How to Achieve Inner Silence Through Meditation

At some point, in the course of the sitting, I lost myself and all perspective of that which I am, or imagined myself to be, within the Black Silence that enveloped me.

“Whssss,” Darkness whispered.

Can Silence speak?

I was alone. Suddenly an image of a very long rope came into my mind, one end attached to my belly. Visually, I followed the line to where it ended. It connected to the man I had left months earlier. We were still in phone contact, but this was no telephone line.

With clarity the rope became an umbilical cord. I was still attached to him in the symbiotic way a mother and her baby were connected. We had never really disconnected. Is this what I wanted? Was I ready to give it all up? Did I even know what I wanted?

In a flash of an instant the decision was taken from me and I found myself alone in a room no larger than an oversized box. No one was around. No sounds. Not even from my own throat. I could not speak because there were no words. This was a place before all words or sounds. This was Silence.

The cord had been disengaged from ‘other’. Like helium escaping from a balloon, I felt a deflation in my body, my lungs, and my mind. I scrambled to regain my equilibrium, but felt overcome by frenzy.

As I observed myself struggling with the emptiness, Silence was suffocating. No thoughts-nothing to think about…nothing to do. Just Black Space filling everything inside and out.

My mind began to reel with the reality of this Truth.

            “What to do?” I asked frantically.

            “Nothing,” was Silence’s reply.

            “Where am I?”

            The mind has a need to know, a need to take control and make sense out of the experience, familiar or not.

            There was no reply this time, just Silence being silent.

            My mind fought to find some direction, but there was none to be found.  Not a thing.  No someone.  No sound.

            Silence.

            When does the mind bend from sanity to beyond?  When it has no point of reference…no reflection and no ‘other’ to mirror itself against.  This is the void…the abyss.  This is the Silence of Eternal Darkness-infinity and beyond.

            This Eternal Silence is waiting for each of us.  Some meet it in death; some experience it in medical emergencies; others have mental breakdowns. 

            I sit quietly and attentively. Through my daily meditation practice I willingly face the cosmic Silence that enfolds ‘me’ in this lifetime and all of eternity. 

Allowing for the void I am led to a different Silence. It is the Silence of surrender and serenity. Now, the mind relaxes and ‘I’ am merged with golden warmth enveloping the image of the body. It is quiet.

With awareness present I notice a movement; a vibrancy that is an undercurrent of energy. Staying focused I hear a soft hum, like a current running through telephone lines. There is a dynamism that I would have missed had I not stayed astute. There is awareness that the observations are not from the ordinary mind, but a deeper, Divine Intelligence. There is awareness of the body, still and unmoving in the chair. There is awareness of the silence that is filled with a life flow. There is awareness that “I” am experiencing the connection with the cosmic reality of the Universe. This is the essence of my Being; my spiritual connection with all. I am that and that is I; all one-no separation.

The golden warmth continues. It is the purity of Divine Love and I am wrapped up in its sweet nectar as it enfolds me. Tears of gratitude and joy trickle down my cheeks in realization for the blessings received.

My heart is full.

Note: Originally written January 6, 2008; this piece was in response to a writing prompt taken from Monica Wood’s The Pocket Muse. Answering the prompt, ‘write about a noise-or a silence that won’t go away’, it was an easy exercise. My inner journey, which started many years ago, is a continuous process of experiencing the deeper silence within. In the spiritual work of soul development with The Diamond Approach and Hameed Ali, I am humbled by Grace, which has touched my life, healed my pain, and connected me with the Divine Source of all that is. To each of you on your own individual journeys in this life stream, I give you my sincere respect. It is a beautiful and perilous journey that is not to be taken lightly. Namaste. May the light shine within all of us.