The Silence That is Enlightening
Traditionally, monks, priests and nuns have observed silence to reach a state of total love and oneness, or communion with God, or a higher source. In the effort to achieve a particular state of mind (according to what is learned), some people have not appreciated the enormous value of silence for its own sake. They have failed to realize that the state of silence itself is spirituality or the quiet mind. A life of silence is enlightened living.
In general, the mind state of modem man is busy, tense, ambitious and full of conflict; all of which is contrary to peacefulness. To survive in the competitive world of this individualistic consciousness, the person must use his/her wits, knowledge, inventiveness, and must behave defensively. For example, driving on busy freeways, competing to achieve a more prominent position, making more money, or building a bigger cathedral. All of this conditioned mind activity takes great energy and time, leaving very little time during our daily life to inquire into peace of mind. It seems we must become monks to experience silence or oneness.
However, there is a quality of attentiveness we can experience that opens doors to awareness in order for us to live peaceful, loving lives regardless of personal philosophy or religion.
First, we need to be observant of our quality of living: how stressed, how busy it is with unnecessary things. The busier the mind with unnecessary concerns, the less there is a chance for silence or peacefulness.
Second, we need to notice our automatic responses (emotional reactions) and our conditioning, which also consumes much of our energy.
Third, and most importantly, we need to be alert to our own thought process, because it takes great energy to live in the past or future, which is the nature of thought. To be attentive to the natural consequence of this indispensable human function, we have an arduous job ahead of us. It is not a wonder that some gurus and teachers have recommended an "empty mind", and have said that "thought must stop" in order to achieve a quiet mind or to be enlightened.
Unfortunately, this has given the impression that thought is the culprit causing our unhappiness, evil and conflicts. It is not the thinking process itself that has brought humans to a civilization full of conflict, corruption and war, but rather the conditioned content of thought that continues to repeat itself in patterns of behavior in humanity's consciousness.
The quality of the content of thought depends on awareness.
The unawareness of our own functioning as human beings on this planet, may limit us within narrow paralyzing belief systems, preventing our great capacity for love to come to fruition in humanity. We are further limited by the divisive nature of thought. We see everything in opposites such as good/bad, tall/short, spiritual/carnal, etc. We believe in "oneness", yet separate ourselves into nations, guard our possessions, and fight for anything we consider our "own."
Not understanding the paradox that mass and energy are the same, we separate body and spirit; religious activity has become extraneous to relationships. Thus, we may practice religion in church but not necessarily in our daily living. Furthermore, we treat our bodies as if they were other than spirit.
We are ©Spiritupsychophysicalness. You will not find this word in the dictionary, because it is this author's creation. The reason to have one whole word rather than the traditional body/mind/spirit is that this long word brings to mind a true image of ourselves —the totality of our process as human beings.
Practicing silence (absence of verbiage) allows for time and energy to be redirected into cognizance of the three observations suggested earlier. Daily meditation practice (sitting in silence) is a most propitious way to experience a complete attention to the nature of our thought process. Silent retreats with others provide for a gathering of energy of beings with the common purpose of being in this quality of attention.
This way of being is natural to us. The "state of silence" comes to us of its own accord. It appears when the busyness, the stress, the ambitions have been given up; when attention to the "other" rather than the "me" predominates in our lives.
As "I" (ego) dissolves as a structure, there is communion with humanity, with the Universe. Daily living is then experienced as spiritual living—as giving rather than taking and as love rather than competition.
The silent space of being is enlightenment itself.