A Theory of Silence: Silence: A Phenomenon of Space': Thesis

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A Theory of Silence: ‘silence : a phenomenon of space’
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A THEORY OF SILENCE:
‘SILENCE: A PHENOMENON OF SPACE’
A thesis submitted to Anglo-American University for

the degree of Master in Humanities
Spring 2019
VALIDA BABA
INSTRUCTOR: STEPHAN DELBOS

SCHOOL OF HUMANITIES AND SOCIAL SCIENCES
ii
DECLARATION
I hereby declare that no portion of the work referred to in this thesis has been submitted
in support of an application for another degree, or qualification thereof, or for any other
university or institute of learning.
I declare that this thesis is my independent work. All sources and literature are cited and
included.
I also hereby acknowledge that my thesis will be made publicly available pursuant to
Section 47b of Act No. 552/2005 Coll. and AAU’s internal regulations.
VALIDA BABA
I SHIN DEN SHINi
i
I Shin Den Shin: from one heart to another. A Zen expression referring to silent communication (Thawley, Tannier,
2017: 10).
iv
ABSTRACT
A Theory of Silence:
‘Silence: a Phenomenon of Space’
by
Valida Baba
One can speak about silence only if one is silence itself. The statement may be seen too
obscure to grasp, yet silence requires its own commandments in order for it to lead us to
its core. What does it mean to become silence itself? What are silence’s commandments?
What does silence want to deliver to us? Is there any possibility to reach the core of
silence at all? Putting silence into question, one leans toward Heidegger’s works on
metaphysics whereby he refers to Novalis line “to be at once and at all times within the
whole” (McNeil & Walker, Heidegger, 1995: 5) in which ‘the whole’ is representing ‘the
world.’ Therefore, to answer the question of silence itself, one needs to take a being
(Dasein)ii into the direction of the whole with the world itself and yet reserving a space
where silence as a ‘fundamental attunements’iii (Grundstimmungen) of Dasein can arise
and become. The path into silence itself and then to speak about it is a detour without the
guarantee of being able to arrive to it, yet it is an attempt to decipher aesthetics of silence.
ii
Dasein: the word ‘Dasein’ plays such an important a role in this work and is already so familiar to the English-
speaking reader who has read about Heidegger, that it seems simpler to leave it untranslated except in the relatively rare
passages in which Heidegger himself breaks it up with a hyphen (‘Da-sein’) to show its etymological construction:
literally ‘Being-there.’ Though in traditional German philosophy, it may be used quite generally to stand for almost any
kind of Being or ‘existence’ which we can say that something has (the ‘existence’ of God, for example), in everyday
usage it tends to be used more narrowly to stand for the kind of Being that belongs to persons. Heidegger follows the
everyday usage in this respect, but goes somewhat further in that he often uses it to stand for any person who has such
Being, and who is thus an ‘entity’ himself (Macquarrie & Robinson, Heidegger, 1962: 27).
iii
Fundamental attunements (Grundstimmungen) the fundamental concern of philosophizing pertains to such being
gripped, to awakening and planting it. (…)All such being gripped, however, comes from and remains in an attunement
(Stimmung). To the extent that conceptual comprehending and philosophizing is not some arbitrary enterprise
alongside others, but happens in the ground (Grunde) of human Dasein, the attumenets out of which our being gripped
philosophically and our philosophical comprehension arise are always necessarily fundamental attunements of Dasein.
They are of the kind that constantly, essentially, and thoroughly attune human beings, without human beings
necessarily always recognizing them as such (McNeill & Walker, Heidegger, 1995: 7).
v
Pieter De Buysser, philosopher, writer, and director, once noted that “one needs a good
reason to break up with the silence” (Baba, 2017). Yet, if we look at the silence at a more
profound level, we notice that silence in itself is something else than what has been said
about it up until now. Therefore, in this work we attempt to look at silence from a
completely new way that has not been noticed and discussed before, we attempt to state a
hypothesis that silence at its core is a space itself, a space that allows one being to
experience transcendence of oneself, a space that activates new states in one’s being, thus
we are stating it as ‘silence: a phenomenon of space,’ and throughout this work we will
examine this hypothesis and manifest a theory of silence.

vi
TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION .............................................................................................................. 9
CHAPTER ONE: RECONSTRUCTING THE BRIDGE BETWEEN MAN AND
SILENCE .......................................................................................................................... 14
1.1 SILENCE – WHAT DO WE KNOW ABOUT IT? ................................................ 15
1.2 MAN IS MYSTERY – ISN’T IT? .......................................................................... 20
1.3 INTRODUCING NEW CONCEPTS OF ‘SILENCE: A PHENOMENON OF
SPACE’ THROUGH NOTIONS: RELATION TO AND RELATION WITH ............... 26
1.3.1 THE NOTION RELATION TO ........................................................................ 27
1.3.2 THE ROLE OF TIME IN THIS CONNECTION ............................................ 28
1.3.3 THE ROLE OF SPACE IN THIS CONNECTION ......................................... 29
1.3.4 THE ROLE OF DIMENSION IN THIS CONNECTION................................ 31
1.3.5 THE NOTION RELATION WITH ................................................................... 33
1.4. WHERE IS ‘SILENCE: PHENOMENON OF SPACE’ ROOTED? .................... 35
CHAPTER TWO: ‘SILENCE: A PHENOMENON OF SPACE’ THROUGH THE
PHENOMENOLOGY OF PERCEPTION, SENSATION AND INTUITION ................ 40
2.1 PERCEPTION OF THE WORLD THROUGH A BODY ..................................... 41
2.2 PERCEPTION OF THE WORLD THROUGH MIND.......................................... 46
2.2.1 MEMORY........................................................................................................ 48
2.3 PERCEPTION OF THE WORLD THROUGH SENSATION .............................. 51

vii
2.4 PERCEPTION OF THE WORLD THROUGH INTUITION ................................ 56
2.5 A THEORY OF SILENCE: ‘SILENCE: A PHENOMENON OF SPACE’ ............ 59
CHAPTER THREE: PRACTICAL ANALYSIS OF ‘SILENCE: A PHENOMENON OF
SPACE’ THROUGH ARTISTS’ WORK ........................................................................ 64
3.1 ART IS A LANGUAGE OF THE SOUL............................................................... 64
3.2 MUSIC .................................................................................................................... 68
3.3 THEATRE .............................................................................................................. 71
CONCLUSION ................................................................................................................. 82
NOTES .............................................................................................................................. 86
REFERENCES ................................................................................................................. 90
BIBLIOGRAPHY ............................................................................................................. 94
viii
LIST OF FIGURES
FIGURE 1. CONCEPT OF NOTIONS ............................................................................ 16
FIGURE 2. ‘SILENCE: A PHENOMENON OF SPACE’ .............................................. 20
FIGURE 3. A BODY (2017), JAKUB HRAB /ARCHA THEATRE .............................. 74
FIGURE 4. A BODY (2017), JAKUB HRAB /ARCHA THEATRE .............................. 75
FIGURE 5. STIFTERS DINGE/STIFTER’S THINGS (2007), WONGE BERGMANN
/RUHRTRIENNALE ........................................................................................................ 77
FIGURE 6. STIFTERS DINGE/STIFTER’S THINGS (2007), WONGE BERGMANN
/RUHRTRIENNALE ........................................................................................................ 77
FIGURE 7. PŘEDSTAVENÍ/PERFORMANCE (2015), LEA PETRIKOVA ................ 79
FIGURE 8. PŘEDSTAVENÍ/PERFORMANCE (2015), LEA PETRIKOVA ................ 80

A Theory of Silence Baba|9
INTRODUCTION
I am here , and there is nothing to say .

If among you are
those who wish to get somewhere , let them leave at
any moment . What we re-quire is
silence ; but what silence requires
is that I go on talking .
– John Cage1
This paper’s attempt is to find a path into silence’s core aesthetics through talking.
It is known that the concept of silence has carried different meanings in different fields,
such as in art, religion, philosophy, and politics, but it also carries different meanings in
itself and on its own. By walking into silence’s path from different fields, one appears in
a new dimension that had not been seen or noticed before, that is to say, silence at its core
is space itself, a phenomenon of space that allows a transcendental experience to happen.
Let us keep in mind this hypothesis. Throughout this analytical thesis, we will see how it
appears/disappears and how the commandments for it allow to appear/disappear.
Whatever is put into question to find silence’s core aesthetics, one should look at
it always in relation to, that means it is always in relation to something that ‘silence: a
phenomenon of space’ occurs. Being with and in relation to is twofold, that means, one
side is in relation to someone/something and the other is in relation with
someone/something. We can propose a hypothesis for now that one side of this
relationship occupies a man/a being. Thus, now we have these elements which request
our attention: a man/a being, relation to, relation with, and ‘silence: a phenomenon of
space’ (space for transcendental experiences). In this thesis, we will analyse each element
A Theory of Silence B a b a | 10
and weigh their values for our hypothesis. The hardest element for our analysis is a being.
So, we will attempt to find answers to the questions: ‘Is it necessary for a man to be on
one of these sides?’ ‘What is man?’ ‘Who is this man?’ and ‘Does he need to have some
qualities to be able to merge with the other?’ These are the questions for the beginning of
our inquiry.
The human being is an animal who has a highly developed brain which allows
him to use abstract reasoning and language. That is to say, he has consciousness and self-
reflection. Therefore, it should be assumed that one side of this relationship always asks
and needs self-reflection. Since man can provide this reflection, on one side we will find
man’s position, man’s role in this relation.
The questions ‘What is man?’ ‘Who is this man?’ and ‘Does he need to have
certain qualities to be able to merge with the other?’ are interwoven, and therefore,
request from us a parallel analysis in order to pose each question and their relations to
each other. Ontological research on these questions show the mystery of man on one
hand and the finitude of man on the other, which makes man to be limited and unlimited
in himself at the same time. It is through man’s own finitude and limitation that makes
him discover mystery and the unlimitedness of himself. The duality of these concepts
request more interpretation, and this new path to the destination will be taken further in
the first chapter. The limitation of man and his finitude which concerns his own death is
what also allows him to look at his own life at a more profound level to discover in
himself the hidden treasure of mystery and unlimitedness; yet this concept concerns
mostly individuals who are awakened to the mystery of life, or focused on a
‘thinking/thought’ system of interpretation of life. For the average person, this question is
a ‘question of constant postponement’ or ‘out-of-the-question,’ which declares that man

already rejects the other side of these concepts (mystery, unlimitedness).
One notices that different philosophers, scientists, and theologians have offered
different interpretations or paths to find this being that we call man. Martin Heidegger’s
interpretations constitute notions such as ‘Dasein,’ ‘attunement,’ and ‘awakening’. Martin
Buber describes man’s path through ‘attentiveness’; while other teachings use the notion
‘here and now’ or ‘Sunyata (Śūnyatā).’ This list could be continued on and on as research
on different languages and from different beliefs all call our attention to one thing: man’s
total attentiveness to a time-space reality. Can it be possible? Each teaching proposes its
own route, yet one should note that at the core of this path, they are all similarly offering
man to be awakened into his own Life.
Today, cosmology as well as quantum physics are going beyond all mentioned
interpretations by offering the notion that man’s capacity is beyond his knowledge and
that he carries within himself a microcosmos. Quantum physics declares that man has the
capacity to live in several states at the same time, and it is the being’s own merit to
activate all these states within him in order to fulfill his purpose in a physical lifepath.
This connection can be seen in the work of Blavatsky or in the Vedas, a collection of the
oldest texts of Hinduism, in which one of the passages provides concepts of being
divided into principles which are routes to reach his higher Self that is united with the
Cosmic Universe. All of these studies offer us detailed knowledge understanding a being
in a wide landscape which we will discuss throughout this work.
In the second analysis, we will be looking at our notions and concepts through the
phenomenology of perception, sensation, and intuition. How do these notions and
concepts build a bridge to experience ‘silence: a phenomenon of space’? This part of the
analysis becomes more complicated in its innersubjectivity. Therefore, we can suggest

that the essence of this part will be a number of factors gathered together that will dictate
our route. The complication arises from each concept having a variety of sides which can
be interpreted differently depending on each individual’s perceived reality. With the
support of Henri Bergson and Maurice Merleau-Ponty’s analysis of these concepts, we
can touch upon the subject a little bit more objectively. For example, Bergson’s concepts
try to evolve more qualities and quantities of these concepts which emphasize the
objectivity and subjectivity of this analysis, while Merleau-Ponty’s concepts take their
direction through the body’s involvement of perception, which will complement our
analysis in general. Bergson’s method is elaborately constructed through the system of
immediate experience and intuition and the multiplicity of conscious states which are the
basis for building a framework for the clarification of ‘silence: a phenomenon of space.’
In his own words, “If a man were to inquire of Nature the reason of her creative activity,
and if she were willing to give ear and answer, she would say – ‘Ask me not, but
understand in silence, even as I am silent and am not wont to speak’” (Pogson, Bergson,
2015: VIII).
By building notions and concepts for our route into the core aesthetics of silence
which is a phenomenon of space and arriving into a theory of silence, we will examine
our theory through the medium of music, theatre performances, and installation. For
example, in Lea Petrikova’s video installation which was constructed in multiple levels,
we will see how her work allows the phenomenon of space – silence – to occur and be
experienced. On the first level, the video captures the relationship between nature and
human beings on the shore. On the second level, the relationship captured by the video
creates an opportunity for a new relationship between the moving image and its audience.
Min Tanaka’s approach looks at the relationship through bodies which means that during
the live performance, this experience can happen between performers and the audience,
between performers with each other, and within the performers. In a more detailed
analysis, we will attempt to show the core aesthetics of silence as a phenomenon of
space, and through this space we are allowed and will be allowed to experience the
transcendence of our beings and henceforth, manifest a theory of silence.

SILENCE
The world that we are living in now is facing a continual evolutionary change. On
the one hand this change brings positive fruits of development for humankind on many
levels: technological, scientific, cosmological, philosophical, and other fields. On the
other hand, it limits humankind’s internal development. Yet, it is known that man has
always been a part of a nature which would support the being’s internal growth, and the
more they alienate themselves from it (nature) the more they would recede from their
own self. The contemporary world’s constant distractions with life allude to man seeking
silence in any possible way through nature and retreats. Hence, both silence and noise
become polarities of each other in a dualistic view of the world. Any research or books
written on this subject would start their voyage of departure from a noisy world yet will
always arrive at another world that opens up new doors of silence from this perspective.
Hence, it becomes very obvious that in life there will never be silence as an absence of
something (noise, words and etc.), in the sense that life is a living organism, which is in a
constant state of change and move. And if a man would close himself from the outside
world, he would not be able to do it for his own world because he is a living being who
breathes, lives, moves, and thinks. Therefore, the validity of silence as an absence of
something (noise, words and etc.) becomes implausible. So then, what is silence if it is
not an absence of noise? This question forces us to look at the subject from a completely
new perspective and to seek answers in not common places.
In this chapter, we will focus on new concepts, notions, and elements that are in
themselves complementing and creating a foundational path for the creation of the main
concept of ‘silence: a phenomenon of space.’ The main concept in itself is complex and
consists of many different concepts, so our purpose is to separate these concepts and,
gradually, to integrate them together. The main idea is to simplify these notions and
concepts that are part of the ‘silence: a phenomenon of space,’ in order to create a
discourse of possibility of a new concept that has existed in itself yet has never been
noticed before.
1.1. SILENCE – WHAT DO WE KNOW ABOUT IT?
Our existence can be divided into two parts: visible and invisible. The visible part consists
of everything that we can name, live through, see, and touch; and, while the invisible part
covers most of our lives, to access it requires some effort from man. It can be said that
mystics, poets or artists in general are on the side of the invisible, yet they transfer their
ideas through artistic tools into the visible world but still keep their inscrutability. One
line of Judge a moth by the beauty of its candle by Rumi describes this in a poetic way:
Shams is invisible because he is inside sight.

