Let’s dive into practice.
It is very simple. Sit down and stop thinking. If thoughts appear, do not follow them. Simply observe them instead.
If keeping your mind empty is challenging, follow your breath.
Bring your mind back to silence and focus on the peaceful point within you.
What Is the Practice of Silence?
The practice of silence is a way to transition from the lower and outer human mind into the higher and deeper Divine mind.
If you practise it daily, it can gradually bring you into a different inner state and a higher vibrational reality.
As human beings, we are personalities that can operate either through our higher spiritual nature or through our lower human nature.
One of the principles of spiritual reality is never to break another being’s free will. The same principle applies to the processes happening within us. Higher spiritual reality cannot fully express itself while we constantly act through our lower nature.
You cannot consciously act from two places at the same time. You are either caught in the movements of the lower nature or opening yourself to the higher nature.
That is why we first learn to silence the lower mind.
Why Is It So Difficult to Stop Thinking?
Nowadays, we tend to attract all sorts of thoughts into our minds almost every moment.
We are either in the past, overthinking our experiences, or in the future, contemplating our desires, fears and dreams.
We play different scenarios in our minds — pleasant or fearful — depending on our inner state.
The higher and more peaceful our state, the easier it becomes to experience joyful and expansive thoughts. When our state falls into fear and anxiety, our thoughts tend to follow that direction too.
But what actually is thinking?
From my spiritual understanding, the mind is not simply a producer of thoughts. It can also be experienced as a receiver and transmitter of energy.
Thoughts can be experienced as energetic formations that enter our awareness and give us information through words, images, feelings and impressions.
Thinking is easy.
But have you ever tried not to think?
Have you tried to stop following thoughts completely and simply keep your mind silent?
For most people, this is surprisingly challenging.
You may ask:
Why should we even try? We are thinkers. Don’t we need to think?
Of course we do.
But I would like to introduce you to a different relationship with your mind — one in which you can go beyond the constant activity of thinking.
What Can the Practice of Silence Develop?
The practice of silence helps bring your awareness into now — this moment.
This moment is the doorway to your higher nature, to something deeper and more authentic than the constant movement of the outer mind.
Imagine being able to observe a thought entering your mind and consciously decide whether to entertain it or let it pass.
Imagine becoming sensitive enough to notice the emotional and energetic qualities connected with another person.
Imagine becoming increasingly sensitive to information and vibration even when another person is far away.
These are some of the possibilities that, in my spiritual experience, can develop through cultivating inner silence and sensitivity.
But we begin with something much simpler:
learning to become quiet.
How to Practise Silence
Sit comfortably and become still.
Do not force yourself to fight your thoughts.
When a thought appears, do not follow it.
Observe it.
Let it pass.
Then return to silence.
If keeping your mind quiet is difficult, follow your breath for a while.
Bring your attention back to one peaceful point within you.
If observing the mind becomes challenging and you are constantly carried away by thoughts, move your attention deeper within yourself.
Focus deep within your heart.
There you may begin to discover silence and peace.
Stay with that peace.
Gradually, your mind begins to wear the robe of silence.
Thoughts Begin to Lose Their Power
After practising for some time, you may begin to notice something interesting.
Instead of experiencing every thought as you, you begin to experience thoughts as something you can observe.
A thought appears.
You see it.
But you don’t necessarily have to follow it.
This is an important development.
The practice itself is simple, but it can be very powerful. Like every practice, it requires time and determination.
In the beginning, it can be frustrating.
It may seem that the thoughts are never going to stop. The first time you seriously look into your mind and try not to follow its activity, silence can seem almost impossible.
Your attention keeps chasing thoughts.
Your eyes may flicker.
You may begin drifting or even falling asleep as your mind becomes quieter.
Don’t worry about this.
Continue practising.
Building the Muscle of Silence
Any strong structure takes time to build.
We dig the ground. We create a strong foundation. We choose good materials and gradually build walls that can withstand the environment.
Building a peaceful space in your mind can be compared to building a physical muscle.
It requires regular practice, patience and commitment.
Start with small steps.
Don’t expect immediate results.
In fact, don’t become too concerned about results at all.
Instead, make sure that you practise regularly and spend some time developing your quiet mind.
