When it is dark
and I begin my journey through night’s tunnel,
sounds change and gradually diminish
and something opens up inside of me to listen.
After the usual sounds in my part of the world let down,
I’ll hear recognizable sounds . . .
a few cars going by,
then fewer,
then none . . .
the cats having a tiff over leftover food downstairs,
the neighbor shutting down her music,
the scurry of an animal outside,
a barn owl hooting to his neighbor,
the wind
brushing a tree limb brushing against the house . . .
sometimes rain against my windowpane,
sometimes the negative sound of snow.
I lay still and quiet in my cozy bed . . .
and I hear things
either beneath or above the silence . . .
perhaps it is the Music of the Spheres,
both filling and emptying my ears,
circling its way into my heart,
where,
if I invite it
and allow it
it sings to me in languages I cannot translate in waking life,
but can remember,
just like what makes sense in my dreamworld
doesn’t make the same kind of sense in the waking world.
But,
whatever it is,
it soothes and comforts me
and tells me not to be afraid anymore . . .
I can carry that
into my daytime world,
but am not yet wise and trusting enough
to have ultimate faith in it . . .
not yet.
There’s still time. ♥
My Ngoc, I’m very sure you had a lot of those with Tran and the baby. With you already returned to the US, I look forward to creating more of those with you. This morning is a good starting point here on this site.
Elizabeth, all that you mentioned is beautiful. It helps me see my root people the right way. Most people I’m surrounded by are Asian adults of my parent’s generation. Looking for technique in their style of care is a big ask. I’m the rare type who has both heart and technique. It starts and ends with the former, because it’s genuine. Technique can be learned with experience. That without heart leads to dark deceptive paths of distruction.
I’ve talked about integrity being my core value. I’m continuing to work on that myself. I have a tendency to pull strings to get my way when in discomfort. I’m putting in a concerted effort to reduce cheating. What I mean by cheating is what I’ve ellaborated on over manipulating systems in my favor for personal gain. When I succeeded, I felt intense pleasure. That’s a concern, because when caught, that same pleasure turns into pain. Pleasure betrays. And of course, there’s the old saying we’re all familiar with on the sun, the moon, and the truth.
Responses over truth remind me of Antoinette. The false self and string pulling go together.
I love making space for silence. It brings me back to myself. Back to the truth of my being. I feel peace, calm, content. I can feel the energy of Life inside of me and around me. Sometimes my mind won’t shut up, but I persist because I know how good it is for me, and thus everything and everyone around me. Taking time to sit in silence can offer answers if we are listening closely.
when i invite silence to my mind, peace is one thing for sure that does not come to me. My mind becomes a cascade of things that overwhelms me and makes me doubt myself, makes me insecure, makes me feel i am not enough, i need to do more, i have to do so many things that are left.
It depends on what one means by silence. I’m retired and I live alone so there is a lot of silence surrounding me physically but my monkey mind dances a jig most of the time. I find body scans and breathing exercises help me silence it. On my daily walk, I greet all I meet. I pet stray cats and other people’s dogs and I remove worms from the sidewalk after a rain before the sun can bake them. I try not to watch too much news these days as a lot of it is not fact based. It’s filled with opinion and spin.
Not really sure I have answered the question but do want to share Richard Rohr’s meditation for today about the importance of community and let you all know how important this daily question community is to me. Wishing you all space to BE! https://cac.org/daily-meditations/a-community-of-care/
Carol, like you, I try not to watch too much news– just enough to keep informed and decide what I can do to be of help, but not so much as to get drawn into a spiral of despair.
One news source I find very helpful is Allsides.com I subscribe to their daily email headlines. They feature the same news items from sources from the Left, Center, and Right. That way I can get the news and see how each side spins it and feel like I am getting more of a grasp of what is truly happening.
I pick up worms too! It reminds me the story of the starfish in the beach. I can’t help this all but I can make a difference to that one. You are such an inspiration.
Thank you as always,
dear Carol,
for posting Richard Rohr’s meditation,
which is so pertinent these days
when so many people feel isolated from any type of community.
