SILENCE & SOLITUDE AS TEACHER

We all want a teacher. Someone wiser, with a bigger or better perspective on our own life that can help guide us. But we already have that and can access that teacher whenever we need. That teacher is the quiet voice inside of us, sometimes only heard in silence.

Most of us live a life of stimulation. Multiple input streams: TV, movies, internet, email, Twitter, Facebook, friends, family, work, co-workers. It is so hard to even recognize the voice of our true self within all that stimulation, layered on top of our own wants, needs and desires and the constant inner dialog or narration of our sensations.

There is no guide or teacher more powerful, wise and all-knowing as silence. It is only through silence that we can hear distant murmurings of our heart. When we listen to that silence we begin to hear that quiet honest voice within, longing to be heard, to be paid attention to.

It is your job to find enough solitude to invite that quiet voice to speak. Don’t judge. Don’t react. Just listen. What is it telling you? What does it want you to know? When listened to that voice becomes louder; when paid attention to that voice becomes stronger.

One way to start this process is to set an intentional time, with a beginning and an end. Whether a short walk to the park or a long drive to the ocean make the journey part of the process. Start by slowing down and tuning both out and in. Turn off the car radio, turn off the iPod, put away your headphones, stop checking email. Let your too-active mind slowly settle into the silence and drift towards stillness. The less visual stimulation the better, nature is good, darkness even better.

If this is a new concept start small and simple– a walk in the woods at night or around a lake. When ready, an ideal place is on a personal silent retreat of more than one day. Rent a cabin or find a retreat center in your area. Going through a complete cycle of a day and night is good. Multiple days even better, as you will pass through layers of experience, descending deeper and deeper into the power of silence.

Many forces will conspire to stop or delay you. An emergency at work, an urgent family matter, cleaning the gutters or alphabetizing the junk drawer…but usually these are our own manifestations of the fear of what we might discover when all else is stripped away.

Don’t wait for when the time is right or conditions in your life are better. Do this soon. Do it now.

“But within our inner hurts, maybe the best way is not to listen to any words or ideas at all.
Simply let the silence work on and through you, till you’re part of something larger.”
– Pico Iyer 

©Douglas Beasley 2014