The same simple process, repeated again and again, gradually produces deeper results.
You may begin to notice greater clarity in your thinking.
Solutions may appear more easily in a quieter mind.
You may notice a sense of peace after practising.
From a spiritual perspective, this peace can be experienced as something coming from a deeper, Divine part of your being.
The peaceful space you create becomes a window through which your deeper nature can begin to appear in your everyday life.
The Higher and Lower Mind
Our lower mind, caught in its constant movements and reactions, cannot always perceive what a quieter and higher state of consciousness can see.
When we are completely identified with the lower nature, it becomes difficult to observe ourselves neutrally.
From a quieter state, however, we can begin to observe both.
We can see the movements of fear, anger, desire and reaction without automatically becoming them.
Another benefit of this higher state is depth of vision.
The same ordinary experiences that we live through every day can be perceived very differently from a quieter mind.
Even experiences from childhood or many years ago can sometimes be revisited from this deeper perspective.
We may suddenly understand them differently.
The past itself does not change, but our relationship with it can.
And when our relationship with the past changes, our present experience can change too.
Living Through the Lower Mind
Living entirely through the lower mind can create distortion because we often see only fragmented pictures of reality.
Some yogis and sages have described this lower state of mind as ignorance — not as an insult, but as an inability to see the whole.
In this state, people can become trapped in duality and endless thinking.
We create circumstances consciously or unconsciously, but when the consequences arrive, we may fail to recognise our own participation in them.
We blame circumstances.
We become angry or frustrated.
We may be delighted with someone one day and disappointed with the same person the next.
We develop strong opinions about people and situations. When those people or circumstances change, we suffer because reality no longer matches the picture we created in our minds.
Our moods can move between excitement and disappointment, happiness and unhappiness.
We create explanations for why things happen to us and often find somebody else to blame.
Eventually, these patterns can become so familiar that we begin to perceive them as the only possible reality.
The practice of silence creates an opportunity to see these movements instead of automatically living through them.
Other Ways to Enter Your Higher Nature
There are other practices that can help draw you towards your higher nature.
One of them is sincere prayer for the good and wellbeing of another person.
When you pray sincerely for somebody else, your attention moves beyond your own worries and desires.
Prayer and silence can also be combined.
Pray for someone.
Then become quiet.
Notice the silence that appears after the prayer.
Remain there.
Talking to the Divine
Another practice is simply talking to the Divine.
Speak openly about your fears.
Talk about the challenges you are experiencing.
Speak about the difficulties you are going through, but also speak about the beautiful things already present in your life.
Speak about anything and everything.
Talk as you would to your closest friend.
Don’t perform.
Don’t pretend.
Don’t hide.
Speaking openly without hiding or withholding creates sincerity.
You become sincere because there is nothing left that you are trying to conceal.
You empty yourself.
Sincerity creates clarity.
Whatever practice you choose, the deeper purpose is to gradually clear your being of the troubles, burdens and distortions of the lower nature.
Silence Creates Space for the Divine
Remember that the Divine is available to everyone.
The Divine radiates love.
From my spiritual understanding, the Creator’s desire for us is not suffering, fear or punishment, but that we become increasingly capable of experiencing love, peace and joy.
And I also believe that we are not alone in this process.
Angels and higher spiritual beings can participate in shaping circumstances and helping reality unfold around us.
But spiritual help does not mean that we surrender our responsibility.
We still have to become receptive.
We still have to listen.
We still have to act.
Silence creates that receptive space.
When the surface mind stops shouting, something deeper can finally be heard.
The way towards that Great Source and Centre is through increasing silence, sincerity and clarity.
Through a tranquil, sincere and silent mind.
Dive Into the Silence
The practice of silence is one of the ways out of the endless movement of the lower mind.
It gives you increasing awareness of your thoughts and greater choice over which thoughts you follow.
And the thoughts we repeatedly follow have an enormous influence on how we experience and shape our lives.
So don’t try to conquer your mind in one day.
Sit.
Become quiet.
Watch.
Return to your breath when necessary.
Go deeper into your heart.
And when another thought comes, let it pass.
Then return once again to silence.
Dive into the silence.
If you have questions about the practice of silence, spiritual development or working with your mind, you are welcome to contact me or book a conversation.