Have you ever experienced true Silence?
About 3.5 years ago, I had an experience that would forever change the way I see the world.
I haven’t mentioned this too frequently on this blog, but it’s time to talk about it today.
This experience, in May of 2014, showed me something I can only call Silence. As the Tao Te Ching says, though:
The tao that can be told
is not the eternal Tao
the name that can be named
is not the eternal Name. The unnamable is the eternally real. (Tao Te Ching, 1)
And so any name is insufficient.
But seeing this totally changed many things for me.
It may seem unrelated to the law of attraction, but I have come to see that it is actually what perfects the law of attraction.
As such, I’d like to lead you on a basic exploration of this Silence. Be patient with me, and I will show you why this is so important.
A Basic Exploration of Silence
What is Silence?
I capitalize Silence, because I’m not merely referring to the absence of noise.
Even when noise is present, can you notice the underlying Silence at the heart of that noise? The Silence in which the noise has arisen, and into which it will fall away?
Of course Silence is just one word for it: can you also notice the space that images and pictures of the world arise in, and that emptiness into which they, too, fall away? This, too, is Silence.
Can you notice, too, the space in which sensation arises, and into which it falls away? This, too, is Silence.
When a thought arises, can you notice the Silence from which that thought arose, and into which it will dissolve? Can you notice that Silence which is between all thoughts, and underlying all thoughts?
If you can’t at first, I just invite you to look and see what you find. Silence is self-evident to the one who looks: it only requires the willingness to see, and the knowledge of what one is looking for. Once it is seen, it is obvious and can never be unseen.
That Silence is you. That is your full potential, the peace you seek, the happiness you strive for.
There Are No Questions in Silence
The mind arises in Silence. In the mind are questions, but it has no answers, for those answers are in Silence.
I’ve been playing a game with myself for the last week and a half or so. It’s something I’ve done for a long time, but I’ve been trying to see how far I can take it lately.
My mind will come up with a question. Instead of searching for the answer, I let it go and return to Silence.
Then, within sometimes a few minutes, or else almost always within a few hours, the answer arises. Sometimes in my mind, sometimes through something I read, or some other source.
The answer naturally and effortlessly arose out of Silence, with no effort on my part. Because all questions are answered, but they cannot be answered by the mind. All answers exist in Silence.
I used to call this the Universal search engine, because it works almost better than Google ever could. Just give the slightest attention to some question, and within a short period of time, it is effortlessly answered.
There Is No Seeking in Silence
It is the same for goals. The mind comes up with a goal, and then it attempts to achieve it. But while all seeking exists in the mind, all achieving exists in Silence.
I don’t even want to say achieving, because it implies something was once lacking. In Silence there is no lack. So instead I will say, all having is in Silence, while all wanting is in the mind.
When your goal arises, notice how you want it. That wanting feels uncomfortable: it feels like lack.
But if you could let go of that wanting and return to Silence, then you would be in the state of having. And, in this state, just as the answer naturally arose, so the goal will naturally fall into your lap.
Or else, it will drop away, with the realization that you actually didn’t need it at all.
Regardless, it will be resolved.
I point to this Silence to show why your goal seems so difficult sometimes. You’ve been stuck in the seeking for the goal, instead of simply living from that Silence in which all things are answered.
Living in this Silence
That doesn’t mean you have to meditate 8 hours a day. Awareness of Silence can be maintained while activity continues in life. Thoughts can be thought, actions can be taken, words can be spoken—but behind them all is the awareness of Silence.
And when questions arise, they can be released into Silence. And when goals appear, they can be dissolved in Silence.
Yearning is released in Silence. Striving is released in Silence.
Because the presence of yearning or striving means that your ego is stepping in, and being in the vibration of lack, you cannot achieve that which you desire, nor can you be at peace.
I’m not asking you to be perfect. Simply that when questions arise, when seeking arises, just to let them go into the Silence, and notice more often the answers and solutions that arise out of Silence.
Be more in the answer than you are in the question. Be more in Silence than you are caught up in the mind.
How About You?
Now it’s your turn. Have you been able to experience a glimpse of this Silence for yourself? Let me know your thoughts in the comments.
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A few years ago I managed to experience that Silence, too, in such an “intense” way. Over the last year or so I have let my mind rampage around too much. I’ll definitely need to practice mindfulness more and better. This was a great reminder!
Thanks Z! I’m glad that it was a good reminder.
And I’ve found that once you have seen the Silence, you can never quite unsee it. You might forget for a while, but it is always there at the edge of your awareness, waiting to be seen yet again. And each new seeing of Silence gets deeper and deeper.
I loved what you wrote. But you didn’t tell us how to practice silence all the time. Please do 🙂 Thank you