Welcome to Day 26 of our 40 Day Retreat.
Yesterday we spoke about internal talk and how we should try to manage it. Before that we spoke about managing vocal expression and its influence. Of course, vocal expression will have an external influence as you are communicating with sound. Internal talk will have a mental influence, also an influence on your own being. Today I want to speak about silence - the power of silence.
Understanding the nature of silence
Silence is not just being quiet vocally; neither is it being quiet mentally. It is much more than that. It is not just stopping the thoughts, because you can stop thoughts and still have a lot of stress existing. The state of true silence is a stress-free and joyous state. That is true silence. I want to explore that with you, so you may really understand the nature of silence and strive to be in that state of inner silence.
If I were to ask you to be quiet verbally and mentally, you will find it quite easy to become quiet verbally and perhaps a little more difficult to become quiet mentally. But there is a possibility that you can stop your thoughts for a little while. Some people use breathing and through it, being aware of the breathing and focusing on the breathing, the thoughts may begin to subside. But as you do that there may not be a joyous state, or a more aware state.
Silence as a joyous state
The state of true silence has joyousness, that feeling of inner fulfillment, the feeling of rest and comfort, and the feeling of not needing to think. I want you to think about this carefully. You have made a natural choice not to think, not that you are stopping the thought process and have it suppressed. You are coming into a natural state of not wanting to think, not needing to think. Then the mind becomes quiet in a very natural way. Of course, being quiet vocally and mentally as much as you can, allows you to get into this state a little more. This is an intelligent state; it is a wisdom state being truly quiet or silent in a natural, effortless and joyous way.
Deeper within; greater the silence
If you take a moment to think, “When will my mind be truly silent and enjoyably so?” Know that this comes from going deeper into your inner self, into your Source. So I want you to think about this carefully: the deeper you go into your own being, the deeper you go into yourself inside, you will find that there is less need for much talk, and there is less need for many thoughts. I want you to think about this carefully: if there is a lot of talk internally and externally, it is because you are not resting in this space. So we have to explore that. The deeper you go into the Source the more truly silent you become.
Primary purpose makes other roles secondary
Let’s talk for a few moments about detachment. When you are caught up in the world and also caught up in your roles and responsibilities, you have a lot to think about and to say. When you identify with these roles and you take them seriously, of course you need to, you have a lot to think and talk about. And when you can’t manage these responsibilities and roles, then you don’t want to stop thinking or talking. So the question becomes, “How do I see these roles and responsibilities in a greater context that I can manage them?”
The need is there to think that you are not alone in this whole process. That the roles you have in your life are choices you have made. Perhaps you needed to make them for your survival, for what you may have considered your comfort. But how important are these roles in the larger context of life? I will say they are secondary, and not primary roles. Of course, they are very important. Survival is important; social responsibilities are very important but these can co-exist with an even greater role that puts these in perspective.
Your greater role is your connection with the Source. Where did you come from? What is your primary purpose in the world? You have come from a Source of Great Power and your primary purpose is to reconnect with that Power and to manifest it. That’s the primary purpose and it makes all other roles secondary. All other roles become easier to fulfill.
With surrender, detachment comes naturally
The more self-aware you become, the more you see the Source within you, and the more you can recognize, “It exists within me and around me.” And the more you move towards this space, the more you want to go to that space. The space has very attractive qualities and the more you go into it, the more detached you become from the world; the more you see your responsibilities in the world as secondary. Then you want to stay in this primary relationship. And a natural state of detachment comes.
When I say detachment, I don’t mean denial. I mean not being drawn into responsibilities and losing your power. Responsibilities control your mind; they affect you in such a way that you are always in confusion, worry, pain, anxiety. So making this inner connection or striving to make it and feeling it, naturally puts you in that space of surrendering, “I do not exist on my own. There is a greater power within me. Can I rest my cares on this greater power? Can I believe that I am just an instrument in this whole experience? Can I allow this greater power to guide me? Can I develop that kind of relationship?”
If you begin to do that and rely on this greater power inside, you begin to learn how to associate with it, how to be in oneness with it, and allow it to manifest in and through you, then detachment comes naturally. It means even though you are involved in the world, you are not of it as your focus and centeredness is in a different space. That’s when you become truly silent. Then there is no need for much thinking. You begin to flow with life in a very natural way. You learn how to work in harmony with life. So learning the art of surrender is very important in becoming truly silent.
Silence is connecting with the Source
Silence does not mean the absence of thought and the absence of vocal expression. Silence, for me, means working in oneness with the Source within you. You speak when you need to without losing that connection. And apart from that you don’t waste thoughts or words as it is also a loss of vital energy.
Of course the brow, heart and throat centers are all involved in that.
The heart centre allows you to connect to the Source through unconditional love, and through immersing yourself in a deeper feeling of love.
The brow centre allows you to go towards the Source, stay away from distractions, understand what the Source is.
The throat centre allows you to stop the inner talk and begin to feel the space of peace. But it is the growing self-awareness, it is connecting with that inner source that will make you truly silent and not want to make you speak unnecessarily.
Manage your speech; enjoy the silence
I said to you before, that the greater discipline is not being physically quiet. The greater discipline is managing speech. It is easy not to speak, but that does not mean that you manage speech. When you can speak only as necessary and when you can speak sweetly and appropriately then, for me that is silence.
This much I will say to you today. With these words I wish you a silent day that you can really connect with the source. May you feel this expansive state of being where you are happy inside and the words flow naturally and effortlessly when they need to, otherwise you are just so happy not needing so much thought and so many words.
Post-meditation note:
I want to wish you a day of really understanding silence. It does not mean that you can’t speak, but it is the striving to speak from the Source. It does not mean that you can’t think, but is thinking in the awareness of the Source. In doing so there is an expansivity. You can feel the hugeness of the Source which allows you to honour it, acknowledge it and manifest it. For me, that’s where silence is born. And that’s where silence exists - in the hugeness of the Source. You can’t but have respect.
Have a divine day everybody.
