Silence

Silence is Peace.
Silence is Brahman or the Absolute.

"Ayam Atma Shantah"
Atman is Silence. Behind all noises and sounds Is Silence—thy innermost Soul. Silence is thy real Name. Silence strengthens thought-power. Silence is intuitive experience. Silence helps the intuitional Self To express itself. To go into Silence is to become God. Enter into Silence And become one with the Supreme Soul.
—Swami Sivananda.

I was going through autobiography of Mahatama Gandhi. He says "Silence has great powers". He used to do "Maun Vrata" or remain Silent on every Sunday.

Confucius said, "Silence is the true friend that never betrays."

From where the Power came out of Silence?

Observing Silence makes sure, a person tries to explore the inner-self. Energy flow starts taking place inwards to explore the unexplored.

"Observe Silence" was the teaching of Raman mahirshi.

When a person starts observing silence, his outer consciousness tends inwards. It starts a flow of energy towards inside to explore the consciuousness, to modulate it, just like modulating the milk results in butter similarly modulating the inner-self results in the path to enlightenment. Here the modulator is "Silence".

I read a message by Swami Tapovanam, he says "Silence is Brahman, it is your inner-self".

Swami Ramdas says "Silence is Brahman,It alone exists. Sounds are modulations of Silence. Similarly, forms are expressions of the Formless. Truth or God alone is."

As per Yajur Veda, Maitri Upanishad 6.22-23, "There are two ways of contemplation of Brahman: in sound and in silence. By sound we go to silence. The sound of Brahman is Aum. With Aum we go to the End, the silence of Brahman. The End is immortality, union and peace. Even as a spider reaches the liberty of space by means of its own thread, the man of contemplation by means of Aum reaches freedom. The sound of Brahman is Aum. At the end of Aum is silence. It is a silence of joy. It is the end of the journey, where fear and sorrow are no more: steady, motionless, never-falling, everlasting, immortal. It is called the omnipresent Vishnu. In order to reach the Highest, consider, in adoration, the sound and the silence of Brahman. For it has been said: "God is sound and silence. His name is Aum. Attain, therefore, contemplation, contemplation in silence on Him."

During every auspicious occasion we chant, "Aum Shantih Shantih Shantih Aum"

Yajurveda Shanti Mantra says "OOOM, May there be Shantih in the sky and space. May there be Shantih on land and in the waters.May herbs and foods bring us Shantih. May God bring us Shantih. May there be Shantih throughout world. May the Shantih be Shantih. May God give me such Shantih".

One thing is confusing here, what do we mean by silence? Is it "Soundlessness"??

Soundlessness is an physical attribute. Though this lead to peace, but that is physical. But yes physical peace is also needed to go towards inner peace, atleast in the beginning of sadhana.

But this shantih is a Upvasa... "to be close to oneself" .....desirelessness. It is not "soundlessness". When desires getting dying down a person starts feeling more and more connected. This state leads to enlightenment.

"Maun Vrata" or observing silence, as Gandhiji used to do on every Sunday, leads to a sadhak to be close to its innerself, its true self!

Swami Chinmoy said" Life needs and wants victory, but the victory that we achieve in the world of sound does not last for long. This victory is very fleeting. The victory that we achieve in the world of silence is everlasting, and each time a victory dawns in this inner world we feel that we are being prepared for a higher and more fulfilling victory in tomorrow's Dawn.

An ordinary man thinks either that silence cannot be achieved or that it is of no avail. But a seeker knows that silence can be achieved on the strength of his inner cry. He also knows that silence is of tremendous importance, for without silence we cannot see the face of Truth or grow into the very image of Truth and Light. Silence is within, but we have to discover it.

Unless and until we discover our inner silence, we cannot feel that we are of God and for God. Inner silence is not just the absence of thoughts. No! Silence is the blossoming of our indomitable inner will. Silence is our inner wisdom light. This wisdom light is our conscious and constant surrender to the Will of our Inner Pilot, who inspires us, encourages us and guides us to the Shores of the Golden Beyond.

Silence is preparation, our preparation for God's examination. We come to know God's Hour only when we observe silence, only when we dive deep within. An unaspiring person does not and cannot know God's Hour. If God's Hour dawns in his life he fails to notice it. But a seeker who practises silence every day for half an hour or an hour knows when God's Hour is going to
strike. And God not only tells him when the Hour will strike but also, like a private tutor, helps the seeker to pass his inner examination.

Silence is our protection. When we live in silence, we are protected by God's mightiest Power, His all illumining Light. At that time the negative forces of fear, doubt, anxiety, worry, insecurity and selfishness can have no access to our inner being. We are protected by God within and without at every moment.

Silence is our transformation. When we observe silence consciously, our outer being is transformed. This transformation is a great achievement for Mother Earth. When a human being is transformed, Mother Earth feels that she has achieved something momentous, something that can be kept for eternity for the rest of humanity to treasure. And this transformation becomes a
foundation for a higher and mightier achievement in the ever continuing process of evolution.

Silence is our will power. This will power conquers the very pride of ignorance-night and manifests the Light of Divinity's Delight in aspiring souls who want to climb up to the highest Pinnacle and bring down the message of Immortality to earth.

Our human mind says, "Silence is emptiness; it is sheer emptiness and nothingness." But our aspiring heart knows that silence is the fulness and plenitude of our Eternity's Height and Infinity's Light.

Silence is our Truth consciousness, our highest Reality. This Reality in the inner world is our divine Love, our supreme Love for the world at large. And this Reality in the outer world is the supreme Glory of the Supreme for aspiring humanity.

Here we are all seekers. At times we are prone to watch our weaknesses, incapacities, limitations and imperfections. When we do this we are bound to be disappointed with ourselves. But our inner silence illumines us. It says, "Don't be disappointed."

It is God within you who is going through a series of experiences in and through your imperfections." When we realise God, we see that these imperfections were necessary at the time for our evolution. And then, when they were no longer necessary, these imperfections were turned into perfections. From darkness we enter into Light. From the unreal we enter into Reality.

From death we enter into Immortality.

Silence tells the seeker in us to love, to love himself. It tells us it is wrong to hate ourselves because of our imperfections. When the seeker loves himself, loves the Divine within himself, he eventually realises the Ultimate Truth.

Then he comes to realise that it was not he who loved the Divine in himself, but it was God the Lover who loved God the eternal Beloved Supreme within him.

In Heaven God is Silence dream. On earth God is Reality sound. In His Silence, God prepares Himself. Through His cosmic Sound, God manifests Himself. The transcendental Silence is our Source, and the emanating sound is our manifestation. The higher we go, the deeper the silence we enjoy. And the deeper the silence we enjoy, the more fulfilling the manifestation of our divinity.

Bow to the enlightened Masters who gave this treasure of knowledge to us to recognise the true self.

HARI OM TATSAT!