Be Quiet!

I talk a lot about sound. About everything in existence being in a constant state of vibration and thus always emitting sound. The truth is there is no such thing as quiet. I heard once about a room built by some researchers that was built in such a way that it absorbed almost 100% of all sounds. It was the quietest room in existence and it is said that most people could not spend more than a few minutes in there before it became unbearable. If they uttered a word it just immediately disappeared and they could hear the sounds from inside their bodies very loudly. Their heartbeats in their ears etc… It is said that some people vomited. Others fainted. Sounds a bit strange, maybe, but think about it; when do you ever experience total silence? The answer is; never!

But that is not really what I wanted to talk about in this post. What I wanted to talk about is the kind of inner silence that is often talked about in relation to meditation. This inner silence or silence of the mind is often interpreted as stopping thoughts from occuring. This is what causes so many people to feel that they fail at meditation and thus give up. Stopping the thought process is incredibly difficult if not completely impossible. What is a lot easier though is to disidentify with the thoughts. Create a certain distance between yourself and your thoughts. There are many ways to do this, but probably the easiest one is repeating a mantra in your head. Try it. Last time I talked about chanting AUM, and that is a very good mantra. If you would prefer another they are easy to find online. Explore them and find one that resonates with you. Repeat it in your head as often as you can. While you are taking a walk, sitting on the train, etc… whenever you are in a situation where you do not need to consciously think about something. If you are interested in going really deep you can spend a few hours, or maybe a whole day just repeating your mantra in your head. It is great practice for creating this space between yourself and your thoughts and will help you become more meditative. Try it.

Another way to practice silence is simply to not talk. Many people are addicted to talking. They do not have to have anything to say, and often it is just nonsense coming out of their mouths. Just noise. Often the same things repeated again and again. They seem to fear silence. If no one is around they talk to themselves. Out loud, or in their heads. It makes very little difference. This is compulsive behaviour and a perfect recipe for madness. So practice not talking. To yourself and to others. If you are with others and something needs to be communicated then, of course, talk. I am not suggesting developing a fear of verbal communication! Just do not overdo it. Talk when you have something to say, otherwise be quiet. It is the same with thought; use your mind when you need it, otherwise let it be still! It is just a lot easier to begin practice with not talking. Then you can advance to not thinking.

Another practice is to keep your body still. Become aware of fidgeting and compulsive scratching and biting lip and cracking fingers and whatnot. Notice when it is happening and train yourself to keep it still. It is not necessary to move most of the time. Your heart is beating and the blood is flowing. Neurons are firing. It is enough.

Practice makes perfect. Do not expect to master any of these things right away. They are simple practices, yes, but we are talking about changing lifelong unconscious habits here. It is challenging. It will take time. Practice daily. Be persistent. Do not give up. Results will come. Listening to healing and harmonising music is a very effective tool to achieve these quiet states, but in combination with your own conscious practice it is unbeatable. You will be a Yogic master before you know it;)

Enough for now. Can not expect people to read more than a couple of pages these days;P

Thank you for reading and I will be back in about a week!

Jonas