He is the intelligent essence
of what is everywhere at once, seeing.1
So in this sense, words can have known and unknown concepts – the invisible and visible
– meanings, and functionalities. In order to begin our journey into this path, it will be
helpful to use new concepts to assist us in comprehending and building a step-by-step
puzzle of this new image of silence so that we can look further into the work. These
concepts are vertical and horizontal notions. What do they reside in? These notions have
their visible and invisible parts; the horizontal is the visible and the vertical is the
invisible. The visible part, horizontal notion, is the surface of any given word, subject, or
object that the human mind understands and uses in relation to something/someone which
gives its powers to represent some meaning and, hence, functionality in a represented
scope. In the book The Order of Things (1976), Foucault analyses how cultural codes
govern a territory of language by establishing principals, hierarchies, and laws which
language suppose to obey, and further, how they govern their philosophical clarifications
of justification for these codes. Foucault sees something new between those two
territories:
It is here that a culture, imperceptibly deviating from the empirical orders prescribed for it
by its primary codes, instituting an initial separation from them, causes them to lose their
original transparency, relinquishes its immediate and invisible powers, frees itself
sufficiently to discover that these orders are perhaps not the only possible ones, (…)As
though emancipating itself to some extent from its linguistic, perceptual, and practical
grids, the culture superimposed on them another kind of grid which neutralized them, (…)
Thus, between the already ‘encoded’ eye and reflexive knowledge there is a middle region
which liberates order itself: it is here that it appears, according to the culture and the age in
question, continuous and graduated or discontinuous and piecemeal, linked to space or
constituted anew at each instant by the driving force of time…2
Thus, the invisible part of this would be a vertical notion which constitute new
possibilities of variations towards this direction. It can be visible in the diagram below:
Horizontal notion ____________________________
Sphere of possible variations
Vertical notion
Figure 1. Concept of Notions.

The horizontal notion is a solid surface, and once a concept has made itself and had some
life of functioning, it becomes represented through the horizontal notion. The vertical
notion is a variation of new possibility which arises into the new horizontal notion,
allowing it to function. Hence, it becomes a solid concept in a represented scope. A
sphere of possible variations represents a sphere of n possibilities in this variation to be
discovered and transformed into a new form of concept or function. The life of the
horizontal notion has its finiteness; once it is given, it assimilates, while the vertical
notion has eternal life until it becomes a horizontal notion. By taking this formula into
consideration, it becomes visible that words may have a flexible attitude towards their
concepts. Foucault in his analyses uses word ‘archaeology’ to reflect this relation:
Archaeology, addressing itself to the general space of knowledge, to its configurations, and
to the mode of being of the things that appear in it, defines systems of simultaneity, as well
as the series of mutations necessary and sufficient to circumscribe the threshold of a new
positivity.3
The word ‘silence’ went through these stages many times, building a multi-level concept
of functionality throughout history and different authors’ approaches to this subject. A
Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language (1966) by Ernest Klein
provides the etymology of the word ‘silence’ as having different origins from Latin
silentium, while in the previous version it was the word silens, silere meaning ‘to be
silent’ and from the Gothic word ana-silan, ‘to calm or settle down’ referring to quieten
of the wind, and from the Latin word sinere, ‘to set down; to leave’ (Klein, 1966: 1444).
The contemporary meanings of the words ‘silence’ and ‘silent’ still carry some
connotations from the past denotation, yet also adds new concepts for a wider use.
Wittgenstein’s approach to the word silence was more linguistic, stating that we are bond
to language which is, in itself, limited: “What we cannot speak about we must pass over
in silence” (Pears & McGuinness, Wittgenstein, 2001: 89), while Erling Kagge’s, the first
explorer in the history who reached ‘three poles’ – North, South and the summit of
Everest, states that for him silence becomes something that everyone should create for
themselves in anywhere: “It is possible to reach silence anywhere. One only need
subtract” (Crook, Kagge, 2017: 128). For Martin Buber, silence carries more of a concept
of communication and dialogue: “For where unreserve has ruled, even wordlessly,
between men, the word of dialogue has happened sacramentally,” (Gregor-Smith, Buber,
2004: 5), referencing that if both parties are open towards each other, silence will be a
sacred dialogue between them.
In philosophy, one can add that in stoicism and quietism, silence had played
important roles. Quietism, as a Christian belief, emphasized the importance of being quiet
and retaining a passivity of the soul in front of God in order to receive his will. Stoicism,
on the other hand, emphasized stillness and acceptance of life as it is in order to
understand ‘the nature of the world’ and ‘the nature of human reasoning’(Pigliucci, 2017:
21) so that one could function more organically in the world. Furthermore, there are more
authors like John Cage, Susan Sontag, Samuel Beckett, Thich Nhat Hanh, Kankyo
Tannier, Eckhart Tolle and others who were exploring the path of the vertical notion to
create new horizontal notions. In this sense, silence has gained concepts of quietness,
stillness, taboo, denial, mystery between lines, and many other notions.
In this paper, we are discovering another vertical notion of the word ‘silence’ by
turning it into the horizontal notion – ‘silence: a phenomenon of space.’ But, what does it
mean that silence is a phenomenon of space? It is a hypothesis that will be discussed in
this work; it pertains to the idea that silence, at its core, is space itself – a phenomenal
space that allows man to experience new states of oneself and of life, hence opening
doors to the transcendental. By using a formula of notions, it can be described that in the
sphere of possible variations, ‘silence: a phenomenon of space’ is a new vertical notion
that attempts to become a new horizontal notion. However, in order for it to become a
horizontal notion it should then have a practical application and conceptual expression,
both which will be examined further in this work.
This hypothesis declares that silence, at its core, is ‘a phenomenon of space’, a
spatial bridge which allows being to experience the transcendental. Analyses of this
hypothesis require parallel interpretations of ‘silence: a phenomenon of space’ that
always occur in relation to something. Since man has self-reflection that able him to
interpret concepts, expressions, and ideas through different mediums into language, it
would be right to declare that one side of parallel interpretations would occupy a man and
if a man were to have something that he in relation to, this would thus realize the other
side which is in relation with him (see below Figure 2). Thus, we have a few concepts
that need close examination: man/being, relation to, relation with, and ‘silence: a
phenomenon of space.’ One by one we will examine these concepts and their necessity
and functionality for each other and for the whole work in general. And here, we will use
again our concepts of notions – horizontal and vertical – to help us on our route towards
a newness of this concept, ‘silence: a phenomenon of space,’ and one of n variations that
are temporizing of becoming.

‘Silence: a Phenomenon of Space.’
Man/Being relation to relation with
Figure 2. ‘Silence: a Phenomenon of Space.’
1.2 MAN IS MYSTERY – ISN’T IT?
Man is mystery. Any knowledge discovered about one could never expose a whole
picture of oneself, as new mysteries would occur and all discoveries would be perplexed
again. So if man is a mystery, how will we be able to explore one’s relation towards
‘silence: a phenomenon of space’? This question has no answer, yet attempts of this work
are from different paths to represent the commandments that are the necessary tools to
explore being’s relation to oneself and to ‘silence: a phenomenon of space.’
‘How was the universe created?’ and ‘What is Man?’ are questions which have
been pondered since the Classical Period of Greece, 4 th and 5th C. BC. One should note
that from different cultures and religions, the question of what man is has been
investigated also, thus allowing it to be encoded in the confines of those cultures and
religions evident by their cultural heritage. It took time for man to gain knowledge and
expand consciousness to decipher this knowledge and mystery of one’s own being.
Ontology as a special branch of metaphysics has long been concerned with this question
and seeks answers of the existence of being from different structural systems. Until these
days, the question of being in a timeframe from Plato to Kant, from Kant to Heidegger
still remains unresolved. It is also necessary to declare that there is no need to discover an
answer for ‘What is Man?’ – But, why? Because as long as mankind exists on Earth, and
as long it will expand one’s being beyond its current state and any answer framing what
one is will not be valid, as one is beyond what a description could be. It can be assumed
that why Heidegger’s book Being and Time (1927) could be considered as unfinished is
that the mystery of man cannot be deciphered in any way, yet this is not a reason not to
raise a question. That is exactly what Heidegger does; his work starts with a citation of
Plato’s Sophist (≈360 BC.) to emphasize the importance of this question, yet does not
find answers until these days, so he takes the same position in order to discover new
territories without hoping to find answers. This is also our intention in this paper through
our hypothesis to move into new territories without expecting a final answer. The citation
declares:
Do we in our time have an answer to the question of what we really mean by the word
‘being’? Not at all. So it is fitting that we should raise anew the question of the meaning of
Being. But are we nowadays even perplexed at our inability to understand the expression
‘Being’? Not at all. So first of all we must reawaken an understanding for the meaning of
this question.4
Thus, Heidegger turns from the meaning of the word being towards the questioning of the
meaning of being, whereby we will look at being in a similar way, questioning one’s
relations towards oneself and to ‘silence: a phenomenon of space’; looking for qualities
that are necessary for oneself to merge with ‘silence: a phenomenon of space’, and the
commandments of ‘silence: a phenomenon of space’ to allow man to experience the
transcendental.
Having a physical body, a being is constantly reminded of one’s own finiteness,
that pushes man to search for something beyond oneself to give meaning to one’s own
existence. And by searching for a meaning and acceptance of one’s own death, man is
awoken towards something bigger than one is. But it should be noted that it is always an
individual’s conscious awareness and understanding of one’s finiteness which awakens
one’s vitality towards life. In the letters to Bellarmin, Hyperion, the protagonist of the
novel Hyperion by Hӧlderlin, declares: “Death is a messenger of life, and that we now lie
asleep in our infirmaries testifies that we shall soon awaken to new health. Then, and not
till then, shall we exist, then, then will our sprit’s element have been found” (Santner,
Hӧlderlin, 1990: 24). Once a man truly understands what death means to him, he can start
to look for life. Yet, a being constantly avoids or postpones the inevitability of death by
making oneself busy with other things that are not concerned with one’s own physical
disappearance. Therefore, we could emphasize the importance of being awoken towards
life as an essential element for our work on ‘silence: a phenomenon of space.’
Philosophers, scientists, theologians, and spiritualists offer different
interpretations for the awakening of the being, yet at the profound level, they carry a
similar meaning for being – one’s attentiveness towards life. Being awoken towards life,
man becomes more vital, spontaneous in one way, and on the other, the search for
meaning turns inward. By turning inward, a being encounters one’s new self, which had
been unknown to oneself earlier. At the beginning, this discovery might frighten the
being so one can either end going further into oneself or take a risk and continue. The
ones who have been turned inward find new discoveries and are brought to the outward
world. The ancient Chinese philosopher and writer, Lao-Tzu, Tao Te Ching; The Book of
the Way (4th C. BC.) puts it,

Let it be present in the universe

and universe will sing.
How do I know this is true?

By looking inside myself.5
It is not only Lao-Tzu, but Jesus, Buddha and many other saints, prophets and ancient
texts that were already discussing these themes, though often labelled into any ruled
system and interpreted in a way that would serve their purpose or misinterpretations
caused by a limitation of language or limitation of the writers’ Weltanschauung.
Being awoken and turned inward requires from one’s being to be totally present
in any given time and space in order to be able to see a deep depth of oneself within
oneself. One should note that there are many different horizontal notions that refer to
being that is present in oneself. Heidgger’s creation of the horizontal notion of word
comes as being-there ‘Dasein’ (Da-sein), yet his clarification for this notion brings
another horizontal notion: ‘attunement,’iv (to let it become awake, to let it be), and if the
‘attunement’ is allowed to be there, a total presence of being (Da-sein) occurs. On the
other hand, Buber creates a notion of ‘dialogical relation,’v ‘I-It,’ ‘I-Thou’vi where ‘all
real living is meeting’(Gregor-Smith, Buber, 2004: XIV) and when a being is totally
iv
Dasein’s openness to the world is constituted existentially by the attunement of a state-of-mind. And only because the
‘senses’ (die “Sinne”) belong ontologically to an entity whose kind of Being is Being-in-the-world with a state-of mind,
can they be ‘touched’ by anything or ‘have a sense for’ (“Sinn haben für”) something in such a way that what touches
them shows itself in an affect (Macquarrie & Robinson, Heidegger,1962: 176-177).
v
A relation between persons that is characterized in more or less degree by the element of inclusion may be termed a
dialogical relation. (…)What he means by inclusion is the extension of one’s own concreteness, the fulfillment of the
actual situation of life, the complete presence of the reality in which one participates. Its elements are, first, a relation,
of no matter what kind, between two persons, second, an event experienced by them in common, in which at least one
of them actively participates, and third, the fact that this one person, without forfeiting anything of the felt reality of his
activity, at the same time lives through the common event from the standpoint of the other (Gregor-Smith, Buber, 1947:
115).
vi
The primary word I-Thou can only be spoken with the whole being. (…) I-Thou is the primary of relation. It is
characterized by mutuality, directness, presentness, intensity, and ineffability. Although it is only within this relation
that personality and the personal really exist, the Thou of I-Thou is not limited to men but may include animals, trees,
objects of nature, and God.
The primary word I-It can never be spoken with the whole being. (…) I-It is the primary word of experiencing and
using, It takes place within a man and not between him and the world. (…) The It of I-It may equally well be a he, a
she, an animal, a thing, a spirit, or even God, without a change in the primary word (Friedman, Buber, 2018: 57).
‘attentive,’ there occurs a dialogue that transforms the relation from ‘I-It,’ to ‘I-Thou,’ in
which his notion of ‘I-It’ is not oriented in not living things, but to all things that being
faces all the time, which he expresses as living. And Eckhart Tolle, a spiritual teacher of
the contemporary world provides many practices for being to become present and
attentive towards life through everydayness (Tolle, 2001: 20-21). At the same time,
mediation may become a more and more desirable practice to shorten this path of
attentiveness and presentness. To be in the present moment, Tolle suggests to ‘inhabit the
body,’ (Tolle, 2001: 59) as the body can always provide you ways to awareness, and the
more you are aware of your body the more you are working with your inner-world, hence
allowing your mind to be in the present.
Zen Buddhism will use koans, short paradoxical statements of different concepts
to perplex the mind of students and to see their progress in practice. It was required for
students to mediate on koan, until they could gain insight to the inner world. One of the
very often used koan is about the sound of a single hand: students were obligated to
meditate until they heard the clapping sound of the single hand. It was created by a
Japanese Zen Buddhist, Hakuin Ekaku, who contained the idea of stopping all sounds
around was a way to hear the internal self, and on the other hand, to demonstrate the
concept of the duality and Oneness. Therefore, the more man becomes close to oneself,
the more one discovers the nonexistence of self and the limitless depth within. It is a
moment for a being to leave commonly known life, everydayness which Heidegger
describes as ‘Das Man’vii (‘they,’ ‘Others’), Being with others, everydayness of Being,
vii
Being-with-one-another has the character of distantiality (Abstӓndigkeit). (…) This distantiality which belongs to
Being-with, is such that Dasein, as everyday Being-with-one-another, stands in subjection (Botmӓssigkeit) to Others.
(…) ‘The Others’ whom one thus designates in order to cover up the fact of one’s belonging to them essentially
oneself, are those who proximally and for the most part ‘are there’ in everyday Being-with-one-another. The ‘who’ is
not this one, not that one, not oneself (man selbst), not some people (einige), and not the sum of them all. The ‘who’ is
the neuter, the ‘they’ (das Man) (Macquarrie & Robinson, Heidegger, 1962:164).
and to enter into being-there, Dasein (Da-sein). As he puts, “Everyone is the other, and
no one is himself.” (Macquarrie & Robinson, Heidegger, 1962: 165), which emphasizes
otherness of being in the absence of Dasein.
A being has a deep connection with the universe itself. Nowadays, science has
become involved more than ever to unfold this connection, despite the fact that the
approach is more of a priori. Physicists and astrophysicists bring new principles and
theories to demonstrate a deep connection between man and cosmos, and the discovery of
quantum physics and its connection to man makes this conviction stronger. Moving into
new and unknown territories of science, cosmology, astrophysics, and physics, they
uncover a new potential of being through the inward becoming and gaining of knowledge
of the outward world. Joe Dispenza, a neuroscientist, researcher, and lecturer recalls
science as a ‘contemporary language of mysticism’ that opens new doors of being to
recognize himself as a quantum potential of mind and body, thus being more present and
finding purpose and meaning in life. The holographic principle of the universe explains
that every particle in the universe contains all knowledge of the whole universe and that
everything is interconnected, and that a being is constructed the same way, thus every cell
of man contains information of the entire universe and that man has been given access to
this whole. However, it requires effort to activate this potentiality and to connect to the
universe from within. Itzhak Bentov, a scientist, mystic, and inventor, in the book A Brief
Tour of Higher Consciousness (2000) puts it,
The universe is a hologram or interference pattern in which all parts are interconnected,
containing information about each other and thus about the entire universe. (…) This
hologram of information could be called the Universal Mind, because it contains all the
information there is about the entire structure. Each individual human consciousness is part
of that hologram; therefore, by projecting one’s consciousness into the Universal Mind in a
heightened state of awareness, one can obtain knowledge about the whole universe. 6
Universal Mind, Cosmic Consciousness, Cosmic Universe and many other concepts can
be seen as horizontal notions containing the concept of the holographic universe both
within and outside the world of being, thus all knowledge is accessible and given to man.
Blake’s poem in Auguries of Innocence (1863) describes it well,
To see a world in a grain of sand

