Real Silence has nothing to do with sound. There is an inner Silence that is always available, no matter what clamber and clatter surrounds you.
The Dance
I have sat with meditation “masters” who would go to great pains to control the environment, and especially noise in the room. I even remember an occasion where the teacher sent a staff member from the seminar room and out to the other side of the street. He was tasked to entreat the gentlemen who were minding their own and drilling the road, to please, in the name of Grace, shut the F*$# up… at least until we had finished meditating. As a testimony to the staff members charm and Grace, they actually DID shut the F*$# up, rather than telling him to do the same.
This dance was based on the notion that the energetics of the space are disturbed by external noise, which in turn can prohibit good meditation.
While I acknowledge that an outer reflection of silence can support ones ability to notice a true inner silence, or at least highlight the noise in your head, the association of the two can ultimately be misleading.
True Silence
True Silence is never disturbed. Not by anything, and certainly not by noise. True Silence is a backdrop of total absence, against which the noise of experience, the one song, can be perceived.
Versions of the ‘Silence Please!’ dance don’t always come as grossly caricatured as the example I gave. It’s mostly a subtle thing, an irritation or a need for such-n-such to be just-so before true bliss can be realised.
If you find your sacred meditation space invaded by noise, and these controls and avoidances (cloaked as ‘honouring’) arise, then I invite you to be still… let your meditation be to notice the Silence beyond the noise. Here you will find the secret to peace in the storm of life.
Namaste. Tick-tock. Om Shanti. Woof Woof Woof. Peace &… Nee-Noorr-Neee-Nooorr. …Love my friend 😉
[JY-General-Bio]
I remember being in a class in London in 1991. The student complained she couldn’t meditate because the birds were singing! The external thing that disrupts my silence the most is my husband, a common occurrence I think. Im fine with birds… Both though also have the capacity to further deepen my silence.
Fun post! I remember my first try outs with the Journey and all the noises in a fully packed room. A hell of a way to immediately part with the idea of “outside silence proceeds inside silence”. A lot of years later I can now understand and see the huge, then hidden, gift(s) that those first meditation attempts brought me.
Besides which, with my quick to laugh out loud personality, silence “in the flesh” is way too much of an effort 🙂 🙂
Love, Marie-José
PS as with the last post I cannot seem to share on facebook? “Page not found” is the message when I click the fb button.
Thanks for letting me know about this Marie-Jose, it seems there’s a bug in the share buttons that conflicts with a new speed/performance service Ive started using… I’m looking into it… I’ll share it at http://www.facebook.com/NPArocks and you can share from there x
lol Marie-Jose – I can relate to that! :0)
Hey Dana! Great to see your comment – and crikey, birdsong issues? Birdsong is a common sound to use to enhance meditation…? lol – all sorts eh? Great that you can ‘translate’ your husband’s noise making as a deepener, I think that’s always available as a possibility – tho I do understand the challenge! x
Thank you for the invitation! It will be well used next time I offer Journey therapy at a very special (read noisy) friends house:-)
You’re welcome Linnea! I understand THAT situation. A few years ago they demolished and rebuilt the building right next to our clinic in Harley Street (http://www.innerjourneyclinic.com) – and it meant a year of noisy workmen. It amazed me that when I came to peace with the noise and just ‘used’ it as part of the processing, the clients barely ever even noticed it! Hugs, Jx
Dear Joel
Thank you for mentioning this!
It’s true and it took me 8 years to really experience it. People can tell you, but if you’re not ready (still to much resistance inside?), you can’t accept it. That, of course, was my case… I cannot speak for somebody else..
July 1913 was the first time I really ‘got’ it. We were sitting with Eli Jaxon in a nice building in the middle of Amsterdam. There was a lot of constructionwork in the street behind and it was a warm sunny day. The windows were all open and still… I could meditate. There was so much stilness in Eli, that it was not difficult at all! I learnt from this guy what real stilness is, just by beiing it. A really amazing experience!
Hey Regine,
It’s a wonderful thing to sit with a living example of this and let the ‘non-personal’ osmosis take effect. Meditation, peace, stillness, inner Silence – anytime, anyplace, anywhere! Thanks for your comment ♥