Silence with Niklaus Brantschen
As part of the exhibition Sounds of Silence (9th November 2018 – 7th July 2019), we asked Niklaus Brantschen, who is renowned for his books on silence, to provide a three-minute piece. He did not hesitate and invited us to join him at Lassalle House, which he founded. When we were discussing the potential contents of the three minutes, he jokingly asked us: is it OK if it runs a bit over? And may I breathe at some stage during the recording?
What was planned as a three-minute snippet ended up being sixty minutes long. A win-win situation, both for the museum and for the wider audience. Whether three or sixty minutes, in the company of Niklaus Brantschen time simply has no meaning.
An hour of silence with Niklaus Brantschen reflects his 50-year experience of meditation. One encounters silence – and oneself. What begins with sitting in silence, ends in apparent idleness. True to Brantschen’s motto: do nothing, but do it wholeheartedly.
Niklaus Brantschen, Jesuit and Zen master, is the founder and long-standing director of Lassalle House in Edlibach, Switzerland.
(German only)
