Israel Centeno

Definition:
The linguistics of silence is a contemplative practice that recognizes how a single word, a sentence, or an image can act as a bridge into the realm of silence.
It draws inspiration from the ancient method of Lectio Divina and the spiritual architecture of The Interior Castle by Saint Teresa of Avila, where silence is the space in which the soul dwells with God.

In this vision, language is not used to dominate, explain, or dissect reality. Instead, language serves as a subtle guide:
a doorway through which the soul passes — gently, patiently — into deeper layers of interior silence.

Rather than multiplying words or seeking complex interpretations, the linguistics of silence invites us to:
• Receive a word, a phrase, or an image with openness and simplicity.
• Dwell with it, allowing its resonance to deepen without forcing meaning.
• Enter into silence, where words fall away and pure presence remains.

Key principles:
• A word can awaken silence if received without anxiety.
• A sentence can become a threshold to interior dwelling.
• An image can mirror the soul’s desire for union and truth.
• Silence is not emptiness, but the fullness beyond speech.

Purpose:
The purpose of the linguistics of silence is to move the soul from the exterior noise of interpretation into the interior dwelling of contemplative presence — where, in Teresian spirit, the soul rests in what cannot be said, only lived.

John 1 and the Linguistics of Silence

1. Lectio (Reading):

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” (John 1:1)• Read slowly. • Let the sentence sound inside you. • Feel the weight of “Word” — before trying to define it. • Notice where the natural silence around the words emerges.

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2. Find the Resonance (Word, Sentence, Image):
   • A word may resonate: Beginning, Word, God.
   • A sentence may resonate: “The Word was God.”
   • An image may arise:
   • The stillness before creation.
   • Light in vast darkness.

→ Choose the one that naturally calls you.
(Example: “The Word was with God.” → evokes deep companionship.)

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3. Dwell in the Silence (Meditatio / Oratio):
   • Let the chosen word, sentence, or image dwell in you.
   • Feel its vibration.
   • Do not immediately think: What does it mean?
   • Rather, ask:
   • What silence does this word/sentence open inside me?
   • What longing, what echo, what presence awakens?

Example:
The phrase “The Word was with God” opens the silence of eternal companionship — a presence without beginning or end.

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4. Contemplatio (Entering Silence):
   • Stop repeating the word.
   • Let it fade naturally into silent presence.
   • Remain still, dwelling where the word has led you — beyond language, into living silence.

The Linguistics of Silence: Concept and Articulation
Copyright © Israel Centeno , 2025.
All rights reserved.
Inspired by Lectio Divina and The Interior Castle (Teresa of Avila).
No part of this definition may be reproduced without explicit permission from the author.