Why is silence so important? What is the direct approach to enter silence? How can meditating with other experienced meditators help to reach silence?
Everyone in this world is looking for happiness and satisfaction. The mind assumes that by moving and chasing different objects or experiences that one day it will reach a state of fulfilment. But if we look back and observe our own life story so far then we will realise that the only moments which brought some temporary experiences of happiness or satisfaction were those moments when the mind took a pause and appreciated the moment as it was. Until the time the mind is moving, chasing, or is in chaos, you can never expect to feel any form of happiness.
Silence Is the Relief From Mental Chaos
Most people realise this simple fact quite late in their life, if at all. All they really needed was a break from the mental movements, for the mind to relax a bit and appreciate and feel gratitude for what is already there. No one has ever found satisfaction or happiness through constant mental movement or chasing experiences. That sense of relief is nowhere in the future. It is only accessible here and now. Another word for this relief is silence, because it is a break from mental noises.
Don’t Touch the Next Thought
If you do not take interest in the thoughts then your attention will automatically choose relaxation and that will give instant relief from the mental chaos. Whether that relief stays or gets interrupted by the next thought totally depends on whether you are interested in the next thought or not. Even if you express a mild interest in the next thought, your attention will get carried away.
The Direct Approach
Many great masters - like Sri Ramana Maharshi in recent times - emphasised staying silent as a method because it offers a direct approach. You can reach this gap between thoughts through indirect practices such as meditation, kriya yoga, breathwork, selfless service, devotion etc, or you can directly decide that for some time at least you will not take interest in the next thought.
This direct method might not work for many people, but for some it might bypass the long journey of training the attention to focus on one object and then gradually internalising the attention so that you can experience the relief from mental noise. Whether you choose the direct method or one of the indirect methods, ultimately you would have to reach a state of silence to transcend the mind.
Tasting Relief for the First Time
As soon as the mind tastes the possibility of being aware and conscious without any mental content, the mind will automatically want to keep coming back to it. This is because the mind’s habit is to chase the highest experience that it knows about.
There can be nothing more blissful than the relief from the egoic mind… when you lose your individuality to the infinite emptiness, even if only temporarily. It’s like a single drop merging back into the ocean, and now there is no individuality of the drop and the drop has become the ocean. The limited identity has become limitless.
No physical or mental experience or substance can ever match this.
To reach this state of silence, most people go through indirect methods, but for some people the direct approach hits them and lets them fall into their true state. No method is right or wrong. Based on the conditioning of the mind, the mind automatically gets inclined to one way or the other. So the best approach is to go with the flow.
The Effects of Silent Presence
An easy way to get additional assistance in this journey of seeking is to spend as much time as you can with people who know how to stay absorbed in inner silence.
When we spend time with people who are constantly worrying about their life situations, we directly or indirectly attract similar patterns in our own mind. For example, young children whose parents are angry or frustrated a lot of the time may absorb those habits very easily.
To reverse this pattern, it is important to spend more time with people who are calm, peaceful, satisfied and happy. If you can’t spend time with people like this, then you can also spend time in nature. Trees and plants are not constantly thinking, so spending time in nature gives a break from the environment where everybody around you is thinking or stressed about something. Even if you don’t consciously notice, subconsciously your mind will attract the harmony and peace that exists among the plants and trees.
Calming the Ripples in the Silent Lake of Consciousness
Another way to understand this is that every thought is a kind of ripple in the silent lake of consciousness. This consciousness is everywhere. Being exposed to those kinds of life forms which are constantly creating ripples will influence your mind also.
So if you really want to live a happy life, it is best to regularly spend time either in the company of people who have very peaceful vibrations and no constant ripples in their minds, or in nature away from the chaos of human civilization. This is why we immediately feel peace when we go into the wilderness or in places where people constantly practice meditation.
The Importance of Grace
In addition to the experience of peace, spending time in the presence of expert meditators or a self-realised being may also open up the opportunity to realise your own true self if you are receptive. Less ripples in the mind may give you a temporary relief from the mental chaos, but to transcend the mind you need grace from beyond. Self-realised beings are soaking in that grace; they are not identified with their body, mind or this whole dream world.
You will only come into the presence of self-realised beings if grace helps you. Even then, just being in the presence of a self-realised being does not guarantee that you will realise your true self - this will depend on the extent to which grace is helping you. In simple words, your efforts cannot take you to self-realisation because the rules of cause and effect don’t apply here. However, if even a single thought of seeking the truth has appeared in your mind, that means that grace is already helping you.
Silence Is the Language of Grace
Whether you use the word grace, divine source, cosmic consciousness, God, your true self or some other description, that source is always trying to guide you in every moment. A person will miss that guidance when their attention is interested in and busy with mental noises. Guidance from the source never comes in the form of words, sounds or thoughts; the language of the source is silence and it guides you intuitively. Most people would only be interested in sitting silently and effortlessly if grace motivates them to do so. For most people, unless grace is helping them, sitting silently might not hold any interest.
Sit in Silence With Us
We are offering silent sitting sessions every Sunday at 5.30pm - 6.30pm in the Tapovan area of Rishikesh.Â
There will be no teachings, no teacher, no instructions - just an opportunity to absorb silence.Â
At least one experienced meditator from Aham Shoonyam Foundation will be sitting as a participant.Â
If you already have a calm mind, we invite you to share your peaceful vibes with others. If you are just starting your journey of inner silence, we invite you to join us and taste the bliss of inner silence.
To join these free sessions or find out more you can join here: https://chat.whatsapp.com/J9WCYMHrTbR2GMtEy3Co6C
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