I can't speak! Considerations! Spiritual

 I can't speak! Considerations! Spiritual

“Losing Your Voice”? Exploring the Spiritual Perspective

Let’s talk about why sometimes our voice just won’t come out—but keep in mind, I am not a medical professional. What I share here is purely from a spiritual perspective.

Online, you’ll often find discussions suggesting that being unable to speak is linked to someone’s feelings toward a person they like. And sure, there may be some truth to that.

However, from a spiritual point of view, the reasons for “losing your voice” can appear in a completely different light.

At a basic level, speaking requires proper neural function—without the necessary nerves and energy, the voice simply cannot manifest.

Nowadays, with the widespread use of the internet and the weakening of community ties in society, opportunities for direct, face-to-face conversation have decreased. This may be contributing to a rise in people who “lose their voice” due to weakened neural function.

Additionally, the impact of COVID-19 has led to mask-wearing being recommended, further reducing direct verbal interactions compared to before.

Certain occupations, such as assembly-line work in factories, offer few chances for meaningful conversation, and some people living alone may go through much of their lives barely speaking with anyone.

The rise of AI could also further reduce situations where humans directly communicate with one another. As a result, there is a possibility that more people may experience diminished neural activity, making it harder for them to express their voice.

“Unable to speak,” the cause, “stress,” and “spirituality”

A common explanation from a spiritual point of view links the inability to speak to stress.

The psychologist Sigmund Freud proposed the pleasure principle, suggesting that whether eating, sleeping, or relieving oneself, humans naturally seek pleasure. In a sense, even our sense of existence can be equated with pleasure—feeling happiness often comes with a strong sense of being alive and a simultaneous experience of pleasure.

When someone cannot feel their own presence, it’s not just an absence of self-awareness. The mind and body constantly influence each other, and this can easily trigger stress, a response to threats to life or well-being.

The stress response places a person in a state where they instinctively must either fight or flee, both of which require energy and activate the body and mind.

Of course, in the real world, there are situations where neither fighting nor fleeing is possible. When faced with unavoidable stress, our instincts recognize the threat and activate defense mechanisms.

Imagine a massive dinosaur nearby—making a sound could attract its attention. Similarly, from a spiritual and instinctual perspective, the inability to speak may emerge as a natural protective response to perceived danger or overwhelming stress.

“Unable to speak,” low spiritual level, “spiritual”

From a spiritual perspective, another major reason for losing one’s voice can be linked to a low level of the soul.

As I’ve mentioned in this blog before, spiritual growth occurs through awareness. Just as gaining knowledge involves small realizations or “insights,” the growth of the soul—what we might call spiritual character—also comes through each heartfelt insight.

When one’s spiritual character is high, their presence and vitality in a mental or emotional sense is stronger. They are more creative in uplifting others, and their perspective on life broadens with each insight. Simply put, this is what it means to mature spiritually.

Conversely, a low spiritual character reflects weaker presence and vitality. People with lower spiritual character often prioritize satisfying their own heart over uplifting others, and their limited insights narrow their perspective. In other words, spiritually, they remain more “childlike.”

High spiritual character tends to encourage active engagement, while low spiritual character often leads to passivity.

For example, a teacher assigned to restore a troubled classroom once asked each student to introduce themselves. But the children, worried about their peers’ opinions, were unable to speak up at all.

In Japan, the educational system tends to value knowledge alone, often overlooking the awareness that comes from the heart. As a result, people with low spiritual character are more likely to appear, and compared to the past, there may now be more people who, from a spiritual perspective, cannot fully express their voice.