And a heaven in a wild flower,
Hold Infinity in the palm of your hand
And eternity in an hour.7
1.3 INTRODUCING NEW CONCEPTS OF ‘SILENCE: A PHENOMENON OF
SPACE’ THROUGH NOTIONS: RELATION TO AND RELATION WITH
Having gained knowledge on man, we can now continue to examine other concepts that
we had mentioned above in order to widen our horizon on the whole picture of ‘silence: a
phenomenon of space.’ We have declared that silence as a phenomenon of space always
occurs on two sides: in relation to something and in relation with something. Therefore,
we will be exploring concepts to gain some insights on these relations’ functionality.
Life happens to us with a constant interaction, whether we are aware of it or not;
life is around us and we are in it. By interacting with everything – ourselves, people,
objects, and nature – we build relationships in a reality dependent on both time and space.
In these interactions, we are in relation to and others are in relation with us, and it is in
between this where ‘silence: a phenomenon of space’ occurs. According to Buber, ‘living
means being addressed’ (Gregor-Smith, Buber, 2004: 12), and what we need is only to be
present and perceive what is addressed to us. Yet, ‘being addressed’ can, too, be frightful
for a being as it requires from the being to enter into a territory of unknown and man can
easily find many defensive excuses to ignore ‘being addressed.’ And even mankind’s
knowledge assures that everything that is happening in the world is as it must be, and
there is nothing directed at being, it is only a being’s experience (being’s relation to) that
is counted for being, and the rest is just ‘world-happening,’ things that are happening in
the world’s everydayness. It can be said that most of the time, a being is not able to filter
what is addressed to him and that what is addressed is only a ‘world-happening,’ thus
causing a perplexity with this correlation.
1.3.1 THE NOTION RELATION TO
Being in relation to has its own qualities that allow being to be in relation to. What do we
mean by this statement? We mean that every interaction is built by relation to, yet not in
every interaction relation to is active. The relation to truly occurs and is active between a
being and something only when the being is aware and present in one’s own presence.
Functionality of relation to appears as a mediator, a bridge between being and something
that the being is in relation to. Time and space become a part of this meeting, playing a
twofold role. Every interaction is framed into a time-space reality on the one hand while
on the other hand, the interaction also demands the absence of this duality. According to
Newton, time is separated from space, it is given from God, and it is eternal (Greene,
2003: 377) Einstein’s Special Theory of Relativity (STR) assembled space and time as a
spacetime that can function differently for different observers. The theory of Quantum
Gravity declares that time as a separate quantity does not exist, as it appears only in
relation to something, and its functionality in this relation can be different. This is an
important note to consider for our work as we will see in the second and the third
chapters of how time and space function in the relation to ‘silence: a phenomenon of
space;’ sometimes acting as a guide while other times as not an existing element, hence
not important. In order to make it clearer, we can take a look at some examples through
physics and astrophysics.
1.3.2 THE ROLE OF TIME IN THIS CONNECTION
Brian Greene, a theoretical physicist and mathematician, demonstrates this concept in
two ways. The first one consists of followings; if one person would like to meet another,
they provide information (data) for the meeting. The data is space (location) and time.
And here time function as another dimension as we are always ‘moving forward in time’
(Greene, 2003: 49). The second sample is moving in space. When an object moves in
space, its time in relation to us slows down and that is ‘the speed of its motion through
time slows down’ (Greene, 2003: 50). Henceforth, we can make the assertion that the
understanding of time and its functionality is relative to its produced dimensions such as
on Earth and in space. For our dimension, it is an existing fact, yet for other dimensions it
is relative through the spacetime relation. As Greene puts it,
Time slows down when an object moves relative to us because this diverts some of its
motion through time into motion through space. The speed of an object through space is
thus merely a reflection of how much of its motion through time is diverted. 8
The German philosopher Rudolf Carnap in conversation with Einstein declared
that the question of time in a sense of a present moment (Now) worried him as the
present (Now) cannot occur within physics; Einstein explained that, “the experience of
the Now (present) means something special for man, something essentially different from
the past and the future, (…) and that it is which is just outside the realm of science” (Zeh,
1992: 166). What we see here is that even for our own reality where time and space act as
a fact, sometimes the reality’s function can be changed, and it can become more of its
representation as in the case of Einstein’s view on the present moment (Now). This leads
us to assume that time in the present moment (Now) can first not exist and, on the second
it is an eternal moment. The idea will be clearer when we examine ‘silence: a
phenomenon of space’ through the phenomenology of perception, sensation, and intuition
in the second chapter.
Furthermore, if we take a look into time and space from different fields, we will
see different approaches where the scientific field could not have been able to find
answers to explain while they also act as realities. For example, the hypnotherapist, past-
life regressionist, and researcher, Dolores Cannon, has opened new doors through her
work in hypnosis towards the direction of interacting with her patients in other timespace
realities that exist in our universe. Through sessions with her patients, she started to
interact with Nostradamus, who lived in 16th century in France, while Dolores in the early
80th in Arkansas. As Nostradamus explained to her for a long time, he was looking for
someone whom he could interact with through other timespace realities in order to tell
true meanings of his prophecies i.e. quatrains. As he explained to Dolores, everything
exists simultaneously within time, and that his interaction with her is also happening
simultaneously elsewhere. According to her reports, time does not exist; it is only an
illusion, and humankind has trapped itself into something that does not exist. Therefore,
we can assume that the existence of time can become a flexible conception regarding the
timespace reality, especially in relation to dimensions. This is an important note for our
work and it will be clear to the reader when we will be examining the being’s relation to
oneself in the second chapter.
1.3.3 THE ROLE OF SPACE IN THIS CONNECTION

Our physical bodies constantly occupy space for our existence; wherever we go or with
whomever we encounter, we embody this space for a temporal time. So we have houses,
stores, parks and many other places that we and our bodies encounter and occupy. This
space reality can be considered as horizontal notions of a physical space, location space,
and many other notions. However, it can be seen as one side of seeing the space while
mathematicians, physicists, scientists, mystics, poets, and theologians can give us
different images of a more abstract space. A philosopher and physicist, Max Jammer,
sees space as part of the conceptual mind and thought where, contrastively philosopher,
Bachelard, by declaring that, “Inhabited space transcends geometrical space” (Jolas,
Bachelard, 1994: VII), describes that whenever a being is inhabiting a space in a physical
reality, one is inhabiting it beyond this physical reality. What does he mean by this? It
can be assumed that our occupation of space in not limited by our outer world but we
inhabit it also by our inner world. Hence, when we inhabit a space, we inhabit it through
our inner space and outer space simultaneously which in turn validates both statements.
According to physicist Fritjov Capra, the Eastern mystics link the notions of space
and time ‘to particular states of consciousness,’ (Capra, 1975: 164) that through
meditation a being can go beyond his own known space and time. Here, we see that space
functions in a threefold dimension, such as inner space that has no boundaries in itself; as
space which is known to being from one’s own state of consciousness; and space as a
physical embodiment of the being. On the other hand, Einstein gives us a different view
on this subject, declaring that “Physical objects are not in space, but these objects are
spatially extended” (Campbell, 2005: 778). What we see here is that their descriptions
closely have relation to notions that are not solid in themselves but reflect the complexity
of the whole image and the objects’/subjects’ approach through the physical part of
matter. And, further, we can see also references to the image of the holographic universe
where a single particle contains the image of the whole and extends itself through the
whole. For example, Einstein’s declaration of ‘spatially extended,’ means that he sees
that space and physical objects are, at their core, made from the same substance by which
all are part of the whole; he names ‘the whole’ as ‘single unified field’ (Campbell, 2005:
778), a horizontal notion of Universal Mind, Cosmic Consciousness and others notions.
As Einstein puts it,
A human being is part of the whole, called by us ‘Universe,’ a part limited in time and
space. He experiences himself, his thought and feeling, as something separated from the
rest – a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness.9
These are important notes for our work on ‘silence: as a phenomenon of space’ through
being in relation to which will unfold itself in our future examination of other notions
that have relation to the whole image in general. However, we can add that whatever
direction we take, we will always come to this connection: being is in the relation to and,
if we move further, the fundamental truth appears that everything is energy, frequency,
vibration and man’s role to learn to manipulate this energy and expand his consciousness
for a better life.
1.3.4 THE ROLE OF DIMENSION IN THIS CONNECTION
In order to move further, it will be significant for our work to examine also a notion of
dimension. The notion of dimension has a deep connection to time and space and
timespace, and also with being and relation to that will unfold itself throughout our work.
Einstein proposed that spacetime has 4 dimensions: ‘height’, ‘length’, ‘breadth’, and
‘time,’ and, further, physicists Theodor Kaluza and Oskar Klein proposed the idea that
spacetime might have a 5th dimension that becomes Kaluza-Klein Theory (Greene, 2003:
192). However, Dolores Cannon declares that there are many other dimensions that we
are not yet aware of. The functionality of these dimensions is beyond our common
understanding and knowledge. The 4th and 5th dimensions exist only in the reality where
spacetime exists; however, from a holographic universe view, there are also many
dimensions that exist at the same time because the notion of space and time is not a valid
quantity for the holographic universe, thus everything is happening at the present
moment. As Stephen H. Wolinsky in the Quantum Consciousness: The guide to
Experiencing Quantum Psychology (1993) puts it,
If Bohm, physicist, is correct and the universe is a gigantic multi-dimensional hologram,

such an underlying holographic order would have profound implications for many of our
other common sense notions about reality. For example, in a holographic universe, time
and space would no longer be viewed as fundamentals. Because the universe would be seen
as possessing a deeper level in which concepts such as location break down, time and
three-dimensional space would have to be viewed as projections of this deeper order. In the
other words, in the super-hologram of the universe, past, present, and future are all
enfolded and exist simultaneously.10
This means that the more we learn about the universe in a holographic image, the more
we learn about being as being part of the whole of the hologram itself at the same time,
and the more we understand that the notion of dimension is only relative in timespace
reality. On the other hand, it leads us to recognize that the notion of dimension can
function on two sides: one is the inner dimensions of being, and the other is the outer
dimensions that in themselves they can function as multiple. Bohm, together with H.
Pribram, a professor of psychology and psychiatry, emphasize that “Our brains
mathematically construct objective reality by interpreting frequencies that are ultimately
projections from another dimension, a deeper order of existence that is beyond both space
and time: The brain is a hologram enfolded in a holographic universe” (Talbot,1996: 54).
Their idea is important for our work because it discloses a notion of dimensions in both
ways: inner and outer and, hence, assuming that if the universe is a hologram, it should
therefore be that the inner world mirrors the outer and vice versa. It also suggests that
there is a role of cognition that elaborates within itself and constructs a meaningful image
of the whole. The role of cognition in our work will be discussed in the second chapter.
Furthermore, Talbot proposes that in the kabbalah there is a horizontal notion, ‘aleph,’
that reflects a similar view. However, our cognition is not always capable in perceiving it
or to be open for perceiving it and even if it is perceived, it can only be explained
gradually. As he puts it,
‘aleph,’a mythical point in space and time that contains all other points in space and time, it
is a moment that contains all other moments. Even the ability to perceive the life review
seems holographic in that it is a faculty capable of experiencing something that is
paradoxically at once both incredibly rapid and yet slow enough to witness in detail. 11
Therefore, our analyses show on the one hand the mystery of the whole from any
field of knowledge that humankind faces in its research and, yet, man’s attempt to resolve
it is fascinating and a never ending journey. On the other hand, there exists a duality: one
where there is a deep connection between the universe and a being which resonates
together on one level; and another where the universe and the being exists, though the
being is not conscious of this relationship. Through our analyses, it becomes clear that the
notion of relation to acts as a mediator but is also subordinate to the other factors such as
time, space, timespace, dimensions, and many others. Our analysis of time and space,
timespace, and dimensions will be clearer in the second and the third chapters as now we
are only bringing all the necessary elements for future chapters to reconstruct the work of
‘silence: a phenomenon of space.’
1.3.5 THE NOTION RELATION WITH

