[pbhjpbhj]

Do they communicate still? Monks in middle-age Britain who lived in silent(-ish) orders used sign-languages, eg for meal times when they were supposed to be listening to the readings.

A vow of silence when you still "talk" with sign seems a bit of a cheat to me.

[petra]

I think there may be something similar for practical communication.As for whether it's a cheat ? IDK, but the goals there aren't "be solitary", but certain type of personal development, and relatively i think tibetian buddhists are good at it.