The Fullness of Silence

We need silence to be able to touch
souls. Mother Teresa

Be still and know that I am God.  (Psalm 46:10).

The Value of Silence:
Taken from Wayne Dyer and interspersed with writings from other wise folks.
There’s a momentary silence in the space between your thoughts that you can become aware of with practice. In this silent space, you’ll find the peace that you crave in your daily life. You’ll never know that peace if you have no spaces between your thoughts.

The average person is said to have
60,000 separate thoughts per day. With so many thoughts, there are almost no
gaps. If you could reduce that number by half, you would open up an entire
world of possibilities for yourself.

For it is when you merge into the
silence and become one with it, that you reconnect to your source and that
peacefulness that some call God.

I urge you to demand more and more
time for silence in life. One of the most effective ways to bring this about is
to make meditation a daily practice. And remember, there’s no such thing as a
bad meditation. At first your thoughts will take off, trying to convince you
that this is a waste of time, that you should be out there being productive,
and that you’ve got so many other things to do.

Become the observer to all this inner
chatter. Eventually you’ll be able to move to the gaps between thoughts and
notice how peaceful you felt in that silent gap when you emerge from it.

When you’re at peace, you radiate a different kind of energy than when you’re stressed or depressed. The more peaceful you become, the easier you can deflect the negative energies of those you encounter. Your meditation practice keeps you immune. Furthermore, your sense of peace will bring others into harmony with you. Studies have been done to measure the serotonin levels of those in the vicinity of a large group of meditators. It is higher.

Evening Inventory – Good intentions, good
thoughts, and good acts are there for us to see. Even when we have tried hard
and failed, we may chalk that up as one of the greatest credits of all. — The
pains of failure are converted into assets. Out of them we receive the
stimulation we need to go forward. – Pain is the touchstone of all spititual
progress. — Emotional turmoil before serenity.

…Meditation is in reality intensely
practical. One of its first fruits is emotional balance. With it we can broaden
and deepen the channel between ourselves and God as we understand him.
12 and 12

True joy does not come from acquiring
new gadgets or starting another steamy romance, but from being present with
your life.  Through slowing down and
being present with your world, you are more open to the suffering around you.
Your heartstrings can be pulled by the simplest things: a puppy waiting to be
adopted or a beautiful flower just beginning to blossom. While you may have
previously walked right by those things, now you are open and available to your
world. You feel an inherent richness and tenderness.

This is Bodhichitta. Developing
Bodhichitta (Awakened Heart)

From Lodro Rinzler – The Buddha
Walks Into A Bar. . . .

The common denominator for all
spiritual seekers is that they increasingly realize that the materialistic
goals and addictions of their culture are like salt water. The more they drink,
the thirstier they become – because more is never enough. 

Bill Guggenheim
(Hello from Heaven)

The goal is not to make thinking go
away, but to slow it down. To de-energize and diffuse the analytical mind so
that it comes to rest in its natural container. When you see which of your
thoughts are restless and which are driven by fear, you no longer need to react
to those thoughts. You don’t have to believe them or disbelieve them. You just
let them be. You just take a deep breath and watch the pendulum swing back and
forth until you find your center. And then you rest in that stillness, in that
peace.

Once you are there, you no longer
desire to be anywhere else. Once you are there, you cannot be attached by your
thoughts – or anyone else’s.

 More than just creating distraction, our growing addiction to the Internet (and the constant chatter and story lines of our thoughts) is impairing precious human capacities such as memory, concentration, … and intimacy.

We are becoming
more restless, more impatient, more demanding, and more insatiable, even as we
become more connected and creative. Margaret Wheatley

Buddhist Lojong,
(mind training) – “The Three Difficulties “

To restore sanity and capacity to our
daily lives.

      
1 – You notice the behavior.

  2 – You try something different.

      
3 – You commit to practicing that new behavior until it becomes natural.

Sit down and be quiet. You are drunk
and this is the edge of the roof. Rumi

How do you fill your bucket? One drop at a time.
The journey of a thousand miles begins with one step.
The great arises out of small things that are honored and cared for.”

Heart
Of Recovery web site  —  fcheartofrecovery.com

Contemplation on Contentment:

Calm your mind by resting your
attention on the breath, for a few moments.

When you feel ready, bring up the
thought or intention of contentment.

Contentment is a complete acceptance of who you are, right here, right now.

Think about the word contentment,
bring ideas or images to mind of contentment that you have experienced.

As the meaning of the word and images
begin to penetrate, let the word and images gently drop away. Just Feel a sense of contentment.

Breath in, a complete acceptance of
who you are, right here, right now. —- Breath out, a gentle contentment of
things as they are right now.

Relax your shoulders and your jaw.

Feel a complete acceptance and
contentment in your breath and in your body. Let it penetrate; feel the meaning of just simply, being
content, in your entire mind and body.

If thoughts arise, permit them to
leave, and return to the feeling of complete contentment. Do this for 5
minutes.

Let the feeling of contentment
dissolve and sit in shamatha (peaceful abiding) meditation for a few minutes.

Short version – When You are feeling
upset or jangled by an emotion, – Acknowledge the emotion, experience what it feels like in your body, let any story line go – (he
said she said), look directly at the naked emotion. Relax your shoulders and
your jaw. Take 3 deep breaths while feeling a warm sense of contentment
disperse the emotion and gently fill you mind your body and your spirit.

Smile. Continue on with a new
lightness.