The notion relation with is an abstract notion that mostly functions as a passive presence.
What do we mean by passive presence? The passive presence declares two important
functions of the notion relation with. The first is a necessity of being present of the
notion relation with whatever it is that being is in relation to now. The presence of the
relation with can be a physical as well as a non-physical presence of the entity. And what
do we mean by the passive presence of the relation with? It is being present and allowing
happenings to happen without any resistance. Here appear more questions, so in order to
make it clearer, we can discuss a few examples. The first example would be when a being
is in relation to a book, the book in turn is in relation with that being. In order for a book
to be in the relation with, it requires the presence of the being. The book is in the passive
presence of the being, it is present yet without any resistance or action. It is obvious that
there is something happening to the being in the relation to the book, yet it is through a
passive presence of the relation with the book that allows something to happen to the
being. The second example would be if a being is in relation to another being. Here,
relations happen in a parallel way: being1 is in relation to being2, whereby being2 is in
relation with to being1, hence becoming a passive presence for being1, in the second way
it will be vice versa: being2 is in relation to being1 and being1 is in relation with the
being2, so now being1 is functioning as a passive presence. The third example would be if
a being is in relation to one’s innerworld, innerself, then which formulas would be the
correct to apply? It would be the same as the first example: a being will be in relation to
his innerworld, innerself, and the innerself and the innerworld will be in relation with the
being, hence functioning as passive presence. We can raise another question here as we
know that the innerworld can open new doors within us, and our innerself can guide us in
our life path, but then why can they not function as similar to the second example? The
token for the three examples relies on a being’s own ability, responsibility, and effort to
discover answers for oneself in a given time and space or timespace reality. In the second
example, this chance is given for both of the beings while for the first and the third it is
given to the beings and it should be added that it is only a necessity for beings to
accomplish it for themselves, not for the innerself or innerworld which exists in an
eternal timeframe.
1.4 WHERE IS ‘SILENCE: PHENOMENON OF SPACE’ ROOTED?
In the last part of the first chapter, we will be taking a look at the notion of phenomenon
at its analytical base wherein the second and third chapters it will take a synthetic
orientation. The notion of phenomenon is essential for our hypothesis as ‘silence: a
phenomenon of space’ is deeply rooted in the field of phenomenology. We have
mentioned above that ‘silence: a phenomenon of space’ occurs between a being and its
relation to something, and here we can add that this occurrence is based more on an
experience. Throughout our analyses this idea will become clearer.
What do we mean by the notion phenomenon? A Comprehensive Etymological
Dictionary of the English Language (1966) by Ernest Klein states that the word
phenomenon originated from Greek and means ‘fact,’ ‘circumstance’ or ‘experience’ as a
first range while in the second it is as ‘a remarkable thing or person,’ or ‘to make appear,
show,’ or ‘to appear’(Klein, 1966: 1172). According to Kant, knowledge is a subject of
our senses that is not able to be represented or measured through intelligence; rationality
is phenomenon, represented through the law of rationality, a noumenon. In this work, we
will focus only on phenomenon. Kant’s analyses that what applies to our knowledge
through our senses becomes a thing ‘as they appear,’ or ‘appearance’ of a thing as it is.
And how they appear depends on a subject itself and its nature and on the sensuous
affections of being and so it becomes only a representation of the subject matter
“showing forth to what extent a natural law of the mind co-ordinates the variety of
sensuous affections” (Eckoff, Kant, 1894: 51). But it leads to another question – what is a
representation and how does one distinguish what a representation is? Yet, it turns out
that in order for a subject to become a representation or apperance, there must be some
law or principle of the mind that makes a conclusion, hence a representation. Here,
contradiction appears that in order for a subject to become a phenomenon, there is a need
of interaction of intellect via analyses of logic and judgment. Therefore, what becomes a
phenomenon is an interaction of sensuous knowledge on the one hand, and on the other
hand it is an analytica-logical collection of the sensuous knowledge. Kant proposes that
we should look at this contradiction from the perspective of from where it follows, that
origin holds on sensuous knowledge. He concludes that,
In sense-percepts and phenomena which precedes the logical use of the intellect is called
appearance, while the reflex knowledge originating from several appearances compared by
intellect is called experience. Thus, there is no way from appearance to experience except
by reflection according to the logical use of the intellect. The common concepts of
experience are termed empirical, its object phenomena, and the laws as well of experience
as of all sensuous cognition generally are called the laws of phenomena. 12
What follows here is that an empirical concept is a combination of sensuous and
intellectual judgement in which the sensuous cognition predominates. The complexity of
sensuous cognition is that it is more subjective on the one hand, while on the other hand,
there are n variations of sensuous cognitions. Therefore, in this field of phenomenology
we are constantly pushed to prove our phenomenon through sensuous cognition and
intellectual judgment in order to make it empirical. Why do we need this? We must
recognize this process in order for the vertical notion of ‘silence: a phenomenon of space’
to become a horizontal notion, and to thus move towards the next step – to gain validity
for this hypothesis, and finally result in a theory of silence.
Phenomenology is a field of study which examines human experience through a
first person point of view, in contrast to scientific knowledge which tends to examine
human experience through a third-person point of view. Phenomenology values
experiences as we live them instead of learning about them through science or opinions,
thus allowing us to experience the ‘things themselves.’ viii What does the ‘things
themselves’ mean? This means that we tend to experience things as they are through our
own direct consciousness, instead of relying on knowledge about them. E. Husserl, a
philosopher who established the school of phenomenology together with F. Brentano, a
philosopher and psychologist, determine the act of direct consciousness as a notion of
intentionality. The term is adopted from medieval scholastic philosophy. We can see that
they have created a new vertical notion for this word, and hence also established a new
horizontal notion for their discourse. However, it should be noted that Husserl’s notion of
intentionality throughout his work separates itself from Brentano’s characterisation of
this notion, hence creating a new horizontal notion. He declares that, “Brentano’s concept
is misleading and inadequate, trapped inside the old Cartesian dualism of subject and
object and with all the problems inherent in that representationalist account” (Findlay,
Husserl, 2001: LVII).
The intentionality means ‘aboutness,’ ‘directedness of consciousness,’ or ‘of-
ness’ or we can say that it is an internal state of an occurred phenomena that acts in
twofold: as ‘it is’ and ‘aboutness,’ the process of that ‘it is’. For example, perception is
viii
When Husserl says, ‘we must go back to the things themselves,’ he means particularly that the task of
phenomenology is to clarify the nature of logical concepts by tracing their origins in intuition: “Our great task is now to
bring the Ideas of logic, the logical concepts and laws, to epistemological clarity and definiteness” (Findlay, Husserl,
2001: XXIII-XXIV).
not only a mental state but it is a perception of something in which perception acts as it is
while perception of something as ‘aboutness’ is of it is. Later, Husserl uses other
terminology such as noema and noesis to examine intentionality, in which the noema
represents a content of the phenomena, an object, thought, and perception while the
noesis is a process of this content. An example of this is perception and the act of
perceiving, in which the noema is a perception while the act of perceiving is the noesis
or, in another example, the act of analysis is the noesis and thought is the noema. On the
other hand, Merleau-Ponty rejects Husserl’s concept of intentionality and declares that it
is constituted by “noncognitive – unconscious – bodily skills and dispositions” (Landes,
Merleau-Ponty, 2014: X). Here, we can add that our approach for the work will be in
both ways: cognitive and noncognitive, reflecting on Husserl and Merleau-Ponty’s
perspective along with others in this area. It is suggested that only in a combination of
both mental and bodily sensations, their examination will help us comprehend the
phenomenon, and thus the experience itself at the profound level. Henceforth, these
notions are important to distinguish now for our future understanding of the work as the
discussion of sensuous faculties are more complex by their nature as they are correlated
with many other sensuous faculties: memory, intuition, imagination, sensation and many
others. We will explore these notions more deeply and their connection to the ‘silence: a
phenomenon of space’ in the second chapter.
We can summarize that in the first chapter we attempted to establish our notions,
concepts, and elements of the general theme in the work in order to first assemble these
elements, and second to add more complex notions for the general image of ‘silence: a
phenomenon of space’. Also, it is important to note that throughout our analyses from
many different fields of study, we aim to comprehend the theme of this thesis from a
wider scale while also trying to expose the wider image of the whole through one theme.
This will allow us to build a solid ground for our work to stand by itself, and to become a
horizontal notion: ‘silence: a phenomenon of space.’

PHENOMENOLOGY OF PERCEPTION, SENSATION AND INTUITION
In this chapter, we will take a look at sensuous faculties that can be considered as
important elements for the work ‘silence: a phenomenon of space,’ and then present a
correlation between these concepts to build our hypothesis. As we already mentioned in
the previous chapter (section 1.4), in order for a phenomenon to become an experience, it
needs to be tested through intellect but its origin must reside in sensuous faculties. There
are many sensuous faculties however, in this work we will focus only on those that can
be considered as important for our work ‘silence: a phenomenon of space’ and on those
that can provide a profound knowledge and experience for the work itself. It is also
important to note that what will become an experience for a being can be through
sensuous faculties that are unknown to that being, yet through its connection to other
sensuous faculties, it can gradually become a known sensuous element and, later, an
experience itself.
Our interaction with the world around us happens in many stratums
simultaneously. Our awareness and knowledge might be limited to decipher these
interactions; nevertheless, we tend to analyze these interactions in one or another way for
ourselves in order to understand ‘what happened?’ or ‘what is happening?’ These
interactions involve many sensuous faculties such as perception, sensation, and memory,
and many others, regardless of our conscious awareness of them. It is shown that children
first perceive and later learn what they have perceived by attaching perception to
thoughts – association with a sensory world. Thus, we can say that our sensuous faculties
are the foremost faculties in which we receive information and it is thus through our
rational mind where we render it into any matter; “the sensible world is ‘older’ then the
world of thought, for the former is visible and relatively continuous … the later, invisible
and sparse” (Landes, Merleau-Ponty, 2012: XII). Yet we should add that sometimes at
the core of rational thinking can be the sensuous faculties that appear as guidance, for
example, intuition that might lead us to some point in which we can turn any given
question into a matter, thought, or decision: “thought rests on and presupposes
perception” (Ibid., XII). Therefore, it shows that there are invisible and visible parts of
each subject matter in relation to sensuous and rational faculties that appear interwoven
with each other, this makes our analyses more elusive toward sensuous faculties.
In the previous chapter (section 1.4), we mentioned that Husserl created new
terminology to examine the phenomenology of perception through the notions noema and
noesis, in which the former is the content of the perceived phenomenon and later the
process of it. What we see here is that these notions were mostly oriented on the mental
state of a being and on the consciousness of the being. Yet, what follows is that it is only
one side of the coin in relation to perception as Merleau-Ponty insists that our perception
is ‘essentially bodily’ (Landes, Merleau-Ponty, 2012: XIII). Our goal in this work is to
show that both statements are valid in regards to our work that one complements the
other and vice versa.
2.1 PERCEPTION OF THE WORLD THROUGH A BODY
Throughout history, the attention to the body as a subject was through a production of
consciousness, mind and soul, thus, the main idea of looking at the body as an object
itself and noticing its own production was touched on randomly. Watts declares that “we
have been taught to neglect, despise, and violate our bodies, and to put all faith in our
brains” (Watts, 1951: 57), hence the body’s functionality has not been evaluated properly
as it was done with mind and soul. In the book, Expressionism in Philosophy: Spinoza
(1968), Deleuze raises the question, ‘what can a body do? (Joughin, Deleuze, 1992: 218)
where Spinoza attempted to look at the body from a completely new perspective through
the body’s ability to be affected from the inner and outer world. What becomes clear is
that our knowledge of the body’s capacity is limited and yet the knowledge of the body’s
capacity itself is unlimited and that contemporary knowledge tries to demonstrate this
through different fields of study.
‘What a body can do corresponds to the nature and limits of its capacity to be
affected’ix (Joughin, Deleuze, 1992: 218). What does it mean? It means that we are
constantly affected by the outer and inner world and thus determines our ability to act.
Therefore, the essence of affection consists of a mode of affection and its degree that is a
power to affect, that means, that not everyone is affected by the same thing and, also, the
that same thing can affect each being differently, hence, what follows is that the mode of
affection for a being is infinite as well as its degree for a being to be affected. Another
aspect of affection is that it is linked to other affections in the being, hence holding itself
in the continual duration, thus “to every idea that indicates an actual state of our body,
there is necessarily linked another sort of idea that involves the relation of this state to the
earlier state” (Joughin, Deleuze, 1992: 220), declaring the multiplicity of affect in any
state of its mode and also that it has a degree and mode of affection from its previous
ix
Affect/Affection. Neither word denotes a personal feeling (sentiment in Deleuze and Guattari). L’affect (Spinoza’s
affectus) is an ability to affect and be affected. It is a prepersonal intensity corresponding to the passage from one
experiential state of the body to another and implying an augmentation or diminution in that body’s capacity to act.
L’affection (Spinoza’s affectio) is each such state considered as an encounter between the affected body and a second,
affecting, body (with body taken in its broadest possible sense to include ‘mental’ or ideal bodies) (Massumi, Deleuze
& Guattari, 1987: XVII).
affection. Furthermore, the degree of being affected stimulates following modes of
affections: active and passive. The capacity to be affected firstly appears as a force that
turns into active if it constitutes ‘power of acting’ and passive – ‘power of suffering.’
(Joughin, Deleuze, 1992: 221). These two appearances determine a being’s ability to
move further choosing the ways: acting or suffering, that turn affection into experience.
We can add also that Deleuze’s concept is a new horizontal notion of Kant’s idea of
appearance of things where it can become phenomena or noumena. Furthermore, we can
say that the questioning of the body from different fields repositions the body in another
dimension of exploration, yet at the same time keeps the fundamental base as being or
object affected by something. The body’s constant affection by the inner and outer world
is analysed differently from different fields of study so thus, adds a new stratum of
knowledge and understanding to the subject of a body.
Furthermore, we can say that the body acts as a container of states of being. What
do we mean by the container? We mean that in our body, there are saved conscious and
unconsciousness memories of ourselves, our families and even experiences of our souls
in many life time transitions; “you are a continuation of your ancestors. Your parents and
your ancestors are fully present in every cell of your body; you are their continuation”
(Thich Nhat Hanh, 2015: 14), so in a combination with one’s bodily memory and bodily
consciousness, and in connection with its inner being, one discovers a path of
empowerment in a present moment of one’s being. Shusterman declares that the body has
its own consciousness, instead of the mind’s consciousness of the body as an object and it
includes “the embodied consciousness that a living sentient body directs at the world and
also experience in itself (and through which it indeed can experience itself as both subject
and object)” (Shusterman, 2012: 197). For example, in a family constellation therapy, the
client is able to heal not only oneself but also the whole system of one’s family by being
present with one’s own body and through its consciousness in the session. Another
example can be seen as dancers’ embodiment and use of their body wherein a body acts
as a tool, an object for movement or emotion, or in most yogi teachings where a body is
considered as a temple that needs to be kept in a constant purification through food,
movements, and thoughts in order to gain access beyond the body’s limitation. Each part
of this temple represents some parts of the body and requires its own attention to be
purified. Basavanna in the poem, The Temple and the Body, puts it,
My legs are pillars,

the body the shrine,
the head a cupola of gold…1
Today, different types of yoga offer a variety of exercises in order to awaken the body’s
consciousness through conscious breathing, physical actions, kriyas’, and meditations.
The main goal is to unlock the body’s blocked energy so it can flow in its natural way to
then stop one’s thinking mind and to awaken the body’s awareness of itself. Close to the
end of this chapter it will become clear why we raised such arguments about the body’s
consciousness and how it is related to our subject matter, however now we will continue
with other sensuous faculties that apply to our direction on perception. Also we should
mention that we will be constantly referring to the subject of the body in the following
analyses because of the body’s affection which acts as a form of feedback on the
phenomenological field.
We have mentioned that the body acts as a container of states of being. What do
we mean by states of being? It means that every human being from its birth is given
chances to activate and achieve n possibility of states of one’s being. Blavatsky refers to
them as seven principles of man, while Vedas declares five principles or in Christianity it
can be seen as a division: body, soul and spirit. However, we will refer to them as states
of being and in a while it will become clear why. According to Blavatsky, seven
principles consist of higher and lower principles that are divided by a being’s aspirations
for higher consciousness, higher or lower soul achievements in the physical realities. The
higher principles are Atma or Absolute, the highest achievement of all that exist
eternally; Buddhi, the spiritual soul, divine soul of oneself; and Manas, a human soul of
oneself, which in itself is divided by two principles: Higher and Lower Manas. The
Higher Manas, the intellectual, spiritual mind of oneself that tends to achieve state of
Buddhi; and the lower principles that refer to physical, animal, and instinctual part of
one’s being. They are the following: Lower Manas or Kama, tendency of oneself towards
instinctual existence; Double or Protean, or Plastic Soul, astral body or double, unseen of
the physical body; life principle or Prana, life breath, life energy, vitality of oneself, and
the physical body or Sthula Sharira, vehicle of all principles (H. P. Blavatsky, 1889: 119-
120). We can say that these principles are new horizontal notions that Blavatsky created
to explore her vision of human’s existence and its path in life as these principles have
always existed, yet had either different names or references. Henceforth, we can add that
our purpose to name these principles as states of being consist of a concept that each
being is unique in itself and what makes a being to achieve this stative process is also
unique to their origin and path. These achievements are merging in the states of one’s
body, mind and soul’s interventions which, depending on the nature of one’s being, they
find a specific answer for that being and proceeds it. For example, not every being has a
tendency for spiritual growth, and the ones that have this tendency chose their own
method or path to achieve it. These clarifications are important for the work that will
expose itself in a while.

