Opening Words:
"There is no need to go to India or anywhere else to find peace. You will find that deep place of silence right in your room, your garden, or even your bathtub."
— Elisabeth Kubler-Ross quoted in Awakening to the Sacred by Lama Surya Das
Check-in/Sharing
Topic:
This exercise, "Entering the Silence," is based upon a practice of the Seneca (Native American) nation. The imagery is adapted from the words of Twylah Nitsch:
Close your eyes. Breathe out three times.
Listen and hear the Silence . . .
Listen and see the Silence . . .
Listen and taste the Silence . . .
Listen and smell the Silence.
Breathe out one time.
Listen and embrace the Silence.
When you are finished, open your eyes.
For Reflection/Journaling:
Have you ever found it was necessary to go away just to escape the noise of the modern world? Where did you go and what kind of silence did you encounter?
Check-out/Likes and Wishes
Closing Words:
"Don't look for meaning in the words. Listen to the silences."
— Samuel Beckett quoted in Fifty Days of Solitude by Doris Grumbach
To Practice This Thought: Noting the silences in your conversations with others, vow to use silence as a bridge rather than as a barrier.
