Cultivating
the inner silence is one of the best ways of conserving our energy, re-balancing our deepest being and preserving our physical, emotional and spiritual health.
The
constant chatter that flows through our minds and mouths wears down our Chi and
weakens us considerably. The mind rejects silence because silence is limitless,
has no particular form and cannot be defined. The mind loves sounds and noise
because they are similar to thoughts. They can be given a form, they can be
defined, analyzed and conceptualized. The mind avoids silence, because for the
ego, silence is the sound of death. However, silence is the natural state of
all things, and we need to learn to respect this starting with our own inner
selves. In order to walk the path of Tao, we need to embody inner silence.
Taoist wise master have passed down to us a series of useful and practical
pearls of advice that they discovered long ago through cultivating inner
silence.
Speak only
when necessary, think of what you will say before you speak, be brief and
precise because every time you let a word out of your mouth you release a part of
your Chi with it. This way you will learn to develop the art of speaking without
losing energy. Never make promises you can not keep. Don´t complain and don´t
use in your vocabulary words that project negative images, because everything
that you have created with your words and the Chi they carry will manifest
around you. If you have nothing good true and useful to say it´s best to stay
silent and say nothing.
Learn to be
like a mirror, listening and reflecting energy. The Universe itself is the best
example for a mirror that Nature has offered us, because the Universe accepts
unconditionally our thoughts, our feelings, our words our actions, and sends us
back the reflection of our own energy in the different circumstances that
present themselves in our lives. If you identify with success you will be
successful; if you identify with failure you will fail. In this way we can see
that the circumstances we live through are quite simply external manifestations
of the content of our inner chatter. Learn to be like the Universe, listening
to and reflecting energy without dense emotions and without prejudice. If we
are like a mirror not prejudiced, we will learn to speak differently. If our
mind is calm and silent, and we do not allow to impose its own opinions, we
will avoid reactions and emotions that are over the top. This simply allows a
sincere and flowing communication to exist.
Don´t take
yourself too seriously, be humble, because the more superior you show yourself
to feel the more intelligent and patronizing that you appear, the more you will
be trapped by your own image, living in a world of tension and illusion. Be
discreet, protect your private life and in this way you will free yourself of
the opinions of others and will live a calmer life, becoming invisible,
mysterious indefinable and unfathomable, like the Tao. Don´t compete with
others. Become like the earth, that nurtures us and gives us what we need. Help
others to perceive their qualities and virtues, help them shine. Competitive attitudes make the ego grow and invariably create conflict. Trust yourself
maintain your inner peace, avoid responding to provocation and falling into
other peoples traps.
Don´t
commit to things lightheartedly. If you rush into things, without becoming
filly aware of the situation, you will create problems for yourself. People do
not trust those who say “yes” too easily, because they know that such a “yes”
is not solid and lacks value. Take a moment of inner silence to consider
everything that appears and make your decision afterwards. This way you will
develop trust in yourself and your wisdom. If there is something you do not
know, or if you do not have the answer to someones questions accept it and
admit it. Not knowing is very uncomfortable for the ego, because it likes to
know it all, to always be right and always give it´s very personal opinion.
In fact,
the ego knows nothing, it just pretends to know. Avoid judging and criticizing.
Tao is impartial and non-judgmental, it does not criticize people, has
infinite compassion and knows duality. Every time you judge someone, all you
are doing is expressing your very personal opinion, and this is a waste of
energy, it is pure noise. Judging is a way to hide your own weaknesses. A wise person tolerates everything and does
not say a word. Remember that everything that bothers you about others is a
projection of what you have not yet resolved in yourself. Let each person solve
their own problems and concentrate your energy on your own life. Deal with your
own self.
Don´t
defend yourself. When you try to defend yourself you are actually giving too
much importance to the words of others, and you give more strength to their
aggression. If you accept not to defend yourself, you are showing that you are
not affected by the opinions of others, that they are merely opinions and that
you do not need to convince anyone of anything in order to be happy. Inner
silence makes you impassive. Regularly go on a word fast, in order to to
re-educate the ego, which has the bad habbit of talking all the time. Practice
the art of not speaking. Choose one day a week for example, to abstain from
talking, or at least a few hours a day or whatever your schedule allows. This
is an excellent exercise in order to discover and learn about the Universe of
Tao, limitlessly, instead of trying to explain with words what Tao is.
Grdually you
will develop the art of speaking without words and your true inner nature will
take the place of your artificial
personality, allowing the light of the heart and the power of the wisdom of
silence to appear. Thanks to this strength you will attract upon yourself
everything you need to fulfill and free yourself completely. However, you must be careful, very careful, of not
letting the ego get in the way. The power will stay as long as the ego is calm
and quiet.
If your ego
takes over and you abuse this power, the power itself will turn into poison and
your whole being will quickly become contaminated. So, become silent, cultivate
your own inner power, respect the lives of others and of all that exists in the
world.
Don´t try
to force, manipulate or control others. Become your own master and let others
be who they are or, who they are able to be. In other words live following the
sacred life of Tao.
Good luck
in silence!
Difficult - I know - truly this helps when I´m with David ;-)
much Love, Claudia