What follows is that our main tool in this time space reality is a physical body that
either has a tendency to become a vehicle for further achievements of one’s being or a
tendency to arise towards lower Manas, Kama. In this work, we are concerned with being
that has a tendency for higher achievements, and in case of not having any tendency for
growth, it is called karma, the concept declaring of one’s eternal return for soul’s
expansion through lessons that the soul itself created in advance to achieve the Absolute.
As Wordsworth’s lines from the poem Immortality Ode (1807) declare,
Our birth is but a sleep and a forgetting;

The Soul that rises with us, our life’s Star,
Hath had elsewhere its setting,
And cometh from afar.2
Here we can also echo back to the first chapter (section 1.2) in which we declared that
our work is concerned with a being that is attentive towards life itself and towards being
in the present moment or Dasein. And here we are again highlighting the importance of a
being to be awaken to one’s life. Another important note can be added in terms of our
discussion on dimension are the time and space realities from the first chapter (section
1.3.2, 1.3.3) Any new activation that appears in the state of being happens in some
dimension that is dictated by its own time space modality. And relation to and relation
with notions are bridge for this activation (they are active in themselves now). The further
we reach for our subject from different direction the more we notice how far the subject
has been reached, and by moving from different direction to our subject we see a
different perspective that reveals itself to our theme. Thus, we can say that close to the
end of the second chapter, we will see how a whole image of ‘silence: a phenomenon of
space’ was striving to create itself.
2.2 PERCEPTION OF THE WORLD THROUGH MIND

John Berger in the book Ways of Seeing (1972) declares that “to look is an act of choice,”
(Berger, 2008: 1) that when we look at something, we make a choice to see things from
some sight that we deliberately choose as there are n possibility of sights. On the other
hand, neuroscientists declare that “placing your eyes on something is no guarantee of
seeing it” (Eagleman, 2011: 26). Thus we face a dilemma here that on the one hand we
choose to see things while on the other hand what we choose to see is not what we are
seeing. So why is that? It turns us to the direction of perception that mind, in correlation
with other faculties, dictates what we chose to see both in the chosen object and sight. For
example, a magician shows us both illusion and perception; we are presented a false
illusion of reality, meaning that magicians’ tricks assure us that what we are seeing is real
happenings and it is not an illusion yet we all know that it is just an illusion, while when
we look at backstage of the illusion, we then turn our sight to see it differently, and thus
in the combination of these different angles, we make our conclusion of seeing the
illusion and perception of it. We have already mentioned before that working with
sensuous faculties is complex as they are more subjective and also they have a tendency
to be innersubjective to their origin, however our attempt is to show the general image of
possibilities that lie on the connection of different sensuous faculties.
Furthermore, perception of the world for a being involves other sensuous faculties
in order to make sense of perceived things. Freud viewed the mind as a component of
three consistencies: Id (instinctual part of the mind), Ego (rational part of the mind) and
Superego (value, moral part of the mind). And these components of the mind were
constituted through conscious, preconscious, and unconscious parts of the mind.
According to Freud, Ego is a conscious part of the mind that gives name to perceptions
and decisions, however the large part of the mind is dictated by Id which relates to the
unconscious level of one’s mind in which most repressed ideas and desires are stocked.
The Superego is the preconscious part of the mind that is created from collected values
from parents and society and it strives to act through accepted behavioral norms. And
why it is preconscious is because of its ability to have conscious and unconscious levels
in itself, that certain ideas hidden in the Superego can be configured and thus, become
conscious while other can remain unconscious. Therefore, what we see here is that the
mind has its own structure and perception that dictates one’s behaviour, understanding,
and decision making in the world for a being thus turning it into an action, a body’s
movement. However, we must also consider another perceptual component into this
discussion which is memory that structures mind’s system.
2.2.1 MEMORY
A being’s memory is a recollection of images that has been extended in a time and space
reality. What becomes of one’s memory is either through repetition of an image or
through its intensity of its occurrence that suspends an image in the mind of a being.
What is important to note is that memory in itself has no time and space capacity, yet it
carries itself through time and space thus affecting one’s perception in any given time and
space. What we mean is that perception recollects images from memory and turns it into
appearance that, in turn, creates a force in the body for an action in a present moment.
On the other hand, the recollection of images act twofold for a being: as conscious
perceptions and as unconscious perceptions. For example, an event occurred in one’s life
and left joyful memories, thus if any single similarity from a different event would
resemble those memories, it would activate similar perceptions in the first case, and
second, it would bring a positive sensation in the body that in turn can activate active or
passive force. These perceptions can be conscious or unconscious at the same time. And
what becomes a conscious perception can be considered as the body’s similar reaction
towards the known, mind-activation of past recollections or involvement of other senses,
such as smell, taste etc., while the unconsciousness perception can become images that
had not been consciously perceived, yet had similarity with one’s being’s perceptions that
were stored in the preconscious. What we notice is that memory is a recollection of many
events from one’s past that have been brought to the present and thus to also inform
future events. For example, In Search of Lost Time, Swann’s Way (1913), Proust
delicately shows it through a cup of tea with a madeleine. As he puts it,
And suddenly the memory revealed itself. The taste was that of the little piece of madeleine
which on Sunday mornings at Combray (because on those mornings I did not go out before
mass), when I went to say good morning to her in her bedroom, my aunt Leonie used to
give me, dipping it first in her own cup of tea or tisane. The sight of the little madeleine
had recalled nothing to my mind before I tasted it; (…) But when from a long-distant past
nothing subsists, after the people are dead, after the things are broken and scattered, taste
and smell alone, more fragile but more enduring, more immaterial, more persistent, more
faithful, remain poised a long time, like souls, remembering, waiting, hoping, amid the
ruins of all the rest; and bear unflinchingly, in the tiny and almost impalpable drop of their
essence, the vast structure of recollection.3
And through a cup of tea, Proust goes on explaining more and more recollections of his
childhood. What we see is that a taste as a sensuous faculty awakens a recollection of
images that are conscious and unconscious perceptions of one’s/Swann’s memory. Why
is it a conscious and unconscious perception at the same time? We can say that it acts as
conscious perception as Swann has memory of it from a past event, yet it is also
unconscious of its vastness and duration (prolongation of images in time). Through the
sensuous faculty of taste, he rediscovered images of his past and by their duration they
now activated in him other sensuous faculties, hence now he could recollect more new
images that had not previously been linked together on one level, so on the other level he
could now recall and recreate a new memory.
It is important to note that repetition of images create memory, which exists in a
present moment, yet also it is a prolongation of the past. And now we can say that by
recalling a past memory, it can change the past and present on the one hand, and on the
other hand, it becomes more of a foreign memory and changes its structure and affect.
Why is this? For the first reason, it turns it into the known, a zone of known perception
that habitually activates the same perception, and the other reason is that each time it
provides a being something new as “consciousness cannot go through the same state
twice. The circumstances may still be the same, but they will act no longer on the same
person, since they find him at a new moment of his history” (Mitchell, Bergson, 2014: 5),
thus it functions again twofold: as a new memory and a recollection of old images
prolonged in a new duration of reminiscence. However, Deleuze declares that we should
use the past to challenge the future and attempt to create a new future. As he puts it,
Repeating the past always transforms the past, for the past is as much in production as the
present. Each performance of memory of the past opens the past anew. (…) to use the past
to challenge the future; later productions would also rethink time and history, using each
event of the new to rethink what it is to be new.4
We have to add that another functionality of past recollections that brought into future
perception have their hidden side in the psyche of a being as a zone of safety, known
territory. What we mean is that an event or image acts as a trigger in a being’s mind, thus
the body acts as a reaction to danger or insecurity, as it is known that the primal need of
human beings is to feel and to be safe, and now this need is put under question, hence the
recollection of the past is constantly thrown into the future as a safeguard for a being,
meaning that what becomes familiar for a being, it becomes a safe territory to take an
action. For example, Plato’s Cave (≈ 380 BC.) tells the story of characters that are
imprisoned in the cave where what they see is only shadows of a fire burning because
they are chained and are not able to turn their heads to see what is behind of them. Their
perception and understanding all arise from the shadows that are shown in a reflection
which is a known perception for them. Further, the story suggests that if one of them
would find way out he would not be able to see what he had been seeing all of his life –
the shadows of things are far more real than the real things that could be facing after,
however, gradually his perception would change, and what he had seeing before would
become only a reflection. As Plato puts it,
Will he not fancy that the shadows which he formerly saw are truer than the objects which
are now shown to him? (…) Last of all he will be able to see the sun, and not mere
reflections of him in the water, but he will see him in his own proper place, and not in
another; and he will contemplate him as he is. 5
What is suggested here is that our perception that is constrained in our recollection of
images is also a reflection of perceptions that been collected throughout one’s becoming.
It is in this sense, changing perception and clearing recollection of past images, where
one can be able to perceive things differently or in a new way, thus activating new states
in one’s being. These notes will become clear when we will show that ‘silence: a
phenomenon of space’ occurs in the absence of this recollections (section 2.5).
2.3 PERCEPTION OF THE WORLD THROUGH SENSATION
We have mentioned above that what becomes one’s memory is due to repetition or
through intensity of an occurred event that freezes as an image in one’s mind. Thus, we
can add that the intensity of an image is interwoven with a sensation that rises into the
consciousness of one’s being. And sensation becomes an affect of the psyche’s intensity
of the image. We have to note that what we describe as images are recollections in one’s
mind that had been captured and framed. It is important to mention that we are again
moving in parallel lines in which one is the body and the other is the sensation in one’s
mind. Because it is through the body’s effect we can judge our sensation and psyche’s
intensity of the image. Yet, how should we know what triggers our sensation? Which
image’s occurrence intensifies the psyche’s state and leaves intensive marks? These are
the main questions in this section that we are attempting to analyse to later correlate with
our subject.
In these analyses of sensation, we are dealing with the field of phenomenology
again that has no structure to lie on as there can be n possibility of sensations and the
differences of them are not able to be measured because their effects for each being are
different. However, we can analyse the components that make up sensation’s occurrence
or through the effect of sensation and we can suppose what might have sparked a
respective sensation. Deleuze declares that sensation has two faces: one is turned toward
the subject and another toward the object, and in itself they are indissoluble; “at one and
the same time I become in the sensation and something happens through the sensation
one through the other, one in the other” (Smith, Deleuze, 2003: 35). Deleuze’s concept
can be seen through Husserl’s notions of noema and noesis, that a being has n variations
of sensations, however, in this mental act one produces the other and at the same time it
affects the production of the former, “as a spectator I experience the sensation only by
entering the painting, by reaching the unity of the sensing and sensed” (Ibid.: 35). And,
we are raising again the same question: what kind of intensity does this sensation have to
have or to be to accommodate the object and the subject (the sensing and sensed) at the
same time? Does it have it at all? The response to this question is very complex and not
accurate in the sense that when we say that I become in the sensation, merging with it,
something is emerged in me that activates also perceptions, emotions, and memories
while something happens through the sensation is an effect of the components that
merged within one’s being to produce a new state of being for this sensation and through
its effect one can assume its intensity. Bergson defines it as ‘quantitative’ and
‘qualitative’ (Pogson, Bergson, 2001: VII) multiplicity of the intensity of sensation,
meaning that every sensation has its own quality that affects a being and it is through its
quantity (degree of intensity for a sensation), one can assume or at least define the
intensity of its effect, yet it is not always possible. For example, Swann’s sensation of
taste though a cup of tea emphasizes that by becoming one with the taste of the madeleine
itself, he intensively sensed his forgotten past memories and sensations that
accommodated this memory and that now this sensation constrains him in allowing
something new to happen for himself: “the intensity of a sensation bears witness to a
more or less considerable work accomplished in our organism; but it is the sensation
which is given to us in consciousness, and not this mechanical work” (Pogson, Bergson,
2015: 6-7). Effectively, what becomes its quantitative effect of intensity is the vast
recollection of images that lies on its quality, recollection of images which remind him of
his childhood.
Furthermore, when we raise the question of how should we know what triggers
our sensations remains partially unresolved. Why partially? Because one using memory
or imagination can connect some triggers for oneself thus activating some sensations,
however they will not be the same sensations as the triggers one may face in real time
and space. For example, the fear of something can accommodate some sensations for a
being while in reality it can evolve completely different sensations that have not been
predicted by that being in advance. Therefore, the question remains: what can become a
trigger for sensations? Even when we consider some common triggers that a being can
face such as sorrow, anxiety, and others, it will always remain as unresolved because
each being’s response to such triggers will be different and will evolve a complex of
other sensuous faculties, thus different sensations.
Bacon declares that sensation in itself can carry many levels and sequences. What
does he mean by the levels of sensation? We can say that his argument arises from his
occupation, painter, where he demonstrates it in his work through relationships: between
spectator and the painting, between painting’s form and its representations. Bacon says
that the nature of sensation has its own ‘level,’ and ‘order’ that cannot escape the body,
and it is constantly shifting from one ‘area’ of the body to another, from one ‘level’ to
another, and that is why we can see how his work constantly faces deformations, as if
different levels of sensation trigger different parts in one’s being. According to Bacon, in
his works he attempted to eliminate the ‘sensational,’ yet what becomes obvious is that
most of his works provoke sensations. Deleuze analyses Bacon’s work The Screaming
Pope (1953), declaring that Bacon’s idea was to paint “scream more than the horror,” yet
it evokes in viewer more horror than a scream. As he puts it,
When he paint the screaming Pope, there is nothing that might cause horror, and the curtain
in front of the Pope is not only a way of isolating him, of shielding him from view; it is
rather the way in which the Pope himself sees nothing, and screams before the invisible.
Thus neutralized, the horror is multiplied because it is inferred from the scream and not the
reverse.6
What follows is that multiplied horror evokes another level of sensation on the one hand,
and on the other hand, the Pope’s scream evokes a sensation of not only himself but also
the viewer. We can add that levels of sensation arose in the painting through its figure
and its representation, yet what kind of sensations arose from viewers can be questioned
as we already noticed that intentionality of the painter was more beyond of what he
painted on one level, while on the other level, each viewer will have different sensations
in front of painting.
Moreover, Hazrat Inayat Khan declares that other realms of sensation exist,
naming it as ‘exaltation’ as a supreme connection of all sensations within one’s being
towards a Oneness of life itself, hence dissolving one’s being in Oneness. He explains it
as following, “There is a difference between sensation and exaltation, but when we come
to words, there is always confusion. One can say that exaltation is the fusion of all
sensation; but if one says that through sensation is exaltation, it is true also” (Inayat
Khan, 2002: 65). He declares that it is through exaltation where a being can experience
life fully, and that it is mostly experienced by mystics, yet by others as well but they
could not distinguish it from sensations. So we have been asked what the exaltation
experience alike? He puts it,
There is a physical aspect of exaltation which comes as a reaction or result of having seen
the immensity of space, having looked at the wide horizon, or having seen the clear sky,
the moonlight night, (….) looking at the world from the top of the mountain, all these
experiences, even such an experience as watching the little smiles of an innocent infant,
these experiences lift you up and give you a feeling which you cannot call sensation. It is
exaltation.7
We can say that it is a metaphysical part of sensation that unites in itself other sensations,
yet leaves space for new states of being to arise. Also we can add that what he names as
exaltation can be considered as a being’s experience in the Now, in the present moment,
absorbed within oneself one becomes awakened toward life and all that surrounds them.
Yet, what becomes the foundation of the exaltation is ‘silence: phenomenon of space’ (it
will become clearer in the section 2.5), however, sensation attempts to block this path for
exaltation that passes through one’s intuition. And why is that? Because the nature of
intuition is ungraspable on the one hand, and on the other hand, sensation has its own
effects where a being can lie upon through feelings and reasoning while intuition as a
primal instinct that has been granted for each being from its birth, lies on ‘pure knowing’
without any evidence in advance, and thus, it has not been used or trusted by beings as it
were done with sensation.
2.4 PERCEPTION OF THE WORLD THROUGH INTUITION
Jung defines intuition as a psychological function that “mediates perceptions in an
unconscious way” (Baynes, Jung, 1971: 431). Depending on its subject, it can appear as a
sensation or feeling, yet it has its own nature where by itself it is complete and has its
own right of knowing without any proof; “a content presents itself whole and complete,
without our being able to explain or discover how this content came into existence”
(Ibid.: 431). Intuition acts as a realm of one’s conscious state in which it guides a being to
receive knowledge from higher realms by turning oneself inward, and through received
knowledge one is able better integrate into the outside world. However, we should add
that in spite of being granted to each being, intuition is not highly developed in each
being as it requires some effort to be trusted. Inayat Khan refers to a few steps that he
considers as a path to activate and develop this function. As he puts it,
Real intuition is to be found in the depth of one’s being. In the first place one must learn to
believe in the existence of such a thing as intuition. The next thing is to be able to follow
one’s intuition, even at the cost of something valuable; even if one were deceived for some
times one will not continually be deceived. Therefore one will find oneself on the right
path. But the third thing is to make one’s mind one-pointed, by the help of concentration
would permit man to perceive the intuition properly.8
What follows is that a being is not able to trust or develop this function because of many
reasons such as concentration, ability to recognise what is dictated by intuition, and what
is dictated by the mind “as the conscious sense function, it offers the greatest obstacle to
intuition” (Baynes, Jung, 1971: 352) and thus, a being either forfeits putting in any efforts
or ignores it all together. It is known that most of the animals feel comings of danger
through their instinct and intuition, which is the same for beings, however a being is not
attentive to this function that guides oneself to their higher achievements. This can be
explained through a being’s search for security in the world where one is able to touch,
feel or grasp something that will ground themselves and also where one can obtain
materialized form. However, a guide to go beyond oneself passes through intuition. Jung
declares that, “the intuitive function is represented in consciousness by attitude of
expectancy, by vision and penetration; but only from the subsequent result can it be
established how much of what was ‘seen’ was actually in the object, and how much was
‘read into’ it” (Ibid.: 352), emphasizing that its through its affect or result where one
attempts to evaluate its quality and functionality. In the process of recognizing one’s
intuition mind, ego, and other influences participate, thus range off interrogations that
intervene to hear one’s inner voice – the voice of intuition. As E.E. Cummings declares,
“To be nobody-but-yourself – in a world which is doing its best, night and day, to make
you everybody else – means to fight the hardest battle which any human being can fight;
and never stop fighting” (Firmage, Cummings, 2018: 363). Thus, emphasizing not
easiness of the path of becoming yourself, and also encouraging oneself to not give up on
this path.
The importance of intuition in our work arises from its functionality that acts as a
guideline that activates the higher consciousness of being. It is through intuition’s
guideline where one opens in oneself new states of being. It is immediate knowledge of
the unknown that requires no evidence, yet if one is allowing and accepting of that
knowledge or trusting it then one is guided to another realm of perception that, in itself,
guides to another discovery of oneself. Many teachings relate intuition as a language of
heart that has supreme understanding of all that it is. It is also known that women are
more intuitive than men and this was linked to the idea of woman’s nature of giving birth
and through intuition she is able to communicate with a child. However, we should add
that each individual has within oneself two parts male and female, yang and yin, animus
and anima, that represent female and male forces and through their voices one becomes
complete. And it is one’s female part that fulfils intuitive functionality of oneself. For
example, in tarot cards, the first and the second cards of Major Arcana stand for female
and male representation. The first is the Magician that represents “man’s will in union
with the Divine achieving the knowledge and power to bring desired things into
manifestation through conscious self-awareness” (Gray, 1970: 16). The second is the
High Priestess who is a representation of the eternal feminine, ‘spiritual enlightenment,’
‘inner illumination’ intuitive part of oneself. In the card, she is seated between two pillars
of the Temple of Solomon: “they contain the key to the entire Bible and to the whole
order of Nature, and as emblems of the two great principles that the pillars of the
universe, they fitly stood at the threshold of that temple which was designed to symbolise
all the mysteries of Being…” (Gray,1970: 19), emphasizing that it’s through one’s
feminine part where one is able to enter the highest realms of oneself, into one’s inner
temple that in itself goes through intuition “whereas the Magician represent only the
potentiality, the will, to create, the High Priestess has the latent power to manifest. She is
the link between the seen and the unseen” (Gray, 1970: 20). Both cards complement each
other for achieving higher realms of oneself and manifesting them in an Earthly realm.
Another example can be seen in Dante’s epic poem Divine Comedy (1472), in which we
can say that Beatrice is representing his feminine part and intuition that guides him
throughout the Inferno, Purgatorio and Paradiso to achieve the highest realms of oneself
in which for Dante it represented soul’s merging with God. As he puts it,
O Light Eterne, sole in thyself that dwellest,

