“Silence is a source of great strength.” – Lao Tzu
This episode of Practical Spirituality is about taking the time to create some silence in your own life.
Silence is your natural state. It is your foundation. Words and language, by way of comparison, are relatively recent arrivals.
Why would you want to cultivate some silence in your life?
Silence allows you to sense the ‘war in Heaven;’ the differing voices of our complex inner psychological makeup which contest and contend within our being. These forces have been shown as the gods and goddesses in the various mythic and religious traditions. They can also be represented by the planets in astrology. The Fisher or Grail King is a story of healing the “sick king and kingdom;’ the work of balancing of the planets.
Once you have sensed this sparring within your own psyche, you can work towards healing yourSelf, Self-knowledge, and creating peace and balance.
Without awareness of these powerful forces, it’s certainly possible to be buffeted by your own emotional / psychological winds; letting your passions control your actions without your actual consent.
A few other practical results of working with silence in your life:
1. Choice. When you choose silence you also choose to be selective about your attention and consumption.
2. Unclutter – You can spring clean your mind and thoughts. Indulging in silence can do this. Give yourSelf a chance to clean out the attic (or basement, closet, etc) of your mind. There’s probably stuff in there that you haven’t really used in a while. And also some thoughts that have outworn their usefulness to your current state of being. Allowing yourSelf to let these go makes room for new material.
3. Change. Silence can help with the inevitable process of change in your life. Change is going to happen anyway. Quiet time may assist you in sensing the changes that are coming. You can feel yourSelf as you start to re-orient towards a new and different section of your life. This can be called in-sight. This way you are able to adjust to the rhythms of life more naturally.
4. Power of attention and focus. Silence allows you to harness the strength in your focus your attention. You create and empower with your attention. When this creative focus is spread among too many diverse areas your power and focus are diminished.
5. Calm. Personal silence allows you to sense the movement and rhythm of the World around you. After some quality observation, you may find that the World is a pretty magical place.
6. Self-Knowledge. How do you feel? What are you actually like? Movies, TV, books, the internet, and music provide examples of others’ experiences. These are possible choices. But none of them are actually you. You are individual. Taking some time in silence can provide illumination.
Notes: The Grail King – The Fisher King
Image by Kristina Flour
