In a court there was a case, a murder case, but the jurors and the judge were going to decide that the man is innocent Because there were reliable witnesses who said that only for three minutes had he gone out and then he was again back amidst them. Only for three minutes was he not there with them, and it seems too much to commit a murder in three minutes. Then the lawyer from the opposite party said, "Let me try one experiment." He took his pocket watch out and he said, "Now, everybody should close his eyes and remain silent. After three minutes I will give you a hint that three minutes are over." Everybody remained silent.
If you remain silent for three minutes, three minutes is long, very long; they last very long. They appear very long, nonending. Have you ever stood -- somebody dies, a political leader or somebody, and you have to stand for one minute in silence. That one minute looks so long that you start thinking that this political leader should not have died.
Three minutes... and after three minutes were over, the lawyer said, "I have nothing else to say." And the jurors decided that this man had committed the murder. They changed their verdict. Three minutes are so long.
Whenever you are silent, one moment of silence will be very, very long. And it is impossible to imagine what happens when you are absent a single moment may be the gap, but it looks almost like eternity. One gets very much afraid. One wants to go back, to hold to the past.