There are three types of silence.
The first is the silence where there is no talking. This is very beneficial for people just to be aware of what they are saying and how much energy they spend talking. The second is the silence of stillness. This is the silence inside us that is detached from the noise in the world. Silence is disinterestedness in activity, an inward journey of the mind. This inner stillness is very important if we want to understand and grow spiritually. Inner silence frees us from the noise of the world. And finally, there is the silence of Oneness – Oneness with the entire universe. Oneness is the goal of silent practice. Whatever knowledge we study and understand with our intellect is limited. The knowledge that we gain by effort is immanent. The knowledge which is gained through effortlessness, through silence and intuition is transcendental.
Now one might think why bother meditating when sleep is good enough to bring silence? Remember, when you are sleeping, your body is rejuvenating, it is growing, cells are multiplying. There is a lot of activity in the body – in fact, much more than in the waking state. In meditation, the reverse happens. Metabolism, which is high in sleep, reduces during meditation. Since the body calms down, so does the mind. And then intelligence awakens. Since meditation rejuvenates the body and mind at the same time, you feel energetic.
We need to see and observe that most thoughts that come to our mind are not useful at all. Nearly every thought is about the past. These thoughts that arise in the mind are a projection of the past on the consciousness. We project whatever has happened in the past, into the future – ‘This is okay, that is not okay. I like this, I don’t like that.’ We need to bundle up all these thoughts, and throw them out. By just realizing that all these thoughts are useless, the mind becomes free. When you go deep into silence, you experience a form of communication without thoughts. Without words one is able to understand what is being conveyed. This is when all the questions in your mind disappear.
Questions are only vehicles to reach the destination. Answers are the fuel. When the answer to a question is found, the vehicle starts moving ahead. However, it is possible to reach your destination directly too, without the use of questions and answers. How? By sitting in silence. When one sits in silence and a question arises, the answer also comes along.
Now one might think why bother meditating when sleep is good enough to bring silence? Remember, when you are sleeping, your body is rejuvenating, it is growing, cells are multiplying. There is a lot of activity in the body – in fact, much more than in the waking state. In meditation, the reverse happens. Metabolism, which is high in sleep, reduces during meditation. Since the body calms down, so does the mind. And then intelligence awakens. Since meditation rejuvenates the body and mind at the same time, you feel energetic.
We need to see and observe that most thoughts that come to our mind are not useful at all. Nearly every thought is about the past. These thoughts that arise in the mind are a projection of the past on the consciousness. We project whatever has happened in the past, into the future – ‘This is okay, that is not okay. I like this, I don’t like that.’ We need to bundle up all these thoughts, and throw them out. By just realizing that all these thoughts are useless, the mind becomes free. When you go deep into silence, you experience a form of communication without thoughts. Without words one is able to understand what is being conveyed. This is when all the questions in your mind disappear.
Questions are only vehicles to reach the destination. Answers are the fuel. When the answer to a question is found, the vehicle starts moving ahead. However, it is possible to reach your destination directly too, without the use of questions and answers. How? By sitting in silence. When one sits in silence and a question arises, the answer also comes along.
Inner silence is the mother of all creativity, the source of intuition, and the storehouse of energy, and we all have it. The only thing is we have locked it and forgotten the key! Just like how you forget your computer’s password sometimes. We all have this enormous wealth of silence in our heart, but somehow we have forgotten how to tap into it.
What a single glance can convey, a thousand conversations cannot. And what a moment of deep silence can convey, even a thousand glances cannot. In silence, we get back our energy, which is lost in the outer world. Being so busy in daily life, we do not see the central core of who we are. We are more than our five senses. It is important to go to the source of our being, beyond the mind, beyond emotion.
What a single glance can convey, a thousand conversations cannot. And what a moment of deep silence can convey, even a thousand glances cannot. In silence, we get back our energy, which is lost in the outer world. Being so busy in daily life, we do not see the central core of who we are. We are more than our five senses. It is important to go to the source of our being, beyond the mind, beyond emotion.
Silence brings you back home, and it gives you that much needed energy to realize who you are, to realize that there is bliss, there is beauty, there is joy, and that is You.
