm), - as referring to silence. Chambers Twentieth Century Dictionary gives the meaning of the word, Silence, as absence of sound; abstention from sounding, speech, mention, or communication; a time of such absence or abstention, taciturnity. Kumarila lists sound as one of the eleven substances and as one of the twenty-four qualities, he does not include silence in any one of these two lists nor does he describe silence as he does sound. Understanding silence Asat, the word meaning non-existent or indescribable, appears seven times in the Rig Veda); it differs from the word, Mithya, which means false or untrue, . Asat is the opposite of Rta. It is the ground of transcendence, the origin of all organized perception, the original ground any and all sounds count in order to sound, and is also called the language of non-Existence. In the sense of "non-Existence" or "inaction", Asat is simply silence; in the sense of "obscuring" or "covering" or "chaos, " it is pure noise downwards moving from which tone is a distillation (Rig Veda VII.104.1,10,11). Rta is the end of an effective synthesis of sensorium, through a whole range of clear and distinct acts of particular senses and their subsequent insights. Asat stands as the initial space-ground of indeterminate perception or of sets of organized perceptions, the sounding silence from which the worlds, gods and man emerge. Ramana Maharshi in the 6th paragraph of Nān Yār reminds us that only after firmly establishing our mind in our heart will our primal thought "I" which is the root of all thoughts disappear for the ever-existing real self to shine; the place (innermost core of our being) devoid of even a little trace of our primal thought "I" is svarupa (our own essential self) which alone