Any exaggerated course such as mouna or silence was always discouraged. On at least one occasion Sri Bhagavan made this very clear. Hearing that Major Chadwick intended to go mouni next day, he spoke at length against the practice, pointing out that speech is a safety valve and that it is better to control it than to renounce it, and making fun of people who give up speaking with their tongue and speak with a pencil instead. The real mouna is in the heart and it is possible to remain silent in the midst of speech just as it is to remain solitary in the midst of people.
Sometimes, it is true, there was exaggeration. In accordance with the concealed nature of his upadesa, explained in a previous chapter, Sri Bhagavan would seldom explicitly bid or forbid, and yet those who embarked on any exaggerated course must have felt his disapproval, even if they did not admit it to themselves, for they almost invariably began absenting themselves