Let's close our eyes.
Just withdraw all your energy from everything else that is going on.
And stay here fully.
We are constantly interpreting.
Understanding what is happening.
Categorizing things as right or wrong,
Good or bad.
This makes sense,
That doesn't make sense.
It is this way,
Not that way.
Let's pause this habit of interpretation.
Even if we didn't interpret something,
Life will continue the same way.
If we didn't interpret the day as a drag,
If it is raining,
If it is too hot,
The day is not implicated by our interpretation.
This might not come,
Or this might not sit well with our constantly interpreting mind.
But let's do a little experiment.
Right now,
Our eyes are closed.
We might be in a certain section of the office,
Or at home.
Now whatever this state of the rest of our environment is,
At this slice of time,
We have no way to know what that state is.
And therefore we cannot interpret it.
But even if we are not able to interpret it,
The environment that is out there is in no way implicated by our lack of interpretation.
If we didn't have an opinion about the news,
Nothing will happen to the news.
If we didn't scroll our phone on social media,
Nothing is going to happen to social media.
If we didn't have an opinion on the politics or the world affairs,
Things are going to continue as they were.
I'm not saying having an opinion is a bad thing,
Or acting on our opinions is a bad thing.
All I'm trying to explain is we can pause whenever we want to,
And know that the world will continue just the same.
I remember years ago,
I was doing a silent retreat.
And the retreat was during New Year's.
It started on the 30th of December,
All the way through 2nd or 3rd of January.
So when I turned off my phone,
I was a bit nervous.
I wasn't going to be able to wish my family and friends Happy New Year.
They wouldn't be able to wish me.
I thought the world would be incomplete if I didn't have my phone on me.
But when I did start my phone after the retreat,
I was humbled.
Nothing stopped.
Sure,
I missed a few messages,
But nothing life threatening.
We like to interpret.
We like to think that our interpretation is essential.
But that's a very narrow view.
It's a very isolated view of how things really happen.
Our opinion,
Our actions,
They don't happen in isolation.
The rest of the nature needs to work in parallel,
In sequence,
And so many other ways for something to actually happen.
We are not outside of nature.
There is nature.
There is us.
So nature continues.
It continued before us.
It will continue after us.
That might be very humbling to see.
But it can also be very intelligent insight.
That we are here as a part of nature to contribute,
To share,
To act,
To rest.
Thank you.
This interpretation is a skill that is very,
Very powerful.
It needs to be in service of creativity,
Beauty,
Love.
Exploration of truth.
And not as a hammer,
To just find nails.
What connects us are stories.
You cannot have powerful stories without powerful interpretations.
Harmony in our relationships and interpersonal relationships,
They're all based on interpretations.
Love,
Kindness are all interpretations.
In action.
Thank you.
The only way we can experience quietude,
Peace,
True silence,
Is if we are truly quiet,
Truly silent.
Even if it is for a short time.
No internal monologue.
Or dialogue.
No interpretation.
No judgment.
No categorization.
No problem solving.
Just silent.
Letting the sounds of the birds play.
Uninterrupted.
The sound of the wind.
The movement of the trees.
The sounds of our stomach gurgling.
The sound of our breath.
All these sounds are playing.
But we are not contributing to any sound.
We are not even calling the sound of the breath as the sound of the breath.
For us,
It's just sound.
We are not even calling the sound.
We are not even calling the sound.
We are not even calling the sound.
We are not even calling the sound.
We are not even calling the sound.
It's like the silence of being in deep sleep.
It's not the dead silence.
But a silence that nourishes.
Heals.
Silence that doesn't divide.
Silence that doesn't divide.
Silence that doesn't divide.
Silence that doesn't divide.
Silence that doesn't divide.
Silence that doesn't divide.
Silence that doesn't divide.
If there is resistance,
Resistance to being silent,
Then the argument is that if I didn't think about something,
How will it happen?
Don't take this argument at face value.
Question it.
The idea that I constantly need to think about something for something to happen is a recipe created for unhappiness and anxiety.
If it should be thought of,
We should think about it and do something and move on.
If nothing can be done,
Then question this argument.
If nothing can be done,
What's the point of thinking?
Either way.
Find a way back to this nourishing silence.
Even if it is for a few minutes.
Thank you.