Funny thing . . .
I do the same thing with worms . . . 🙂
There is a magic that comes over my whole body
My finest experience is during a snowfall it is so quiet and peace filled, I hear the flames falling. It rejuvenates and calms my whole being.
When I have some silence, I can bring awareness to my current state. It invites a checking in. It seems that as I’ve gotten older, I have become more tolerant of silence. If fact, I feel like need some silence every day. I think I used to be afraid of silence. Afraid of being alone with my thoughts.
The unexpected arises. I mostly make space for silence when I am in motion. Sometimes I sink into the rhythm of my breath if I’m exercising somewhere quiet in nature. Other times unexpected thoughts, imaginings, impressions, insights surface. Still other times I use the space to steer myself towards a practice, like self-compassion. A good reminder to make space for silence.
I don’t really make time for silence, at least not with intention.
I just now took a moment for silence. It brought me right to my breathing.
I looked around, and felt great appreciation.
Peace, my friends.
I have a daily practice of going into Silence. Silence is an “attribute” (I have this in quotation marks because it really is indescribable) of the Center of Consciousness. In the Wisdom Tradition I practice, we are taught this fundamental practice of steeping in Union with the Center from which all else springs in a systematic meditation to Silence. In this space, sometimes I am aware of what is beyond thought. At other times, my agitated mind obscures the Silence, but I still get to reboot my nervous system by taking a break from all of the external stimulation.
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Silence in the world
rising stillness everywhere
Aah! lovely dishes!
Ose– What a lovely idea to write your answer as a haiku! ♥️
When it is dark
and I begin my journey through night’s tunnel,
sounds change and gradually diminish
and something opens up inside of me to listen.
After the usual sounds in my part of the world let down,
I’ll hear recognizable sounds . . .
a few cars going by,
then fewer,
then none . . .
the cats having a tiff over leftover food downstairs,
the neighbor shutting down her music,
the scurry of an animal outside,
a barn owl hooting to his neighbor,
the wind
brushing a tree limb brushing against the house . . .
sometimes rain against my windowpane,
sometimes the negative sound of snow.
I lay still and quiet in my cozy bed . . .
and I hear things
either beneath or above the silence . . .
perhaps it is the Music of the Spheres,
both filling and emptying my ears,
circling its way into my heart,
where,
if I invite it
and allow it
it sings to me in languages I cannot translate in waking life,
but can remember,
just like what makes sense in my dreamworld
doesn’t make the same kind of sense in the waking world.
But,
whatever it is,
it soothes and comforts me
and tells me not to be afraid anymore . . .
I can carry that
into my daytime world,
but am not yet wise and trusting enough
to have ultimate faith in it . . .
not yet.
There’s still time. ♥
When I create a silent space in my daily life, beautiful moments with my loved ones emerge. 😍
My Ngoc, I’m very sure you had a lot of those with Tran and the baby. With you already returned to the US, I look forward to creating more of those with you. This morning is a good starting point here on this site.
Presence, peace, more clarity of thought.
Elizabeth, all that you mentioned is beautiful. It helps me see my root people the right way. Most people I’m surrounded by are Asian adults of my parent’s generation. Looking for technique in their style of care is a big ask. I’m the rare type who has both heart and technique. It starts and ends with the former, because it’s genuine. Technique can be learned with experience. That without heart leads to dark deceptive paths of distruction.
I’ve talked about integrity being my core value. I’m continuing to work on that myself. I have a tendency to pull strings to get my way when in discomfort. I’m putting in a concerted effort to reduce cheating. What I mean by cheating is what I’ve ellaborated on over manipulating systems in my favor for personal gain. When I succeeded, I felt intense pleasure. That’s a concern, because when caught, that same pleasure turns into pain. Pleasure betrays. And of course, there’s the old saying we’re all familiar with on the sun, the moon, and the truth.
Responses over truth remind me of Antoinette. The false self and string pulling go together.
