Silence

"There is a silent self within us whose presence is disturbing precisely because it is so silent: it can’t be spoken. It has to remain silent. To articulate it, to verbalize it, is to tamper with it, and in some ways destroy it.

Now let us frankly face the fact that our culture is one which is geared in many ways to help us evade any need to face this inner, silent self. We live in a state of constant semi-attention to the sound of voices, music, traffic, or the generalized noise of what goes on around us all the time. This keeps us immersed in a flood of racket and words, a diffuse medium in which our consciousness is half diluted: we are not quite “thinking,” not entirely responding, but we are more or less there. We are not fully present and not entirely absent; not fully withdrawn, yet not completely available. It cannot be said that we are really participating in anything and we may, in fact, be half conscious of our alienation and resentment."

~ Thomas Merton, Love and Living, p.40

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As I strive to find this place whenever I can throughout my day, when I do find it, I'm ever more grateful to have settled into it than the time before. It's becoming such an exquisite place to live from, yet after I'm there for a few minutes it feels like nothing special. Before I arrive it's special, after I've arrived and been there a bit, nothing special. Finnally some of the Zen 'nonsense' is beginning to make sense.

Give yourself the wonderful gift of silent sitting today. Just 10 minutes of zazen, that's all. 10 minutes, of being with yourself in the gentle compassion of silence.