Sole knowest thyself, and, known unto thyself
And knowing, lovest and smilest on thyself!
That circulation, which being thus conceived

Appeared in thee as a reflected light,
When somewhat contemplated by mine eyes,
Within itself, of its own very colour

Seemed to me painted with our effigy,
Wherefore my sight was all absorbed therein. 9
What follows is that intuition is a domain that opens a being to start its journey for higher
consciousness, for activating one’s new states of being, and thus allowing a being to lead
conscious life and to be open for conscious growth. It is also an important component for
our work, in the sense that it is representing a beginning of being’s journey towards
‘silence: a phenomenon of space.’ Thus, we have accomplished elements that were
important for our hypothesis and now we can compose them together and attempt to turn
our hypothesis into a theory of silence.
2.5 A THEORY OF SILENCE: ‘SILENCE: A PHENOMENON OF SPACE’
We have made a long journey in order to establish the necessary elements for ‘a silence:
phenomenon of space’ to occur. Now we can try to answer questions that we imposed at
the beginning of the first two chapters. So we have started our journey claiming that in
order for ‘silence: a phenomenon of space’ to occur, there is the necessity of one side to
be occupied by a being, yet we have noted that a being should have some qualities that
are important for a phenomenon to occur. And at the end of the second chapter we
brought together different components that represent a being’s qualities that will assist a
being to move on toward this direction. So throughout our analyses it became clear that
the most important element for a being is one’s awareness and attentiveness towards life.
And a being’s attentiveness and looking for something beyond oneself starts with one’s
understanding of finiteness of oneself in a physical world and unlimitedness of
possibilities that arise within oneself towards life itself. And now a being turns its
attention inward, thus inward becoming starts. In this path, the being is guided through
intuition as a supportive element and by other sensuous faculties that play the flexible
game as supporter or deceiver regarding one one’s step. For example, ego can become an
obstacle while the unconscious (through therapy) can support a being, or the mind can
perplex the being while the body can act as a supporter, thus in each step towards
‘silence: a phenomenon of space,’ different forces occur, creating obstacles for the being
in clearing one’s mind, body, and purifying that being’s perceptions for the next step.
However, it should be noted that what can be considered as an obstacle from the being’s
side is just a new conundrum that has its key within a being and it is waiting for it’s time
to be noticed by a being in order to continue a path but a being can end its search or
continue to put effort and move into further discoveries. These steps are important in the
sense of checking the being’s desire to give up or move further. By moving further, one is
allowed to gain access to higher realms through the activation and strengthening of their
senses, perceptions, and by initiating the body’s consciousness while also bringing them
into a balance, a degree of functionalities that has the same level of perception. It means
that a being should attempt to balance the body’s perception on the same degree as an
awareness of consciousness or vice versa, depending on the being’s need of the faculty to
be balanced and hence to be applied to all other faculties. The most important note is that
a being should attempt to balance each element within of oneself in each moment of
one’s becoming, meaning that constantly in a present moment a being attempts to balance
these elements. Henceforth, we have proposed earlier in both chapters different practical
methods for different systems that will allow a being to obtain and develop them. All
these components allow the being to evolve in both directions: inward and outward. And
now the being becomes aware of inner and outer space, inner and outer dimension,
presence, and absence of time.
We should note that all degrees of becomings for a being are accompanied
through relation to notions in which a phenomenon of space occurs – silence. Thus,
whatever direction a being is turned, one is creating ‘a phenomenon of space – silence’
through relation to. We should note that throughout history as we shown earlier, silence
was accepted differently and thus a new vertical notion declares that silence is itself a
space, a phenomenal space where each time opens itself for a being to experience
something new. Yet, the reference to silence has been focused on a different direction
where its depth and its spatialness had not been noticed. It is the same moment when
Osho declares that between exhale and inhale exists a short moment of absence of breath
that becomes noticeable if one’s energy (kundalini)x is awakened; “this is the moment –
when breathing stops half-way between inhalation and exhalation – when you are in a
state of utter balance, when you are in ecstasy or samadhi. In this moment you know
existence – not life” (Osho, 1970: 154). It is the same case when one is awakened
towards life and are able to access this space, a phenomenal space that is covered by the
x
The space where the life force is stored is like a kunda, a pool near the sex center; that is why the energy is known as
kundalini, as if it is a kunda or pool of water. Another reason it is called kundalini is that it looks like a snake coiled
and sleeping. If you have seen a sleeping serpent you know how it lies in coils with its hood on top. But if you disturb
the sleeping serpent it will wake up, uncoil and raise its hood up. This energy is called kundalini also because the pool
of life-force, or the seed of life is precisely located near the sex center and it is from here that life expands in all
directions (Osho, 1970: 8).
horizontal notion silence. At this step, one is totally merged with silence and becomes
silence itself, a phenomenon of space that opens being into n possibility of experiences
that embody this space, thus allowing a being to discover new states of being within
oneself and preserve it, the Universal Mind, and Cosmic Consciousness. However, we
should note that merging with silence and becoming silence itself can lead us to presume
that it is an experience of Śūnyatā (emptiness, void), yet it is also not because an
emptiness attempts to mirror back each experience without preserving it on the one hand,
and on the other hand it dissolves the notion of relation to as everything is mirroring
back. While ‘silence: a phenomenon of space’ is space that appears and disappears
according to a being’s ability to be silence and merge with it in both directions inwardly
and outwardly while balancing all components of oneself and through relation to
stepping into one’s new states of being and each time, it transcends one’s current state
and preserves it. And each time when ‘a phenomenon of space – silence’ occurs, the
existence of time is dissolved in the being’s state, giving its space to reveal new
dimensions or to access new dimensions within oneself while one’s physical body is
embodied in time and space reality. In this connection, being is emptied with
recollections and with modes of affections, yet the body’s consciousness is in its higher
realms, and the mind is embodied in the Now in the present moment and ‘silence:
phenomenon of space’ simultaneously collects many experiences. Thus, ‘silence: a
phenomenon of space’ allows a being to become in the relation to holographic universe
either through oneself or through each experience that one goes through. And now each
experience turns itself into a dialogue of ‘I- Thou,’ that in itself is experienced differently
in a new way. The more one practices on oneself in one’s qualities, components to merge
with ‘silence: a phenomenon of space’ and to enter into this space, the more possibilities
open to enter into this space and experience oneself in many states simultaneously, thus
activating higher consciousness and new states in being.
In the third chapter we will discuss artists’ work that allow us to analyse ‘silence:
a phenomenon of space’ in a practical way and to see the possibilities of works that allow
oneself to enter into this space. We will see the functionality of our hypothesis and how it
can be claimed as a theory of silence.

SPACE’ THROUGH ARTISTS’ WORK
In the third chapter, we will discuss artists’ work that creates space for ‘silence: a
phenomenon of space’ to occur, and for its allowance to enter this space and experience
new states in a being. We will also present selected works to discuss how they connect to
our constructed theory as well as the importance of previously discussed elements to
construct the external structure of our theory, allowing it to function. Through the artists’
work, we will show that one is able to merge with ‘silence: a phenomenon of space’ in a
given time and space, in the sense that external circumstances are adapted for it if one is
internally balanced and ready for it, thus the platform is open to merge and experience
new states of one’s being. Practical examples will allow our hypothesis to become a
theory by declaring its functionality, thus becoming a new horizontal notion, a theory of
silence – ‘silence: a phenomenon of space.’
3.1 ART IS A LANGUAGE OF THE SOUL
Art is a language of the soul. Each soul in itself is unique and gifted by a unique voice
that can be heard if one decides to pursuit it. Thus, it can be considered as one of the
main reasons why the greatest work touches one’s being so profoundly; it passes from
one soul to another; it is a dialogue of souls, beyond one’s understanding. It is in a sense
that in the creation of an artwork, participates soul’s direct intervention by using the artist
as the tool for artist’s tools. What becomes a transcendence for a being is an intensive
mark of an experience in a being through different faculties of perception. Bachelard
declared that for the phenomenologist Minkowski’s philosophy of the essence of life was
participation in it: “the essence of life is not ‘a feeling of being, of existence,’ but a
feeling of participation in a flowing onward, necessarily expressed in terms of time, and
secondarily expressed in terms of space” (Jolas, Bachelard, 1994: XVI), emphasizing the
importance of experience for a being in the present moment which is framed through a
time and space reality. Participation in life is a give-and-take process which opens beings
to experience an experience. Every being is contributing to experience an experience to
some extent, and in the work we look at experiencing experience through art, as art offers
it to a being in a profound way on the one hand, and on the other hand it elaborates the
multiplicity of experiences. And through the experience of art, we will analyse our theory
of silence, ‘silence: a phenomenon of space.’ However, we should note that everything in
life allows beings to experience ‘silence: a phenomenon of space,’ yet not everyone is
able to experience it in one’s everydayness because of many reasons such as distractions,
determination, or inability to balance one’s inner states and many others that we have
mentioned throughout this work. This, however, is granted to those who are mindful of
themselves and all that surrounds them.
In the first chapter, (section 1.3.1, 1.3.5) we had mentioned that if a being is in
relation to something then the other side is in relation with something. We also declared
the importance of relation to for a being and the non-importance of relation with, yet we
will maintain that the necessity of relation with is to participate as a passive presence in a
physical or non-physical reality, which allows a being in any given time and space reality
to be open to this space ‘silence: a phenomenon of space’ and to gain experiences.
However, what becomes more of an obstacle are the conditions, external and internal. For
example, one is able to enter into ‘silence: a phenomenon of space’ by interacting with
oneself, a book, food, a bird, the ground or anything that exists in life yet this happens on
rare occasions but ‘silence: a phenomenon of space’ can happen to a being by interacting
with art because of its condition, even if the internal conditions of the being are not
balanced in a way to experience new states of one’s being, external conditions force
one’s being to gain this experience at more intense levels than without these conditions,
thus the possibility of entering into a realm of ‘silence: phenomenon of space’ is higher
when it is registered under such conditions. In a while it will be clearer what conditions
we mean and why they are important. Yet we should note and remind ourselves again
that the nature of one’s being is an important component as there are few beings who
have achieved this highest consciousness in life, time, and space through one-to-one
interaction with all that it is without relying on external conditions and even we can
assume the probability of opening this space – ‘silence: a phenomenon of space’ without
of its acknowledgement. It is also important to highlight the consistency of the stratum of
interactions that are multiple in themselves along with what they offer to a being, thus the
activation of the states of being goes through multiple experiences. What we mean is that
there is interaction between the artist and their artwork, between the artwork and viewer
that consists of multiple combinations of experiences that have been preserved and
offered to a being to re-preserve and re-create again hence, to activate new states of one’s
being and that each of them is accompanied with ‘silence: a phenomenon of space.’ As
Deleuze puts it: “I make, remake and unmake my concepts along a moving horizon, from
an always decentred centre, from an always displaced periphery which repeats and
differentiates them” (Patton, Deleuze, 1994: XXI), empathizing other aspects of
experience in terms of repetition and the re-creation of new layers, thus new states of
being.
In this chapter, we will focus on concert, theatrical pieces, and installation that
have been conditioned in some time and space frame thus forcing a being to enter into
‘silence: a phenomenon of space.’ Our focus on conditioned factors means that it has its
data by relying on time and space realities in a physical world that creates a platform for
each being to experience something new in oneself, thus to enter ‘silence: a phenomenon
of space.’ There are other conditions that are involved in the creation and viewing of
artwork, or anything that one chooses to do or to act, yet this is not our focus on this
work. We can declare that our attention tends to focus towards the collectively perceived
yet, individually approached, work rather than an individually perceived, which will be
explained shortly.
Furthermore, a question raises itself such as why do not we use cinema in this
work as it is also a collectively perceived work? The hint comes from a completely new
direction: cultural norms dictate behavioural tones for the presentation of artwork. This
means that people are freer to leave the cinema hall in any given time and space reality
when they are not satisfied with the film, while in theatre and concerts people most often
wait until the break to leave, yet we do not exclude those who leave the theatre or
concerts during the performance, yet that action lies on the base of one’s free will which
happens on a rare occasion. As Elias Canetti puts it, “The immobility of the audience is
as much part of the conductor’s design as the obedience of orchestra. They are under a
compulsion to keep still. Until he appears, they move about and talk freely among
themselves” (Roesner & Lagao, Goebbels, 2015: 3). Our concern here is to examine
works that allow oneself to enter into ‘silence: a phenomenon of space,’ that have been
presented under some conditions. And these conditions can be considered as limitations
as well as unlimitation (extension) for oneself for ‘silence: a phenomenon of space’ to
occur.
A limitation can be seen as internal as well as external factors that conditioned a
being for this experience, such as a time and space orientation or an inability to open this
space within oneself for a more profound experience, or disinterestedness of the
perceived work and many others, while what turns to be unlimitation (extension) is one’s
ability to merge with the perceived work, ability to open this space within oneself for a
more profound experience. Moreover, perception of the work has been conditioned by
external factors such as behavioural tones, thus the inability to leave now forces oneself
to turn within oneself in a given time and space reality to experience something new, thus
making it unlimitation (extension) for oneself while before it could only be perceived as a
limitation “O my soul, do not aspire to immortal life, but exhaust the limits of the
possible (O’Brien, Pindar, 1991: 2). This declares the importance of given conditions to
turn for one’s ability to perceive new states of being, thus we can again emphasize the
above mentioned notes that one is able to be open to ‘silence: a phenomenon of space’ in
any given moment and circumstances yet not everyone is able to achieve it. And what
becomes interestedness and disinterestedness is also conditioned as one is not aware of
what kind of work one will face at the concert or theatre; the predictability of the
experience is unpredictable and it is through orientation data (time and space) where can
one become aware of it, thus turning it into a limitation or unlimitation (extension) for
oneself.
3.2 MUSIC
Furthermore, the most profound experiences that can be offered to a being are through
music. Why is that? Because sound has direct access to many states of one’s being
without requesting permission from that being. It penetrates directly to the soul and body,
gaining access to many states of one’s being, for example into the unconscious, while in
real time, it is mostly possible to gain access to this state through assistance, e.g. therapy.
As Cage puts it,
A sound does not view itself as thought, as ought, as needing another sound for its
elucidation, as etc.; it has no time for any consideration – it is occupied with the
performance of its characteristics: before it has died away it must have made perfectly
exact its frequency, its loudness, its length, its overtone structure, the precise morphology
of these and of itself.1
Cage emphasizes the autonomy of sound to act by its own consideration. And what
contains this consideration one can say is not only its characteristics but also its quality
that resides in vibrations: “every motion that springs forth from this silence life xi is a
vibration and a creator of vibrations” (Inayat Khan, 2004: 15), thus the condensation and
junction of vibrations materialize in matter, and what differentiates one matter from
another is its tone and rhythm. Through its tone, rhythm, and harmony one is
experiencing sound and music. For example, according to Vedas, a sacred religious text,
everything started from a sound of OM/AUM, the sound of all that existed, exists and
will exist, it is all within Aum; “Aum, the word, is all this. As all diversified objects that
we see around us, indicated by names, are not different from their (corresponding) names,
and further as the different names are not different from Aum, therefore all this is verily
Aum” (Nikhilananda, 1949: 10), emphasizing that external perceptions can be different,
yet internally all is from the sound Aum that, in itself, is a vibration. Thus, sound acts as a
primordial element of all that it is; this could also explain why sound healing has become
more effective than any other therapy methods. For example, in the University of
xi
The Life Absolute from which has sprung all that is felt, seen, and perceived, and into which all again merges in time,
is a silent, motionless and eternal life which among the Sufis is called Zat. Every motion that springs forth from this
silent life is a vibration and a creator of vibrations. Within one vibration are created many vibrations; as motion causes
motion so the silent life becomes active in a certain part, and creates every moment more and more activity, losing
thereby the peace of the original silent life (Inayat Khan, 2004: 15).
California, an observational study was done on the effects of sound meditation for beings
through Tibetan singing bowl meditation. In the experiment, women and men at the
average of years 49 participated and showed effective results:
As compared with pre-meditation, following the sound meditation participants reported

