The Mystery of Silence, Dorothy Hunt
Silence cannot really be described. It is not the absence of sound. It makes it possible to notice sound. It is still, but its stillness is constantly moving. It is nothing, but a nothing filled with everything. It is aware, but may move unaware. It is love, but a love that lets hatred be. It is wise, but its wisdom only fools can know. It has a shape, the shape of this moment. It has its own sound, but can only be heard when the mind is still. Unceasingly, it speaks Truth without uttering a single word.
This Silent Mystery is prior to mind. It also moves as mind, but the mind cannot imagine what it is to disappear into Silence. That is why it is so often afraid of deep silence. Yet it is in silence that we can discover the truth of what is always here, always undivided, and always in peace, even if the moment does not seem peaceful. The Silence of our true nature is deeply, profoundly, and unceasingly present. It cannot be lost by the mind’s confusions nor gained by its clarity, for this awake and eternal Silence does not come and go.
We do not need long years on a meditation cushion to ask ourselves: What is here when we are not trying to arrive there? What is here, so close we do not notice? Who am I when I don’t go to my mind for an answer? What knows cannot be known except to Itself. It is a Mystery prior to any and all concepts. We might say it is what silences every thought and every concept—even those called truth, God, Buddha, world, or the concept of a “me;” yet it is simultaneously their source.
In This that dreams the world and the play of existence each moment, everything continually appears and disappears into an ever-present Silence that knows no separation between background and foreground, divine and human, teacher and student, enlightened and unenlightened, God and flea. It is undivided Silence, empty of nothing, continually moving, continually still. It is what we are. It is where the mind cannot go, where mind must remain in unknowing.
--Dorothy Hunt
Thank you, Lightwins,
This small piece will take eons to comprehend! My favorite line is: "Who am I when I don’t go to my mind for an answer?" Although I treasure my quiet lifestyle, I still need music while I am awake. Who is Dorothy Hunt?
Love, JoyAnna
...there's lots to digest here. I am old friends with silence, and yet there is always more to learn. I have to be in the right frame of mind to go into silence constructively and without being fidgety. But when it's right, it's best.
8-D
Dave,
I find it most useful, when I"m "not in the right frame of mind," when I am agitated or fidgety, angry, frightened or sad, to inquire into who or what is aware of the experience? Most often, the attention directed by the question reveals that the awakeness of now is ever present and not state dependent. What do you notice?
J
Thanks for your insight, John...you're right of course. Finding it difficult to be silent and calm is part of ADHD. I've found it easier as I've grown older. I think my many years sitting in silent worship with the Quakers was very useful, because there is discipline as well as inspiration involved. It is mostly a matter of letting go and letting the silence in. The breathing techniques I have learned both through the TC and elsewhere, which I've put together into what I call a Two-Minute Vacation have been extremely helpful in this regard.
8-D
Dorothy is a friend/acquaintance of mine; we have for years participated in some of the same spiritual circles. One of our teachers, Adyashanti, ( http://www.zen-satsang.org ) asked her to teach several years ago....In her own words:
http://www.dorothyhunt.org/bio_page.htm
Blessings,
John
PS When you inquire, "who am I?" and you dont go to your mind for an answer, what do you actually notice; right here, just now?
Dave, one of the things I am working with that is generally very helpful for both ADHD and quieting the mind to make the ever-presence of the silent, open space of awareness even more self-evident is Brain State Conditioning. We are still in the construction phase of putting up a website for our business, The Quiet Mind but the new website at http://www.brainstatetech.com is now up and running, albeit, not as complete as it will be and there, you can get some sense of whether this technology might be useful for you.
Blessings,
John