SILENCE (MEDITATION)

February 16, 2013

One of the things that can be rare in this world is being Silent.  It used to be more common, there were longer pauses between words in conversations and the movies of old had fewer words, more innuendos. 

Though drawn to things that are of a quieter nature, that doesn’t mean that there is internal quiet.  Many times there is such gratitude that will arise for having designated times for Meditation.  Without Meditation there would be few stops/pauses during the day to put the attention on Silence/Stillness.  It is not that it isn’t always there, it is, however; the attention will be on what is going on in the world, schoolwork, thoughts about everything and anything under the sun.  And then there is a stopping that comes with Meditation, things slow down and the attention is drawn towards what doesn’t move.  The things of the world, all the problems seem to fall to the side and are not important.  As one arises from Meditation, those things re-appear yet don’t have the energy or strong pull towards them that was there prior to Meditation.

Recently, things have gotten busier, especially this week.  Yesterday a neighbor offered up a ride on his dirt bike.  We left shortly before Meditation time and when we got to the back roads it was time to sit.  Mentioned that there would be no speaking during the next half hour.  Usually, it is looked at with a strange sort of “umm ok?”  Which it was and so off on the bike we went.  There is a gift in Silence that unless one checks it out, cannot be shared. 

A Red-Tailed (Chicken Hawk) Hawk flew directly over us; which was amazing and the trees were brilliant, and the smells of Spring were in the air, there was the sounds of water running from the creek and the sky was brilliantly blue.  There were moments of fear/excitement that would arise from the sense of not having control.  The bike slid on some ice and we fell and since we were going slow, there are just bruises, but there was no ability to complain and without outward complaining, inward complaining doesn’t last long.

We dust ourselves off and picked up the bike and sat and ate some lunch.  There was listening to the stories that were shared and watching as the food is eaten and there is a sense of ease with not speaking that is not there when one is thinking of what it is they would be saying.  It is just listening and experiencing what is actually going on.

Though the preference here is to sit Silently (to not be active during a designated Mediation time), one does not have to sit somewhere alone to be Silent, you can set aside a time, at anytime to do it.  Though I would suggest that one set aside the time to sit silently in Meditation as a way to begin quieting the mind and then move into a “walking or active” Meditation, only because the impetus to speak will be very strong in the beginning and so it is best for one to begin to sit quietly with eyes closed and allow all distractions to be there and to sit in spite of the distractions.

Many times when people are around during Meditation time, they think that they must be quiet, but that is not the case, the noise is welcome, because where the attention is … is Stillness/Silence and so all noises and activity around are welcomed in it.  If you demand that the world be a certain way for you to sit in Meditation, you will not ever sit in Meditation. 

You just sit, Silently, sit and watch until the thoughts and activities exhaust themselves.

Ultimately, one will find that all of their life is in Silence/Stillness/Meditation, yet this isn’t seen while the attention is on the thoughts, actions.  So first things first … one leads into the other.

Discovery...

“The greatest barrier to discovery is not ignorance … 
it is the illusion of knowledge.”

You have been spoon fed for so long through schooling and books and television and Internet so much information that you do not know how to discover anything for yourself.  Become your own project and discover who you are by your own investigation; not by what you have been told through learning.  There is nothing wrong with learning, in that it can help you get around in the world, but be wise with what you come to believe about what you learn.  You don’t want to buy into anything too rigidly.  


An open mind is one that doesn’t become fearful of knowledge but brings light to knowledge.  It’s not about going out and fighting a system but to begin to step out of it so one can see it.  How can you see what you are in, when you are in it.  So you step outside of the norms of life, you do not accept that everything is how you have believed it to be, you allow the possibility that you maybe wrong about what you think, feel and believe and then begin to watch the world from an “outside” view…not as a good or bad, you just begin to view it like you would a project or an investigation.  You begin to watch yourself and the world as an “unknown.”  And then begin to see if what is being shared about you and about the world you live in…is true.  Look at your life and see if it reflects what you are being told.  The news will tell you that only bad things happen…but how often do you actually “see” a bad thing happen for yourself?  



One must begin to step out of the boxes they put themselves in?  One goes in a box so that they “look” like they “fit in” the world.  Those boxes are all the things that you say that you are…what your religion is, what your nationality is, what your country is, what your beliefs about anything is…all of them are boxes to make you feel like you are safe in the crowd, but what is a box but a coffin and the more boxes you have the more layers you have been buried in.



