Silence

When I go running, I might see something that gets my attention and seems meaningful; like a skunk or a snake or a deer or a rainbow. I run laps around the park and notice things; and I write about them.

When I sit in silence, I also run laps, sort of. I sit for 15 minutes on the cushion, then 15 minutes on the chair, then 15 minutes on the cushion...and so on. Every now and then, I have a thought that gets my attention. These thoughts are analogous to the animals I see when I am running.

Thoughts on Silence:

• Silence is like God Himself; indescribable.
• Silence is difficult to have.
• Silence is the most unproductive thing imaginable.
• Silence is a thing to be cherished, sought, loved, protected.
• Silence is difficult to enter, but the door is always open.
• Silence requires absolute renunciation; it seems I must want only it and have only it.
• Silence requires discipline.
• How do I contemplate silence? Do I try to grasp it with intellect? More likely I can only listen to it and watch it; in humility, gratitude and awe.
• Is a thought a noise?
• I am after the other worldly.
• I am most successful at finding silence if I maintain a consciousness of light.
• Silence has gifts to give.
• Silence is easily forgotten.
• Silence has nothing to say. It is a null, a no-thing an absence. When I am in silence, I too become a void.