significantly less tension, anger, fatigue and depressed mood. Additionally, participants
who were previously naïve to this type of meditation experienced a significantly greater
reduction in tension compared with participants experienced in this meditation. Feeling of
spiritual well-being significantly increased across all participants. 2
What follows is that sound always affects and penetrates one’s being, changing the
being’s structure internally and externally, meaning bodily, emotionally, sensually or
through many other perceptions, yet what is important for our work is our awareness of it
in order to reveal how one can consciously use this knowledge for experiencing ‘silence:
a phenomenon of space.
In 2019, February 21st, Lubomyr Melnyk, composer and pianist, held a concert in
Prague (Palace Akropolis). By popular demand, they held two concerts in one day: one
during the day and one in the evening. He audio recorded the day performance which was
played in the second performance simultaneously, the night performance. As he declared
that he mostly plays solo pianos, he said that he would now add in some work day’s solo
piece to the evening thus, as if playing in two pianos. Recorded during the day, a musical
piece called Butterfly was accompanied with the live playing of the same piece thus a
difference of multiplicity condensed in different temporality was created and in turn it
was offered oneself to gain access and to recreate itself once more for another
temporality. Conditioned by time and space, one is facing an experience of a concert
where the platform is providing a being to experience new states of one’s being
simultaneously through ‘silence: a phenomenon of space’ in the multitude of the work.
What we mean is that when it was recorded, the pianist was in a different mode, had
different feelings, and was in a different condition of himself, in a different temporality
thus his affection of the work was different hence his reflection for viewers to be affected
by it also was different, so to say, the work was reflecting on the state of him while he
was playing, where in the evening he was in a different state, mode or feelings which
produced different affects for himself while he was playing and for the viewers as well,
thus one modality of work was preserved while the other was offered live. Thus, the two
modalities were offered to a being to experience, and through ‘silence: a phenomenon of
space,’ one was able to perceive it profoundly as one work and activate a new state of
one’s being and preserve it or as a multiplicity that activates different states in one’s
being simultaneously. These experiences can be multiplied with other chamber or
symphonic orchestras or jazz bands in which each instrument can offer different
experiences to a being as well as their combinations together. By choosing one
instrument, we have attempted to simplify and clarify the concept in itself so beings
could apply it on their own.
3.3 THEATRE
Furthermore, music is only half of the story when we are facing theatre. Throughout
history, theatre has changed a lot. What theatre is now can be considered a new medium
that creates and recreates itself throughout the years. Its recreation happens in many
directions, involving other mediums to interact and collaborate with it. Thus, what theatre
has become today cannot be answered. However, we can take a look at how theatre is in a
state of constant becoming thus also offering new experiences for beings. For example,
we are aware of Shakespeare’s stories of Hamlet, Macbeth or Romeo & Juliet, and how
actors should act, which words they should utter, or how it will end, that is to say we can
anticipate what we will see on stage, yet we still go to see these plays. The reasons are
diverse, but our concern is only on the direction of experience that the work is offering,
so to say in these plays we will experience something new, without any doubt, but
compared to the work that we do not know the intensity of an experience will be lower,
thus the unpredictability of the work increases the intensity of an experience. Therefore,
what can be called as a becoming of theatre is its capture of unknown territories through
different mediums as they offer new experiences for beings as one is not able to predict
what kind of mediums will be used in the work and what it will be evoked in one’s being.
As Artaud declares, “In the anguished, catastrophic times we live in, we feel an urgent
need for theatre that is not overshadowed by events, but arouses deep echoes within us
and predominates over our unsettled period” (Corti, Artaud, 2010: 60), emphasizing the
necessity of the theatre to recreate itself for more profound experiences that will dissolve
the time and space reality within oneself.
Furthermore, we should note that there can be a certain predictability in the work
itself, depending on the director. What we mean is that by regarding a director’s nature,
some components in the work can direct our experience’s direction. For example, Heiner
Goebbels, a composer and director, would more likely direct our experience towards
music as a starting point for that experience while Min Tanaka, a dancer who sometimes
directs and when he does direct, he would likely direct our experience on the body’s
language; and last, Pieter De Buysser, a writer and director, may direct his audience more
on language. Therefore, we can predict the materials (body, music, language and etc.) of
the experience but not the experience itself. Yet what follows is that regarding a
directors’ nature and their theatre focus grows new branches and stands for itself as
musical theatre, physical theatre, political theatre, documentary theatre and etc., “the
artist is the origin of the work. The work is the origin of the artist. Neither is without the
other” (Young & Haynes, Heidegger, 2002: 1) thus, evolving new territories for theatre.
Furthermore, conditioned by time and space collectively, perception starts, that is to say
that each being is now forced to gain new experience through the theatre’s constant
becoming that in itself is less predictable. Thus, it is only through one’s own effort where
one can gain access within themselves into ‘silence: a phenomenon of space’ and towards
artworks for higher experiences.
In 2017, June 19th, Min Tanaka presented his new work A Body (Min Tanaka &
Co) in Prague (Divadlo Archa), a collaborative work with Czech and European dancers in
which he combined professional dancers with amateurs. The collective was built mostly
from female performers beside himself and a young boy (who performed only at the end
of the performance). We could predict in advanced that the work’s direction, meaning the
body as a main material, would direct our experience. And if we remind ourselves of
Tanaka’s words, “I am just dancer. Dance cannot belong to individual. I want to be
‘dance’ itself which is non named” (Tanakaxii), we can notice that the dancer, Tanaka, in
himself wanted to offer an experience of performance as itself instead of just a
performance. Thus, it follows that his works attempt to offer profound experiences for
viewers as well as for performers in the space and time reality simultaneously. As he puts
it,
All my tools and instruments are inside my body. Materials of my materials are also there.
My work, when finished, leaves nothing behind. To let dance arise between one body and
another – nothing more nor less. And I am currently looking for the only place that
accommodates this act inside the body. Nothing has changed, but everything has changed. I
stay with ever-changing life, and I will leave nothing behind.3
xii
Min Tanaka official website, epigraph of the website, http://www.min-tanaka.com.
Through Tanaka’s emphasis, we can see that in his work A Body on the one hand, he was
offering an experience of the body as a tool, instrument, or material that one can
experience new states of oneself through separate material as a body, or A Body as a
whole work. And for each states of one’s being ‘silence: a phenomenon of space’ can
accommodate oneself to experience and preserve it. On the other hand by working with
female performers he was focused on political aspects, that ‘women have always been
and are victims in wars,’ (Tanaka, Archa Theatre) and through the body’s movement, one
can offer what happened to these bodies throughout years, thus the history of humanity in
a reflection of the body.
Figure 3. A Body (2017), Jakub Hrab/Archa Theatre.

Figure 4. A Body (2017), Jakub Hrab/Archa Theatre.
What follows is that the body occupies the main space in theatre, which raises another
question of what kind of experience theatre can offer in the absence of the body? Can it
be possible? And, what would theatre look like in the absence of the body? Would it
emphasize the necessity of the body in the theatre or could theatre function without the
body? The answers to these questions can be found in the work of Heiner Goebbels who
attempts to create theatre as a ‘thing in itself’ (Roesner & Lagao, Goebbels,2015: 2), in
which representation and statement is offered to spectators to create theatre on their own,
meaning that spectators are engaged in the creation of experience rather than gaining
knowledge of a representation; ‘the spectator is involved in a drama of experience rather
than looking at a drama event (Ibid.: 2) thus, engagement of the spectator in the work
itself allows oneself to experience new states of one’s being in both levels as a viewer
and as a performer simultaneously. Simply, the question of absence turns itself into the
presence and absence of the performer at the same time regarding the point in which one
is standing. For example, Goebbels’s work, Stifters Dinge/Stifter’s Things (2007), ‘no-
man show’ (Ibid.: 5) puts the responsibility of creating the work on the spectators in the
time and space reality. Elements of the work are presented through music, light, five
pianos, stones, rain, voices and etc., which are on the stage and waiting for their stories to
be told by spectators, and each spectator is responsible for themselves to create a story.
As Goebbels’s puts it,
When there isn’t anyone on stage any longer, though, to assume the responsibility of
presenting and representing, when nothing is being shown, then the spectators must
discover things themselves. The audience’s delight in making discoveries is enabled only
by the absence of the performers, who usually artfully fulfil the task of demonstrating and
focus the audience’s attention on themselves. Only their absence creates the gap, which
renders this freedom and pleasure possible.4
What we notice is that Goebbels attempts to create an external space for ‘silence: a
phenomenon of space’ to occur, yet by using different tools and mediums, we can declare
that it is another approach or path that attempts to lead oneself towards one’s inner
discoveries for activating new states in one’s being through ‘silence: a phenomenon of
space. For example, each element invites a being to experience an element in itself and at
the same time through that element to gain access to one’s own experience that is built by
oneself, And through ‘silence: a phenomenon of space,’ one is allowed to gain each
offered experience more profoundly and at the same time, creating an experience of an
experience. As we showed before, that conditions are forcing one’s being to enter this
space, yet there is a necessity for a being to be balanced in order to be able to open this
space and experience it.

Figure 5. Stifters Dinge/Stifter’s Things (2007), Wonge Bergmann/Ruhrtriennale.
Figure 6. Stifters Dinge/Stifter’s Things (2007), Wonge Bergmann/Ruhrtriennale.

Moreover, though his approach to theatre, we can say that the necessity of a body
and performers can not become a mandatory element for the theatrical work because
elements become guides for spectators as performers in their own created experiences. It
is also shows that what is always considered as supportive elements in theatre can now
act as elements in themselves that correlate with other elements and stand by their own.
And each element offers a being new experiences that can be activated and created only
through one’s own effort and structure that one chooses to perform, and its mediator
becomes relation to where one constructs these experiences and preserves through
‘silence: a phenomenon of space’ simultaneously. Thus what becomes of theatre is a
constant becoming that integrates other mediums and occupies new territories by
expanding theatre’s boundaries and also the being’s experiences in the context of theatre.
Furthermore, another example that can be looked at is Lea Petrikova’s (visual
artist, researcher, filmmaker) installation Představení/Performance (2015). The work
consists of several chairs that are located near the shore of a lake. One by one, each being
enters to the space and sits to observe the lake. The work is only nine minutes, yet it
accommodates no time in itself. It takes three minute in the beginning for everyone to
take their place and five minutes is a pure observation of the lake. Conditioned by time
and space, beings have to accept, collectively perceive, and go into this experience, and
through ‘silence: a phenomenon of space’ one is open to gain the profound experiences
that these conditions are offering. Recorded as a video installation, this work calls others
to experience the work on two levels: one as viewer of the video, and the other is as a
participant in this video, thus through relation to, we gain access into ‘silence: a
phenomenon of space’ with nature, with video itself. Conditioned by a time and space
work, offers oneself to dissolve notions of time and space and dive into ‘silence: a
phenomenon of space’ for new states of one’s being. Thus we can say that conditional
factors always act as external factors that force one being into discoveries of inner
dimensions. Petrikova declares that the work had its influence from Cage’s 4’33’’ (1952),
four minutes and thirty-three seconds of silence, in which Cage thematized not only
silence of himself but also the audience, thus her performance carried a similar idea
where silence was created in the process of shooting and also in the process of watching
it as a participant and as a viewer (Baba, 2017). What we see is that the work’s
multiplicity allows oneself to explore territories of ‘silence: a phenomenon of space,’
through relation to oneself, to the nature, and to others who are participating in this work.
Multiplicity also allows for beings to experience new states of one’s being
simultaneously.
Figure 7. Představení/Performance (2015), Lea Petrikova.

