Speak in gibberish

[1]

Amrit Sadhana [1]

Verbal language is one of the greatest means of communication. You may be surprised, why I don’t call it the greatest means of communication. Because it’s not. Words convey very little. Words are just vehicles of feelings and thoughts; just like the wrapping of a chocolate. When the communication goes deeper, words fail; they stumble, become weak and later give way to silence.
The Neuro-Linguistic Programming psychologists have found that 98 per cent of human communication is non-verbal and only two per cent is verbal. We depend on the words too much because we are intellectuals, logic is our best tool to convince others. Words are often uttered unconsciously and therefore, create lots of problems. Later people have to apologise to each other, and say, “this is not what I meant”, or “you have misunderstood me” and so on. In the first place, why do we say something we don’t mean? Psychologists say, 99 per cent of our communication gaps are created because of our words. It depends where the words are coming from. If they are coming from emotions, they carry lot of charge, which hurts others. If they come from the intellect, they trigger an argument.
In that case won’t it be good if we use a language that will express ourselves and not induce fire wherever it reaches?
There is such a language called Gibberish. Osho has revived the ancient technique of Sufis and has used it as a therapy. The word gibberish is not English, it is Arabic; and it comes from an enlightened Sufi mystic, Jabbar. Jabbar deliberately spoke so fast that his words would run over each other. It was impossible to make any sense out of what he said because there were no full stops, commas, no indication of where the sentence began and where it ended. It was such an outburst of energy that the listeners found it mind-blowing. This is exactly what he intended: to bring the mind to a standstill. It gave a taste of silence and relaxation to the listener.
Gibberish is immensely cathartic and a relaxing way of venting out tensions, or releasing bottled up emotions without hurting anybody. If you “gibber” your anger or frustration, nobody will understand what you are trying to say, but you will feel an immense relief, as if a mountain of burden is off your chest.
Gibberish means speaking in the language you don’t know. It is a wonderful potion for the mind, which is trained to think logically, rationalise every act, or accumulate thoughts like a heap of garbage. Yes, garbage, it sure is. The modern man is bombarded with much information from the electronic gadgets and media. This unprocessed information creates stress and he feels bogged down by it. This leads to many illnesses like migraine, headache and other psychosomatic diseases. The cultured, cultivated mind needs ventilation so that it can remain sane. Gibberish fulfils this need.
Usually when two people are angry with each other they start hurling abuses and negative words at each other, or they suppress it and torture themselves. There is no need to go the conventional “fight or flight” way, express your thoughts in gibberish instead. Make meaningless sounds, tell the other person what you think about him/her without words. Use your body, face, or eye gestures. Chirp like birds or blabber like small kids who cannot speak yet. It is so hilarious, and liberating! It cleanses the toxins in the body, relaxes strained nerves, activates the positive energy.
It also holds good if you want to express your soft feelings for someone. It is embarrassing for many people to express their love or appreciation for somebody. You can use a gentle singing like gibberish sounds, let your limbs speak and transmit your affection or attraction to the other person. It will reach home.
This would be a precious Osho gift for the New Year. Let everyone spend some time talking to each other in gibberish and experience the wondrous effect. Other gifts, no matter how expensive they are, remain objects, gibberish is a gift that would rejuvenate and illuminate the subject — which is You.

— Amrit Sadhana is in the management team of Osho International Meditation Resort, Pune. She facilitates meditation workshops around the country and abroad.