Silent Night

Stille Nacht, heilige Nacht,
Alles schläft, einsam wacht,
Nur das traute heilige Paar,
Holder Knab’ im lockigen Haar,
Schlafe in himmlischer Ruh,
Schlafe in himmlischer Ruh.

Seek silence.
Gladden in silence.
Adore in silence.

As one progresses on the path, one seeks silence more and more. It will be a great comfort, a tremendous source of solace and peace.

Once you find deep solitude and calm, there will be a great gladness in your heart. Here finally is the place where you need neither defense nor offense — the place where you can truly be open. There will be bliss, wonder, the awe of attaining something pure and sacred.

After that, you will feel adoration of silence. This is the peace that seems to elude so many. This is the beauty of Tao.

Deng Ming Tao, 365 Tao

The Tao is silence
words
cannot capture.
The Tao is emptiness
not even
silence
can embrace.
(The Tao is Tao, 2)

It is part of wisdom to know when to speak and when to use silence to point the way. It is also part of wisdom not to say anything, either verbally or through silence, when people are not ready to listen.

In the final analysis, real understanding of the Tao can only be reached when you go the way yourself.

True understanding of the Tao is based on experience. It cannot be transmitted by either words or silence.

The only thing one can do to guide others is to point the way. — Jos Slabbert

How do you bring people into harmony with the Tao?
You can only point at the invisible.
It is like using sign language in the dark.
The mystery is that it works.
(The Tao is Tao, 95)

You are the One which is aware
of the awareness of objects and ideas.
You are the One that is even more silent than awareness.
You are the Life which precedes the concept of life.
Your nature is silence and it is not attainable,
It always Is.

‘This – Prose and Poetry of Dancing Emptiness’
— Sri H. W. L. Poonja (Papaji)

Our original nature is, in highest truth,
devoid of any atom of objectivity.
It is void, omnipresent, silent, pure;
it is glorious and mysterious peaceful joy ~
and that is all.

Enter deeply into it by awakening yourself.

~ Huang Po

“Music is the silence between the notes.” — Claude Debussy

“He who does not understand your silence will probably not understand your words.” — Elbert Hubbard

“See how nature – trees, flowers, grass – grows in silence; see the stars, the moon and the sun, how they move in silence…we need silence to be able to touch souls.” –Mother Teresa

“I have learned silence from the talkative, tolerance from the intolerant, and kindness from the unkind; yet strangely, I am ungrateful to these teachers” — Kahlil Gibran

“The fish in the water is silent, the animal on the earth is noisy, the bird in the air is singing. But man has in him the silence of the sea, the noise of the earth and the music of the air.” — Rabindranath Tagore

“The water in a vessel is sparkling; the water in the sea is dark. The small truth has words which are clear; the great truth has great silence.” — Rabindranath Tagore

“In the attitude of silence the soul finds the path in an clearer light, and what is elusive and deceptive resolves itself into crystal clearness. Our life is a long and arduous quest after Truth.” –Mahatma Gandhi

I enjoy silence, both the lack of sound, and the silence beyond the chattering of my mind. When I am most at peace, there are few thoughts in my head, other than perhaps, “ah”! or “mmm…” The pleasure of a beautiful rose in my garden with its sweet fragrance, some great sex, some really good chocolate, and other sensual things can bring me to that point. But the deeper silence comes mainly in my awareness of the Tao, the moments I see real depth in the world, in the sun shining on a leaf and noticing all the texture and intricacies of just one leaf, or a landscape like those Ansel Adams photographed.

The truly profound moments of my life have been some of the simplest. My favorite memory of Christmas is when we would sing Silent Night at the midnight service at church, light candles and turn out all the church lights, and then walk out into the courtyard “bringing our light into the world”. The choir always led the way. Standing next to my mother, in our choir robes, shivering a bit in the cold while everyone emerged from the church with their faces lit by candlelight, is something I will never forget.

To all those suffering with losses this Christmas, my heart goes out to you. Those loved ones will never again join you to celebrate the holidays, but they will always be with you in your heart. Remember them with a moment of silence and then move your heart into joy, for having known them. We cannot celebrate birth and the new life brought into the world without recognizing death and knowing our light will eventually fade, and we will return to the Silence that is our real nature.

May all beings know peace.