I love making space for silence. It brings me back to myself. Back to the truth of my being. I feel peace, calm, content. I can feel the energy of Life inside of me and around me. Sometimes my mind won’t shut up, but I persist because I know how good it is for me, and thus everything and everyone around me. Taking time to sit in silence can offer answers if we are listening closely.
Making room for silence has helped me with Vietnamese poetry writing.
Thank you so much, Loc, for your interest in learning the Vietnamese language. We love your poems. 😍
No problem, my Ngoc. Another one came out this morning.
when i invite silence to my mind, peace is one thing for sure that does not come to me. My mind becomes a cascade of things that overwhelms me and makes me doubt myself, makes me insecure, makes me feel i am not enough, i need to do more, i have to do so many things that are left.
I believe it is there,
dear Vanshika,
underneath the thoughts and doubts,
but it takes time.
It will come
when you are ready. ♥
Vanshika, I do believe that peace IS there, underneath the cascade, for all of us. Sending love…
May you find peace within. It’s a slow process but there are many wise and caring people here with so much insight.
It depends on what one means by silence. I’m retired and I live alone so there is a lot of silence surrounding me physically but my monkey mind dances a jig most of the time. I find body scans and breathing exercises help me silence it. On my daily walk, I greet all I meet. I pet stray cats and other people’s dogs and I remove worms from the sidewalk after a rain before the sun can bake them. I try not to watch too much news these days as a lot of it is not fact based. It’s filled with opinion and spin.
Not really sure I have answered the question but do want to share Richard Rohr’s meditation for today about the importance of community and let you all know how important this daily question community is to me. Wishing you all space to BE!
https://cac.org/daily-meditations/a-community-of-care/
Carol, like you, I try not to watch too much news– just enough to keep informed and decide what I can do to be of help, but not so much as to get drawn into a spiral of despair.
One news source I find very helpful is Allsides.com I subscribe to their daily email headlines. They feature the same news items from sources from the Left, Center, and Right. That way I can get the news and see how each side spins it and feel like I am getting more of a grasp of what is truly happening.
Elizabeth, Thanks for the info.
I pick up worms too! It reminds me the story of the starfish in the beach. I can’t help this all but I can make a difference to that one. You are such an inspiration.
DEANN I’m discovering that I’m not the only worm lover!
🙂
Thank you as always,
dear Carol,
for posting Richard Rohr’s meditation,
which is so pertinent these days
when so many people feel isolated from any type of community.
Funny thing . . .
I do the same thing with worms . . . 🙂
There is a magic that comes over my whole body
My finest experience is during a snowfall it is so quiet and peace filled, I hear the flames falling. It rejuvenates and calms my whole being.
Peace
Beauty
Happiness
Contentnent
Time in nature
When I make space for silence in my daily life, peace and reflections arise.
When I have some silence, I can bring awareness to my current state. It invites a checking in. It seems that as I’ve gotten older, I have become more tolerant of silence. If fact, I feel like need some silence every day. I think I used to be afraid of silence. Afraid of being alone with my thoughts.
The unexpected arises. I mostly make space for silence when I am in motion. Sometimes I sink into the rhythm of my breath if I’m exercising somewhere quiet in nature. Other times unexpected thoughts, imaginings, impressions, insights surface. Still other times I use the space to steer myself towards a practice, like self-compassion. A good reminder to make space for silence.
I don’t really make time for silence, at least not with intention.
I just now took a moment for silence. It brought me right to my breathing.
I looked around, and felt great appreciation.
Peace, my friends.
I have a daily practice of going into Silence. Silence is an “attribute” (I have this in quotation marks because it really is indescribable) of the Center of Consciousness. In the Wisdom Tradition I practice, we are taught this fundamental practice of steeping in Union with the Center from which all else springs in a systematic meditation to Silence. In this space, sometimes I am aware of what is beyond thought. At other times, my agitated mind obscures the Silence, but I still get to reboot my nervous system by taking a break from all of the external stimulation.
Thanks, Avril. I find this very helpful. “Union with the Center” Just reading your post was centering for me.