Figure 8. Představení/Performance (2015), Lea Petrikova.
Throughout this chapter, we have attempted to show that art is a powerful tool
that allows one to experience new states of one’s being, we also showed that in a
contemporary world, conditions play an important role as it forces oneself to move
towards experience, thus what can be seen as a limitation can be turned into new
experiences. In this chapter we presented a few pieces as possibilities of the platform in
which one could experience ‘silence: a phenomenon of space’ in a current time and space
reality. Yet, we declared several times throughout this work that external conditions are
only part of the story in which the main story starts from one’s inner world which is one’s
own attempt to activate it in oneself for higher consciousness, and hence, gain new
experiences that allow oneself to access higher dimensions and states within oneself.
Artworks in themselves can give us more profound experience than written texts about
them, thus we focused on a few examples to show our theory in a practical application.
Therefore, there are a lot of artworks and artists who offer different works for an
experience, yet our purpose in this work has been focused more on a theory yet for the
theory’s functionality it aimed to show few works in order to simplify and minimize our
theory’s function and by simplifying work’s details we attempted to show as one of many
possibilities that can be offered for a being as one is less able to talk about experience
because each being is responsible for oneself to open one’s own experience that it is
unique and valid for one being’s time and space reality. We have also shown that
conditions as time and space are only external factors for a physical world, yet their
necessity disappears in the platform in which one experiences new states of one’s being
through relation to oneself and to the presented work. The present moment disappears in
the presence of one’s being and thus the entrance of eternal space and time starts to exist
and it is offered to a being to be experienced. And this path which one is driven now is
only of n possibilities that is offered to a being. Henceforth, Life is calling a being from
everywhere yet one needs to be open and allow it to speak its profound language,
From birth to death I am a becoming –

Where is me – there is me not –
Merged within silence I descend into universes –
Now the whole life is love and it speaks: silence –
And where I am – there is silence now.5
CONCLUSION
The purpose of this work is to show that what has been known as silence has
been a vertical notion which has became a horizontal notion by its functionality and
usage. We have shown that throughout history, the subject of silence has been viewed
and analysed differently, yet our goal for not going deeper with analyses of those who
became known for this interpretation was on purpose. We wanted to dedicate more space
for a new vertical notion rather than on past analyses in this field. We have attempted to
create something new that will stand for itself and it also became the reason of focusing
less on others’ work because something new should come from a completely different
direction rather than from the same route. We took a different path in order to bring
something new in this time and reality that will be, and can be achieved now, by beings.
We offered a new vertical notion and have attempted to show that it has its own right to
exist and function in an attempt to become a horizontal notion, thus a theory of silence.
Throughout this work, we have attempted to gain knowledge on important
components of the work that allow a vertical notion to function. Our limitation on the
work’s amount did not allow us to touch on each component in depth, but rather we have
tried to touch on all elements at a base level in order to build our work as a first reason,
and as a second, to notify those who are interested in the subject that these elements can
be tokens to follow. Combined with theory and practice, we have attempted to show that
each being is able to gain experience and knowledge through ‘silence: a phenomenon of
space’ to say that the possibilities are n and with one’s own desire, will, and efforts, one
can enter into that space simultaneously and gain profound experiences on many level.
In the first chapter, we created concepts and notions to assist us on a theory

base for this work. Also we showed that our knowledge on the being is limited and that
our desire to discover new territories of the being is more of an attempt rather than an
acceptance of its limitation. Throughout this journey, we have discovered that what can
be considered as a limitation are only obstacles (external and internal) that can stop a
being in one’s inward journey. An inward journey is the key for a being’s higher
consciousness, and it is the being that we focused on this work. Through our concepts, we
have shown that ‘silence: a phenomenon of space’ occurs always in relation to that
attempts to activate and open this space for a being. And living in the physical world we
analysed the functionality of time, space, and dimension; a being’s experience through
‘silence: a phenomenon of space’ can change its meaning and functionality. The reason
of this change can be seen in the root of ‘silence: a phenomenon of space,’ that is the
field of phenomenology in which a thing can appear and disappear to a being depending
on one’s ability to function in this field, meaning that its through a being’s own effort
where one can enter into this space.
Furthermore, in the second chapter we focused on other elements, sensuous
faculties, that compose our theory that are in themselves complex and reside in the field
of phenomenology. Regardless of their variations, we chose to focus on a few of them as
we considered them to be more important elements for the work itself, and also they can
be considered as faculties of effluent for others. We focused on body, mind, memory,
intuition, and others, showing importance of these elements for the work itself and how
they dictate one’s path in themselves. The authority of each sensuous faculty is different
for each being, as each being is unique and their knowledge and senses of them are also
different. However, we have shown throughout the work that each element in itself acts
as a guide for gaining knowledge within oneself and thus the outer world also, but
sometimes regarding one’s standing point, these faculties can behave as obstacles in
seeing one’s desire and will to overcome them, thus to go beyond of oneself. Moreover,
we have shown that along the way, recollections of the mind and memory can produce
unlimited notions, perceptions, and sensations that will not allow one’s being to enter into
‘silence: a phenomenon of space,’ again emphasizing one’s effort to go beyond
restrictions. Also, we have highlighted practical methods that can able one’s being to
train these faculties to allow access into ‘silence: a phenomenon of space’ within oneself.
After composing all elements together, we hypothesized our theory of silence on a
theoretical base while offering a practical analysis for the third chapter.
A theory of silence, is a manifestation of the declaration that silence in itself is a
phenomenon of space, and when a being balances the previously mentioned components
within oneself, it allows oneself to merge with silence itself to gain transcendental
experiences: activating n possibility of states in one’s being in a given time and space
reality thus going beyond these notions.
Furthermore, in order to make our theory function and to also be clear for
readers, in the third chapter, we discussed the practical works in which ‘silence: a
phenomenon of space’ can occur, thus desired by their own experiences one can try
through suggested forms of art. Our practical analyses were based on artworks because
we believe that art is a language of the soul, that even mind and knowledge can become
an obstacle to grasp and understand it, yet acknowledgment of the work would be
immediately grasped by a soul. And there can not be any profound experiences offered to
a being as an experience that goes through one’s soul. Thus, art can play a tremendous
role for exercising new states in one’s being as when conditioned by external data, one is
forced to face experiences in the present moment which, resultantly, can intensify these
experiences.
In conclusion, we can say that we are aware that what we are offering is a
theory of silence which is a vertical notion that attempts to become a horizontal notion
for its own right in this time and space reality or contemporary world. Along the way, we
are sure that when the time comes there will be a new vertical notion that will purport to
become a new horizontal notion. And until that time comes, we can suggest to dive into
the mystery of ‘silence: a phenomenon of space’ that is everywhere in every minute
waiting oneself to enter. As a doorkeeper waiting the man, ‘silence: a phenomenon of
space’ is waiting each being to enter for one’s own experience while it is possible.
“‘You are insatiable.’ ‘Everyone seeks the Law,’ the man says, ‘so how is it that in all
these years no one apart from me has asked to be let in?’ The doorkeeper realizes that the
man is nearing his end, and so, in order to be audible to his fading hearing, he bellows at
him, ‘No one else could be granted entry here, because this entrance was intended for you
alone. I shall now go and shut it.’”1
NOTES
INTRODUCTION
1. Silence: Lectures and Writings by John Cage, (Wesleyan University Press, 1979),
p.109.
SILENCE
1. RUMI: The Book of Love: Poems of Ecstasy and Longing, trans. by Coleman Barks
(HarperCollins Publishers, 2003), p.124.
2. The Order of Things: An Archaeology of the Human Sciences, by Michel Foucault,
(Routlege, 2002), XXII.
3. Ibid., XXV.
4. Being and Time by Martin Heidegger, trans. by John Macquarrie & Edward
Robinson, (Blackwell Publishers Ltd, 1962), p. 19.
5. TAO TE CHING: The Book of the Way, by Lao-Tzu, trans. by Stephen Mitchell,
(Kyle Books, 2011) p.54.
6. A Brief Tour of Higher Consciousness: A Cosmic Book of the Mechanics of Creation
by Itzhak Bentov, (Destiny Books, 2000), p.15.
7. Blake: The Complete Poems, edited by W. H. Stevenson, third edition, (Routlege,
2007), p.612.
8. The Elegant Universe: Superstrings, Hidden Dimensions, and the Quest for the
Ultimate Theory by Brian Greene, (W.W. Norton & Company, 2003), p. 50.
9. My Big Toe: Awakening, Discovery, Inner Workings: A Trilogy Unifying Philosophy,
Physics, and Metaphysics by Thomas Campbell, (Lightning Strike Books, 2005),
p.779.
10. Quantum Consciousness: The guide to Experiencing Quantum Psychology by
Stephen H. Wolinsky, Kristi L. Kennen, (Bramble Books, 1993), pp.127-128.
11. The Holographic Universe by Michael Talbot, (HarperCollins Publishers, 1996),
p. 249.
12. Kant’s Inaugural Dissertation of 1770, Vol.1, No2, trans. by William J. Eckoff,
(Columbia College, 1894), pp.52-53.
PHENOMENOLOGY OF PERCEPTION, SENSATION AND INTUITION
1. Inner Engineering: A yogi’s guide to Joy by Sadhguru, (Spiegel & Grau, 2016), p.90.
2. The Spirit of Man: An Anthology in English and French from the Philosophers and
Poets by Robert Seymour Bridges, ( London & Longmans Green, 1916) p.133.
3. In Search of Lost Time, Vol.I, Swann’s Way by Marcel Proust, trans. by C. K. Scott
Moncrieff & Terence Kilmartin, (The Modern Library, 1992), pp.63-64.
4. Gilles Deleuze by Claire Colebrook, (Routledge, 2002), p.64.
5. Plato Collection: The Allegory of the Cave and Dialogues by Plato, trans. B. Jowett
(Independently published, 2017), pp.3-4.
6. Francis Bacon: The logic of Sensation by Gilles Deleuze, trans. Daniel W. Smith
(Continuum, 2003), p.38.

7. Complete Works of Pir-O-Murshid Hazrat Inayat Khan, Original Texts: Lectures On
Sufism 1926 I: December 1925 to March 12, 1926 by Hazrat Inayat Khan, (Nekbakht
Foundation, 2010), p.434.
8. Complete Works of Pir-O-Murshid Hazrat Inayat Khan Original Texts: Lectures On
Sufism 1924 I: January - June 8 by Hazrat Inayat Khan, (Nekbakht Stiching, 2002),
p.127.
9. Divine Comedy – Paradiso by Dante Alighieri, trans. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
(Released under Creative Commons Attribution- Noncommercial Licence,
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/us/, 2008 Josef Nygrin) p. 223.
SPACE’ THROUGH ARTISTS’ WORK
1. Silence: Lectures and Writings by John Cage, (Marion Boyars, 2009) p.14.
2. Effects of Singing Bowl Sound Meditation on Mood, Tension, and Well-being: An
Observational Study by Tamara L. Goldsby, Michael E. Goldsby, Mary McWalters,
Paul J. Mills, (Journal of Evidence-Based Complementary & Alternative Medicine
2017, Vol.22(3)), pp.401-406.
3. Conversation/ Min Tanaka and Alanna Heiss, (October 21.2007 – January 7.2008),
Min Tanaka official website, http://www.min-tanaka.com/wp/?page_id=900.
4. Aesthetics of Absence: Texts on Theatre by Heiner Goebbels, trans. by David Roesner
& Christina M. Lagao, (Routledge, 2015), pp.5-6.
5. Selected poems by Valida Baba, 2019.

CONCLUSION
1. The Trial by Franz Kafka, trans.by Mike Mitchell (Oxford World’s Classics, 2009),
pp.154-155.
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A Theory of Silence: ‘silence : a phenomenon of space’

Thesis · May 2019

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A thesis submitted to Anglo-American University for

INSTRUCTOR: STEPHAN DELBOS

where silence as a ‘fundamental attunements’iii (Grundstimmungen) of Dasein can arise

examine this hypothesis and manifest a theory of silence.

CHAPTER ONE: RECONSTRUCTING THE BRIDGE BETWEEN MAN AND

1.1 SILENCE – WHAT DO WE KNOW ABOUT IT? ................................................ 15

1.2 MAN IS MYSTERY – ISN’T IT? .......................................................................... 20

1.3 INTRODUCING NEW CONCEPTS OF ‘SILENCE: A PHENOMENON OF

SPACE’ THROUGH NOTIONS: RELATION TO AND RELATION WITH ............... 26

1.3.1 THE NOTION RELATION TO ........................................................................ 27

1.3.2 THE ROLE OF TIME IN THIS CONNECTION ............................................ 28

1.3.3 THE ROLE OF SPACE IN THIS CONNECTION ......................................... 29

1.3.4 THE ROLE OF DIMENSION IN THIS CONNECTION................................ 31

1.3.5 THE NOTION RELATION WITH ................................................................... 33

1.4. WHERE IS ‘SILENCE: PHENOMENON OF SPACE’ ROOTED? .................... 35

CHAPTER TWO: ‘SILENCE: A PHENOMENON OF SPACE’ THROUGH THE

PHENOMENOLOGY OF PERCEPTION, SENSATION AND INTUITION ................ 40

2.1 PERCEPTION OF THE WORLD THROUGH A BODY ..................................... 41

2.2 PERCEPTION OF THE WORLD THROUGH MIND.......................................... 46

2.3 PERCEPTION OF THE WORLD THROUGH SENSATION .............................. 51

2.4 PERCEPTION OF THE WORLD THROUGH INTUITION ................................ 56

2.5 A THEORY OF SILENCE: ‘SILENCE: A PHENOMENON OF SPACE’ ............ 59

CHAPTER THREE: PRACTICAL ANALYSIS OF ‘SILENCE: A PHENOMENON OF

SPACE’ THROUGH ARTISTS’ WORK ........................................................................ 64

3.1 ART IS A LANGUAGE OF THE SOUL............................................................... 64

3.2 MUSIC .................................................................................................................... 68

3.3 THEATRE .............................................................................................................. 71

FIGURE 1. CONCEPT OF NOTIONS ............................................................................ 16

FIGURE 2. ‘SILENCE: A PHENOMENON OF SPACE’ .............................................. 20

FIGURE 3. A BODY (2017), JAKUB HRAB /ARCHA THEATRE .............................. 74

FIGURE 4. A BODY (2017), JAKUB HRAB /ARCHA THEATRE .............................. 75

FIGURE 5. STIFTERS DINGE/STIFTER’S THINGS (2007), WONGE BERGMANN

FIGURE 6. STIFTERS DINGE/STIFTER’S THINGS (2007), WONGE BERGMANN

FIGURE 7. PŘEDSTAVENÍ/PERFORMANCE (2015), LEA PETRIKOVA ................ 79

FIGURE 8. PŘEDSTAVENÍ/PERFORMANCE (2015), LEA PETRIKOVA ................ 80

I am here , and there is nothing to say .

is space itself, a phenomenon of space that allows a transcendental experience to happen.

appears/disappears and how the commandments for it allow to appear/disappear.

side is in relation to someone/something and the other is in relation with

man’s position, man’s role in this relation.

mostly individuals who are awakened to the mystery of life, or focused on a

a ‘question of constant postponement’ or ‘out-of-the-question,’ which declares that man

already rejects the other side of these concepts (mystery, unlimitedness).

interpretations constitute notions such as ‘Dasein,’ ‘attunement,’ and ‘awakening’. Martin

man to be awakened into his own Life.

in a wide landscape which we will discuss throughout this work.

phenomenology of perception, sensation, and intuition. How do these notions and

analysis becomes more complicated in its innersubjectivity. Therefore, we can suggest

be interpreted differently depending on each individual’s perceived reality. With the

support of Henri Bergson and Maurice Merleau-Ponty’s analysis of these concepts, we

analysis in general. Bergson’s method is elaborately constructed through the system of

analysis, we will attempt to show the core aesthetics of silence as a phenomenon of

transcendence of our beings and henceforth, manifest a theory of silence.