Listening to Silence

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"When thoughts become silent
The soul finds peace in its own source.
This is the mystery of Eternity."
-from the Maitri Upanishad

"Silence is a friend who will never betray"
-Confucius

"Give me Silence and I will outdare the night."
-Kahlil Gibran

"The effect of this practice is extraordinary and surprises me every time, for, although I experience it each day, it exceeds my expectation at each repetition. At times the very first words tear my thoughts from my body and transport it to a place outside space where there is neither perspective nor point of view. The infinity of the ordinary expanses of perception is replaced by an infinity to the second or sometimes the third degree. At the same time, filling every part of this infinity of infinity, there is silence, a silence which is not an absence of sound but which is the object of a positive sensation, more positive than that of sound. Noises, if there are any, only reach me after crossing this silence."
- Simone Weil, Waiting on God.


Listen to the Primordial Sound -
The thundering silence behind all things
Like the bellowing of a placid bull -
The voice and vehicle of the Self.
In the stillness of nocturnal forests,
In the midst of chatter and thought,
Attend! Attend! Attend!
-Jeronimus