Strano - Seeking silence: exploring and practicing the spirituality of silence

SEEKING SILENCE

SEEKING SILENCE

Exploring and Practicing the Spirituality of Silence

ANTHONY STRANO

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2011 by Brahma Kumaris Information Services, Ltd.

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ISBN 978-1-4027-8416-3 (Hardcover)
ISBN 978-1-4027-8909-0 (ebook)

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Strano, Anthony, 1951
Seeking silence : exploring and practicing the spirituality of silence / Anthony Strano.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references (p. ) and index.
ISBN 978-1-4027-8416-3 (hardcover and cd : alk. paper) 1. Silence--Religious
aspects--Brahmakumari. 2. Spiritual life--Brahmakumari . 3. Brahmakumari-
Doctrines. I. Title.
BL1274.245.S77 2011
294.544--dc22

2010036655

For information about custom editions, special sales, and premium and
corporate purchases, please contact Sterling Special Sales at 800-805-5489
or specialsales@sterlingpublishing.com.

2 4 6 8 10 9 7 5 3 1

Contents

REFLECTION

What is the difference between peace and silence?
Peace is something we want inside. Silence is when we leave
the world outside, to go inside. When we go inside we are
able to find the peace that we have lost.

Dadi Janki

Just as other forms of pollution have reached an extreme state in the twenty-first century, so too noise pollution is extreme at the moment. So today, more than ever, we need to experiment with the power of silence and experience the many ways in which it can heal body, mind and soul. Wherever you are in the world, you will be bombarded by noise. Even if you go to a very quiet placea wonderful beach, for example, far away from civilisationyou will be surrounded by noise. For even if there is no noise outside, you will probably be experiencing a great deal of inner noise!

When we are surrounded by a world of sound, we are not always aware of all the noise we generate inside our minds. But when we find a quiet space, away from exterior sounds, we are able to become more aware of the noisethat insensate constant chatteringgoing on inside. Maybe at night when you are trying to go to sleep, instead of letting the mind become quiet and experience that rest that can bring refreshment, you become aware of all the noise inside you. At times such as this, the mind moves very quickly, revisiting not just the experiences of the day just past, but also replaying scenes that took place during the week or even last year. How do we deal with all this mind-noise? Is it even possible to deal with it, or do we have to accept it as part of human life?

This book explains why we can find inner peace and offers simple techniques to guide you towards it. It demonstrates how, by practicing silence, we can acquire the awareness to move beyond the confusing, unpredictable and artificial experiences of modern life to find an inner system of reference that offers complete and long-lasting well being both to individuals and to society as a whole.

Silence opens up a dialogue with the self and a dialogue with God; both are essential if we are to find the spiritual direction we need to live fulfilling lives. Silence helps us to tap into the neglected spiritual reality of the selfan invisible but dynamic reality that flows inside each one of us. Silence nourishes within us a quiet courage and optimism. In the light of silence, we experience the power of the invisible spirit within and can create a life based on truth.

In this book, I share with you my personal experiences of practicing active, inner silence, and suggest exercises that will help you to enjoy the many benefits that silence can bring. Each chapter introduces attitudes, thoughts, techniques and teachings that can help you to explore and practice silence. Scattered throughout the chapters of the book you will also discover practical tools for seeking silence, which include:

REFLECTIONS: sayings from a sage or a thought from the author to focus your contemplation on aspects of silence.

PEACEFUL THOUGHTS: particular thoughts that allow the mind to quieten and begin to discover silence.

TAKE A MOMENT: suggested practices to help you explore the theme of the chapter and deepen your personal insight.

I hope this book will be helpful to everyone searching for a deeper understanding of spirituality as well as readers who wish to bring the healing power of silence into their lives. When we decide to embark on a spiritual journey, it is always helpful to have an example to follow or a model to learn from. I have learned many things from the example of the Indian teacher Brahma Baba, whose work began in the mid-1930s. Through his deep commitment to the divine and to the divine task of renewing and uplifting human consciousness, he became the embodiment of creative spiritual silence. A group of young women, whom Brahma Baba spiritually sustained and guided, provided the foundation for what has become the Brahma Kumaris World Spiritual University, and the teachings of these esteemed elder sisters have inspired this book through their work with Babas principles of respect, kindness, acceptance and belonging. They include Dadi Janki, the Administrative Head of the worldwide Brahma Kumaris Spiritual University. There are also thoughts scattered throughout the chapters from Jayantiben and Sister Sudesh.

REFLECTION

Time is such that every second, every moment, every day and
every season is filled with wondrous opportunities.
Each day is a jar filled with seeds of possibilities and I can
plant any aim, any wish, any destiny I choose.
However, the jars cannot be known until I become still and click out of my
mundane consciousness, open my eyes and recognise that the opportunity is
there, and in fact, has always been therebut I did not recognise it or, if I
did, I neither decided nor acted on it.
Every day brings a renewal of opportunities. This is the blessing of time.
The jars are waiting to be opened and the seeds are waiting to be planted.

SOME HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVES

REFLECTION

There is always a way.
The light of silence guides that way.

THE IMPULSE TO CREATE AN INNER SPACE OF STILLNESS and quiet has always existed. We need to make use of this impulse if we are to make any pioneering leap in progress toward self-enlightenment or any other human achievement. We have a natural attraction to a state of deep concentration, to dropping into the depths of a particular awareness or understanding. In its purest form, silence is not a technical exercise (although we may have to begin our relationship with silence in this way); it is an irresistible pull toward a pure experience of the truth of what we are concentrating onwhich may be God, an idea, a principle, or perhaps some element of the self.