Seeds of Insight 008 - Silence is our true nature, but how to be silent?
Dear You,
“Words like violence break the silence”. So goes the iconic 1990s Depeche Mode tune “Enjoy the Silence” that defined much of my becoming a grown up person. It speaks of the limitations of words as a means of expression. “Feelings are intense, words are trivial”, it says. Certainly true, but when our teachers speak of Silence in a spiritual context, they mean something bigger, quieter and closer to us than simple lack of words.
Papaji, who was a beloved Indian teacher of self-inquiry, said that the goal of any practice is Silence. And when he spoke of Silence, he pointed to something our mind can’t actually conceive of - because it is not an object. It is said to be our True Nature in which all objects, words, thoughts and emotions arise. That, from which everything else appears.
The following is a transcript from a recorded satsang with Papaji called “Return to Silence”:
“The only teaching I believe in is Silence. You came from Silence and you will return to Silence. This disturbance is of the mind.
So we have to train the mind to return to Silence. Keep your body quiet, your mind quiet, your intellect quiet, even your prana [life force] quiet. Then you will see the wisdom follow you. This is what Ramana Maharshi [Papaji’s guru] used to say: “Let us not run behind freedom, enlightenment. If we keep quiet, it will follow us”.
This Silence is your nature. How to be silent? Direct your mind towards its source and you are silent. When we direct the mind towards an object of desire, suffering arises. This same mind can be directed towards its own source, its substratum, and you are at peace.
This is called Freedom. Freedom is not available somewhere else in the mountains, nor in the caves, nor in the books. It is here and now.”
~Papaji
Photo by Daniele Levis Pelusi on Unsplash
With Love,
Iri
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