What do you suppose he meant by this quote? All our lives we are encouraged to communicate, talk about what is bothering us... in most cases. Others of us are discouraged from communication and experience difficulty in conversing with others or saying the right things. Many people tend to be uncomfortable with silence, but the Dalai Lama had a point here.
Think of a moment when you felt people were talking about you or that you may have done something wrong, when in reality, people were in their own bubbles... their own worlds. They were simply quiet. Conversely, have you ever said something hurtful or regretful? Maybe you just couldn't stop yourself. These are the moments the Dalai Lama is speaking of. We, as human beings with different interests and perspectives, were innately built to disagree... to decide what is of value to us alone. When you know you are at a point of irreconcilable differences it is a time to just be quiet about it. This is the moment in which you are able to make the loudest statement never heard. You spare a persons' feelings. You spare yourself feeling regretful, guilty or otherwise to blame. You create positive energy in the air. You reflect, forgive and become further aware. Let not the silence haunt you... rather, embrace it. Honor it. Listen to it. Silence.
Think of the pressure you remove from yourself in the moment that you let go? Not only are you taking a moment to accept and forgive yourself, but you are letting others involved off the hook, too. Off the hook... I think that I would prefer something a little bit more positive and true to the point. Off the hook seems like you are letting someone get away with that they are undeserving to get away. It also means that one must imply making a judgement on another person. This, too, is a negative act. Maybe we could refer to it as a gift of self growth (both to yourself and the one who 'wronged' you). Gifts are so much more pleasant and, like it or not, every time we have an adversity to face we learn something from it. Learning is the single most important gift in the universe. For learning helps you make decisions about your love, life and appreciations.
Learning helps you reach your fullest potential as a life long learner. We are born learning. We do it before we go away to kindergarten, we do it long after we graduate from our academic programs. In learning, it is important to reflect on what is positive and negative, how does it affect the ether and energy of the universe and what impact our own personal perceptions and values will our own actions have? Not saying anything is still communicating... it is just doing it in a calm manner that will not further disrupt the situation-especially when parties can not come to some common ground, further causing friction and disagreement.