02/06/2024
Balance is important in all areas https://www.facebook.com/share/p/y7RyVmNK1YZt7wxC/
The Sound of silence
For most of the past 43 years I have lived on Rural properties or rural villages, so the last couple of years, things have been a real change for me living in the suburbs and now close to the inner city. Living rurally I became accustomed to just hearing silence and the sounds of nature, bird calls, wind in the trees, dogs, horses, cows and just the occasional agricultural engine or a car going past in the distance. But now after a year spent in the suburbs and a year in or very close to the inner city, I've acquired a new understanding of the role of noise.
Where I am now there is there's constant traffic noise and what seems like constant sirens, it doesn't matter what time of day or night the sounds of sirens punctuate the passing of time. Add to that the seemingly exaggerated noise of (would be) ‘hot’ cars and motor bikes it is totally alien noise footprint to me. And the potential impact upon the levels of consciousness of inner city dwellers could be immense. The sirens add a sense of urgency or alarm or fear for some people, others it seems to bring out a kind of morbid curiosity. Whatever emotion the sound brings up, it has the potential to disturb peace of mind, to add yet another layer of distraction away from dropping in to the inner silence. All the noise makes it a lot harder to find silence within oneself. And silence or benefits of periods of silence is something that can't be overestimated.
Many people live very, very noisy lives, a lot of the time on the phone, even when relaxing – I see examples every day of people going for their morning walk/ exercise talking on the phone barely cognisant of their surroundings, working in noisy environments, then getting home and relaxing by watching Netflix, Amazon etc or again on the phone. This constant exposure to noise, brings with it not just an acceptance of noise, but almost a need for noise as the soundtrack to their lives. I see this also in south east Asian cultures where load music it seems must simply be everywhere.
When I ask people if they meditate, the answer too often is I don’t have time.
The trouble with these sounds and noises is that even when one does not consciously hear them, they are still picked up by the subconscious mind, and so can still disturb one’s peace of mind, unless you take time to reset by connecting within.
I can understand the need for pleasant noise to drown out the environmental noise. And in many cases the constant need for noise or distraction is an unconscious attempt to take the attention away from the constant chatter of the egoic voice within, the voice that never shuts up giving advice, telling one what they have done wrong, who they have upset, thinking about who has upset them etc etc.
The benefit of making time for silence, is so one can hear that inner chatter and recognise that whatever one does the voice will never shut up. Once one realises that it is easier to ignore it and through meditation tune into the whispers from within, the whispers from the heart, and soul, this is the voice that never criticises, berates, nags or drives, it is a supportive, loving accepting encouraging voice that wishes only the best for you.
I know for me, when I'm meditating I can shut out those sounds, but I guess my meditation practice is mature enough now for me to be able to do that easily. But when I first started meditating, if I'd had all that going on in the background I could easily have just given up, It's not worth it, I'm never going to be able to meditate with this noise going on (which of course would be the sound of the ego voice).
But making time in your day to make time for silence can't be overestimated. It is so so powerful, it allows one to reset, to go into a more peaceful state, to drop out of the fight or flight (sympathetic nervous system) into a state of rest and digest (parasympathetic nervous system) and to become present to yourself, to your breath.
Whenever you have the time or when you make the time to be present with yourself with no other distractions in your world. Where you can be conscious of your breath and maybe your heartbeat. By focusing on the sound of your breath you will be able to shut out those other noises and hear the subtle voices, the whispers from the heart. The whispers from your soul, so you can tune into you tune in to the real you and that has immeasurable benefits.
The sound of silence it's something that many people are not used to, and it scares them. Scares is perhaps not the right word, but it seems to scare some people. The idea of being silent, the idea of not not having noise around them to distract them is frightening.
The sound of silence can't be overestimated. It's a real gift. I urge you to go out and be silent or go within and be silent. And silence is a great tool in relationships as well. Just to be able to hold each other in silence. They are able to hear your partner's breath if our hearts hear the silent communication that's going on between the two of you. To be able to hear or feel that silent communication is important because our words often get in the way. This is a whole new subject but our words, our language often falls well short of expressing what we really want to say. What our hearts want to express, the words that come out of our mouth often don't match what we're what what we're trying to say because often there's no words for what the heart is feeling. And then add to that, other people are often not listening, not really listening. They're only listening for what they expect to hear rather than what is actually being said. Going into silence, finding or making time each day to be truly silent is invaluable in helping to gain an appreciation of all that and to discover the real you.
You have a choice,
You can continue trying to keep busy, keep being noisy to drown out the voice of ego constantly going “I should be doing something” “got to be keeping busy” “I can't sit around doing nothing blah blah blah blah blah” “what did you say that for you Idiot” “You messed that up again didn't you?”.
Or you can choose to make time for silence, make time to go within and start the journey to the real you,and so bring more peace into your world.
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