By now you have begun to get a taste of the infinite richness of silence and stillness.
If you have been practicing with the first two sessions,
We began with slowly introducing silence into our lives with the simple practice of three minutes in the morning and three minutes in the evening.
In the following session,
We furthered our practice with ten minutes of silence first thing in the morning and then again at the end of the day.
What was your experience?
Perhaps you found yourself in a quieter and more gentle way of being in the world.
My hope is that these windows of stillness on each end of the day begin to provide a buffer that surrounds you as you continue to move through the world and your daily responsibilities.
As we are now becoming more familiar and comfortable with this daily silence practice,
If we are going to continue to make this a foundational part of our daily life,
It becomes vitally important to cultivate a space for our practice.
Now this can look many different ways depending upon your life and your circumstances.
In my case,
Living in a tiny house for a year in Kyoto,
Japan made it very easy for me to cultivate my own space of silence where I could go anytime without any outside interruptions or distractions.
This is not the case for most people in our rapidly moving world.
However,
It is precisely because of this rapidly moving world we are now living in that is so out of sync with our natural rhythm that it is so important for us to not only have these brief windows of stillness each day that we can turn to the silence and reconnect with our true nature,
But we must also cultivate a space where we can do just that.
When I returned from a year in Kyoto,
I returned to America at the outset of the pandemic.
I had sold my home and we were in the early stages of staying in seclusion,
So it was most sensible for me to return to stay with my family.
As the year went on,
This turned into a much longer period of time than anticipated and I was no longer in my own space and also living in the rhythm of a very different household.
As challenging as this was,
This became my practice.
I had to cultivate a small space in a tiny room where I could go for these periods of silence.
It became apparent very early on that in a house full of other people,
There was no silence to be found.
So I began getting up at 4 a.
M.
To sit in silence.
It was only at this time that I could find the complete silence that I knew was so important for my well-being.
I have also found these windows of silence sitting in my car at a park or on walks.
Not knowing your circumstances,
I invite you to get creative in cultivating your space for silence.
If you have a family and a full house,
You may find that getting up before everyone in order to have that silence works best for you.
I am not a morning person by nature,
But the rewards of this have been priceless.
Perhaps for you,
It may be sitting silently in your car at a park.
My encouragement,
If it is possible,
Is to create a space that you can meet the silence first thing in the morning and then before you go to sleep each night.
In Japanese homes and temples,
It is customary to have an altar.
I invite you to create your own version,
Even if it is just a simple shelf on a bookshelf where you go to sit in silence or perhaps a corner of a room or even a closet.
This does not have to be religious.
You might even place special items here that inspire your practice,
Perhaps a special book or a photo of someone who inspires you to be more peaceful.
What is most important is to create a space that you can then return to each and every day,
Knowing that this is your dedicated place and your time to be with silence.
In closing this session,
I leave you with these words written by the poet Rumi,
The breeze at dawn has secrets to tell you.
Do not go back to sleep.
You must ask for what you really want.
Do not go back to sleep.
People are going back and forth across the door sill where the two worlds touch.
The door is round and open.
Do not go back to sleep.
