Joy of Silence

Joy of Silence

This August, I have rediscovered the wonder of silence. I have been able to spend weeks at our home in northern Maine for the first time in a couple of years. Our home is in the woods on a two-mile long lake. Although we have neighbors, most of the time the houses are unoccupied and the lake has few boats on it. Moose, deer, foxes, coydogs, and an infrequent bear are our true neighbors. They move silently around us and only leave their paw prints to show us that they were here.

Very soon after I arrived here, I became aware of the absence of noise – no lawnmowers, no cars, no people talking – just silence: wonderful, calming silence and stillness. Then things got even better. Bob and I bought two kayaks for our anniversary. Kayaking on the lake in the late afternoon has been a wonderful experience - so quiet and peaceful. No waves, no boats, no noise. It feels like this is what nature intended and that mankind has messed up. I can’t help but envy the animals that live in these quiet woods. I want to apologize to them for the snowmobiles and ATVs that invade their sanctuary.

I find that my soul reaches out for the silence and embraces it like a long lost friend. All my senses are alive and tuned into the silence. I feel like a healing, calming light is entering at the top of my head and going deep inside me to my soul. It makes me feel joyful and ever so grateful for the experience. I wonder how I can find this silence away from this place. I have made a promise to myself to seek out silence, and to make sure I experience it on a regular basis.

In the past few years, I have been frustrated when I tried to meditate because I could never find a place and a time that was quiet. Just when I settle down to mediate a lawnmower, car, boat (or jet skies – ugh!), phone, radio, or television starts blaring within my hearing that I can’t turn off. I have to laugh because when I set out to meditate, it usually takes me a considerable time to find the right spot, the right chair and the right position only to be driven away by my noisy surroundings. I figure that all my wasted preparation might make a winning entry to America’s Funniest Videos.

Here, the silence and stillness are a perfect setting for meditation. It is just there waiting to be experienced and appreciated. I can count on many minutes or even an hour without noise and interruption. Within seconds all my senses are open, alive and ready to move into meditation.

I don’t even have to battle the voices in my head because somehow they sense the silence and are quiet too.
Eckhart Tolle has written a book he entitled Stillness Speaks and has a chapter on silence and stillness. He writes the following three recommendations:

1) Whenever there is some silence around you – listen to it. That means just notice it. Pay attention to it. Listening to silence awakens the dimension of stillness within yourself, because it is only through stillness that you can be aware of silence.

2) See that in the moment of noticing the silence around you, you are not thinking. You are aware, but not thinking.

3) When you become aware of silence, immediately there is that state of inner still alertness. You are present. You have stepped out of thousands of years of collective human conditioning.

Once again, Eckhart Tolle has stated so simply, but so well, what I have experienced. I remember watching him on Oprah’s web cast and seeing his stillness and peacefulness. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if all of us could experience that in ourselves? I wonder how much happier and healthier we all would be if we had a chance to experience silence and stillness at least once a day. I wonder also how much better we could use our minds and creativity without all the noisy distractions around us. It seems that we are increasingly bombarded with inventions that bring us more noise, more activity, more communication, and prevent us from experiencing the job and healing of silence and stillness. What price are we paying for all this?

Seek out a place in which you can be quiet and still. Being outdoors is wonderful, but you may need to experience it early in the morning or late at night when your neighbors are asleep. I am sure that if you can experience silence and stillness once a day, you will find that losing some sleep is well worth it.

May you experience moments of silence and stillness in the upcoming week that soothe your soul.

Namasté,

Ginny

This website is to stimulate your spiritual thinking in the hope that it will contribute to your spiritual growth. The author invites your comments and critiques by reply e-mail to bob@futuremoons.com.