What is it that draws one to being in a box…a coffin?  It is the fear of standing alone…at least in a graveyard there are others seemingly there; but if you get out of the casket you are alone.  To be willing to live outside of boxes one must first face fear.  The fear of being alone, of being misunderstood, of being outcasted, and ultimately of death.  If you face the latter first the rest naturally begin to fall away.  How does one do this?  Take off a box and see if you are willing to die.  If you are religious…drop your religion for a time maybe even just an hour (you can pick it back up later) however become willing for even God to disown you, be willing to die and not know what will happen…you don’t anyway you just believe that you know…but beliefs don’t make things real…they just make boxes.  If you are married, be willing to not know what marriage is, it doesn’t mean you go and leave your spouse or get divorced, it just means that you don’t know what it is.  You have been told what marriage is…but what is it really, what is it to you, has it become a box or is it something that stimulates your growth, these are investigations for you to look into and not even your spouse can do that for you.  Those are two big ones but if even a slight bit of fear comes up to even look at it; you might begin to see the box you have put yourself in and in this, fear becomes a friend, a tool you can use to gauge how deeply you have dug yourself in.  You can use anything, if you believe you are “Human” look into that box…what actually is a human or is it just a label placed on a body because one doesn’t actually know who or what one is.  Do you really know who you are?  That is a genuine question to ask?  You may think that it is more comfortable to assume that you know all these things, because you have learned them…and everyone seems to agree that they are true, but comfort leads to stagnation and a very unfulfilling life.  



It’s not that one shouldn’t be comfortable it is about becoming aware of the unknown, which leads to vibrancy, energy and stimulation, creativity, you begin to see that you don’t ever know what is going to happen, but it becomes obvious and beautiful that you don't.  You aren’t rushing to put everything back in place attempting know how everything should be.  You begin to experience life as it actually is; without any beliefs or boxes or coffins to rest in and to rely.  You become extremely close to the present moment; the one that you are in but continuously overlook.  You become more childlike, you didn’t have to know how to be a child to be one. Your parents didn’t know how to be a parent and to raise a child and yet they did and if you are honest and have children you don’t either, but you don’t need to know, you just become aware of yourself and watch what it is like for “you” not anyone else but “you” to be a child, a adult, and a parent.  You begin to Trust the river of life without boxes, without conformity, without having to pretend to be someone.



Every once in a while for some length of time step away from the TV, the Internet and then when you bring them back pay attention to what you watch on TV and look for on the Internet, pay attention to what you are feeding yourself with information.  As you do these things you become more clear in yourself, you begin to know who you are more intimately, no one is going to have this life experience for you, so don’t waste it on what someone else has lived.  Take the best from every experience, yet have your own.



Take chances and have fun!


BEING CLEAR...

As one begins to become less and less attached to the thoughts about “who they think they are” they become more CLEAR.  Clear is like being empty, but empty is not empty, when it is CLEAR.  It is a challenge to use words, but let’s say as you become more “empty” of who you think you are, it doesn’t make you less of “What You Are.”  So you actually become more clear; and the fullness of who you are Shines through.  When you are full of “who you think you are” it is like a grey film that covers the Clarity of who you Are.

An example would be if you have a glass of water (imagine that “you” are the glass of water) and it has lots of particles of minerals in it, lots of them, thousands of them (which represent the thoughts of who one thinks they are), the glass of water will look black and murky.  But as you begin to question who you are, by asking “Who Am I?” and seeing a process of elimination appear, each thought (mineral/particle) that is removed makes the glass of water Clearer.  Eventually you get down to the last thought (particle/mineral) which is “I” and as that is removed (vanishes) the water is Crystal Clear.

If this analogy comes through as intended, you will see that not having an “I” thought doesn’t take away from you, it leaves you as you are, in a state of Clarity, in Clear Water, so you are empty of the thought (mineral/particles); but full of the Self (Clear Water). 

It seems that many think, when they hear in spiritual circles, to be “nothing” or “empty,” that it is hollow and scary.  But it is Lightness of Being, it is Clarity and it is Clear and it is Fullness, the Fullness of Being Empty!

You Are THAT! :o)

Cheerio!