It must be immense, this silence, in which sounds and movements have

room, and if one thinks that along with all this the presence of the

distant sea also resounds, perhaps as the innermost note in this

prehistoric harmony, then one can only wish that you are trustingly

and patiently letting the magnificent solitude work upon you, this

solitude which can no longer be erased from your life; which, in

everything that is in store for you to experience and to do, will act

as an anonymous influence, continuously and gently decisive, rather as

the blood of our ancestors incessantly moves in us and combines with

our own to form the unique, unrepeatable being that we are at every

turning of our life.

~ Rainer Maria Rilke

"Be alert for any sign of beauty or grace. Offer up every joy, be awake at all moments to “the news that is always arriving out of silence.”

~ Rainer Maria Rilke, Duino Elegies

Silence

A day of Silence

Can be a pilgrimage in itself.

A day of Silence

Can help you listen

To the Soul play

In marvelous lute and drum.

Is not most talking

A crazed defense of a crumbling fort?

I thought we came her

To surrender in Silence,

To yield to Light and Happiness,

To Dance within

In celebration of Love's Victory!

~Hafiz

'I Heard God Laughing'  Daniel Ladinsky

It is possible to spend many years in self-inquiry, pondering the truth behind things and studying the words of those who know over and over again. Such writings are plentiful, easily accessed these days, and can be very inspiring. Yet, no matter how many times we read the words, or engage in the logic of particular modes of self-inquiry, we may feel quite distant from what the words and ideas are attempting to convey. The reason is because we can only know within ourselves, and for that, the perception of our own inner silence as our Self must be opened. We need the witness.

Then, when we read the words of the wise, they will resonate more each time. It will not be the words that change us. It will be we who have changed, and we will see more truth in all expressions of knowledge as we continue to open to our native awareness inside.

~ Yogani

Excerpt from - Self-Inquiry - Dawn of the Witness and the End of Suffering

"We have become afraid of our own selves, and afraid of silence. We have become accustomed to absorbing ourselves in external distractions, often looking at a screen. Because, we never spend time with ourselves we become frightened of what we might find. Real silence is relaxing and reinvigorating. We need to learn to be at peace with ourselves. We must avoid the temptation to start judging ourselves and other people but, just be in peace."

~ Sri Chimnoy

Utterance

Sitting over words

very late I have heard a kind of whispered sighing

not far

like a night wind in pines or like a sea in the dark

the echo of everything that has ever

been spoken

still spinning its one syllable

between the earth and silence .    

- W. S. Merwin

'In the Arms of the Beloved'

"Lose yourself, Lose yourself. Escape from the black cloud that surrounds you.

Then you will see your own light as radiant as the full moon. Now enter that silence.

This is the surest way to lose yourself....What is your life about, anyway?

Nothing but a struggle to be someone, Nothing but a running from your own silence."

~ Rumi

Translation by Jonathon Star

Hey brother, why do you want me to talk?

Talk and talk and the real things get lost.

Talk and talk and things get out of hand.

Why not stop talking and think?

If you meet someone good, listen a little, speak;

If you meet someone bad, clench up like a fist.

Talking with a wise man is a great reward.

Talking with a fool? A waste.

Kabir says: A pot makes noise if it's half full,

But fill it to the brim -- no sound.

~ Kabir

"Lose yourself, Lose yourself. Escape from the black cloud that surrounds you.

Then you will see your own light as radiant as the full moon. Now enter that silence.

This is the surest way to lose yourself....What is your life about, anyway?

Nothing but a struggle to be someone, Nothing but a running from your own silence."

~ Rumi

Translation by: Jonathan Star

The Word of God is Silence

.... Creatures speak in sounds. The word of God is silence.

The secret word of God's love can be nothing but silence.

Christ is the silence of God. There is no tree like the cross.

No harmony like the silence of God. The Pythagoreans knew

this harmony in the endless silence that surrounds the stars.

Necessity, here below, is the resonance of God's silence.

Our soul makes constant noise, but it has a silent place we

never hear. When the silence of God enters us, pierces our

soul and joins its silent secret place, then God is our treasure

and our heart. And space opens before us like a fruit that

breaks in two. Then we see the universe from a point beyond

space.

~ Simone Weil

Translated by Carol Cosman

From: Random Thoughts on the Love of God

Quoted in 'The Soul is Here for its Own Joy'

Ed. Robert Bly

"Silence is a very great practice. In India, great saints used to observe silence for at least some time during their sadhana. And this kind of silence reveals the Self very soon.... If a person becomes silent even for a while... then this state of silence purifies him completely.... Stillness, silence, is a great attainment."

Swami Muktananda

"For you alone my soul in silence waits."

~ Psalm 62:1

Silence

A day of Silence

Can be a pilgrimage in itself.

A day of Silence

Can help you listen

To the Soul play

In marvelous lute and drum.

Is not most talking

A crazed defense of a crumbling fort?

I thought we came here

To surrender in Silence,

To yield to Light and Happiness,

To Dance within

In celebration of Love's Victory!

~Hafiz

'I Heard God Laughing'  Daniel Ladinsky

"I think there is an art of listening, which is to listen completley without any motive, because a motive in listening is a distraction.  If you can listen with complete attention, then there is no resistance, either to your own thoughts or to what is being said - which does not mean you will be mesmerized by words.  But it is only the very silent, quiet mind that finds out what is true, not a mind which is furiously active, thinking, resisting."

From:  To Be Human by J. Krishnamurti - pg. 4