The Wisdom Of Silence

Are you afraid of silence? We are blessed to have the world’s knowledge at our fingertips, but endless access comes at a cost.
We fill every quiet moment with content, but lose something in the process.
Silence itself is a teacher, and the most direct path to the self is to simply sit.
This talk explores the importance of silence, reframing it as a mirror to the self and its embrace as an act of radical self-acceptance.

Transcript

On silence. There's a saying. In the meditation circles that goes. Most direct access to the self is to simply sit. The most direct access to the self is to simply sit. We practice all of these different techniques, All of these different approaches. End. I'm more and more discovering the concept of just simply sitting. Just allowing, Just being in silence itself. Is the practice. Is the therapy. Is us taking time to think. Turn the lens of attention and just allow. Whatever is within us, To be released. We use a practice like mindfulness meditation. Focusing upon the breath, Mind wanders as we bring it back. The flame in the void you visualize the flame and if things arise you send those things into the flame. Or we do a visualization or a breath work or an intuitive guidance where we search for the body, Find things and feel them. But all of these techniques. Are almost a step above. The base practice of simply sitting. Of choiceless awareness, Of just allowing. When you simply sit. With no goal in mind. For an extended period of time. Like an hour or more. This could be done formally. It could be done whilst walking. Could be done whilst driving. We're not listening to music. We're not listening to a podcast. We're not talking. We're just simply being. Something happens. Particularly when you do this practice. Multiple days in a row. When you allow yourself extended periods of silence. There's a settling that happens. And I think it's a return to our normal. To where we could have been pre-modernity. We have access now too. Constant stimulation, Right, In your hand. The device you're listening to this. We have the capacity to be constantly and forever distracted. And indeed there is tremendous external incentives to keep us distracted to keep us focused to keep us engaged. Keep us consuming. Advertisements. But that takes something from us. We have a evolutionary bias towards more information. It kept us alive and safe. So if someone is speaking about something with confidence. Like they know what they're talking about. We gather around the proverbial campfire and we listen to the Elder express their wisdom. Those bushes over there are dangerous. Around the bend are some animals that may be harmful. Those people down the road are great for trading with. To this way, Do these certain things and you will survive. We are primed to need and consume and hunt that information. But that same Drive has been exploited. It's very easy to speak as I am now. Calmly, With confidence. Like I know what I'm talking about. Triggers A. That problem or response? And we listen. But unfortunately, We no longer have. Unless we give it to ourself. The silence that follows. We evolved to live mainly in silence, If you think about the experience. Of the evolutionary human. Yes, There was community. Yes, There was nature-based noises. Yes. There would be learning and discussions and all of those things. But there would be far, Far, Far less of it, And far, Far, Far more silence. And that silence is itself a teacher. The silence itself is a teacher. It teaches us who we are. It allows us time to process. And allows us to sit in the moment. I am here now. Because every talk. Almost every talk. Is helping you prepare for the future. By helping you process the past. Not many talks are grounding in the moment. Unless it's like a mantra-based repetition. I am here now. I am here now. I am here now. Unless it's something like that. It is making you think about the future or the past. Even what I'm saying now, You're thinking about the times in the past where you've been trapped by sound. By teachings. You're thinking about the future where you're going, Oh, I might try this. I might try. You're driving in silence. You're still not in the moment, Even though we're talking about the moment. I am here now. What I'm discovering. Is. That there is a tremendous healing benefit from silence. If you can push through, Deal with and process the absolute backlog of unprocessed stuff. It's almost like we're clearing out the email inbox. Brushing away the pus on the wound where allowing the river to flow. But all of that stuff, All of that noise, All of that stuff that like we're just listening to sort of adds a block there. I used to trick myself into believing that I wasn't like other people. It's almost like this spiritual egotism where it's like, No, No, It's okay because I'm learning. I'm listening to meditative content. I'm listening to a talk like this one, Hint hint. And that's okay. That means that it's okay to block off the silence. I'm not part of the system. I haven't been trapped by something. I'm not distracted. I'm learning. But that itself, When I realized that I was using psychoeducation as a distraction. It's like, Oh, Even this, Even these talks from these wise masters, From these gurus, From these hyper-intelligent people, From these thought leaders, Even education is content that takes me away from the biggest teacher which is this moment and the silence within. The most direct path to the Self is to simply sit. That doesn't mean that we can't choose and sort of develop techniques to help that process along. But there comes a time where we have to do the process. So you might find a technique like mindfulness. Like the flame in the void. Like intuitive guidance, Like box breathing. Like, You know, Insert whatever is working for you. To help you. To stay on the track of simply sitting. But ultimately. . . The silence is a mirror to the self. If you can embrace it, It's an act of radical self-acceptance. Things will come up. Things that you've longed. Not addressed. And those things can. Most likely will be confronting. So having a process to process what comes up is also necessary. To release. And that could be like a symbolic. Cleansing forest walk. Of fire. A release by the ocean. Prayer, Whatever works for you. But I would encourage you to listen to the silence, Which is really listening to the self. Give yourself that gift of radical self-acceptance.