Entering the silence

“We all need silence. We particularly need the silence of nature, for it is in nature that we have our roots. Sometimes, when you are alone in a forest or up in the mountains, you feel as though you were being carried back into a distant past, into an era in which human beings were in communion with the forces and the spirits of nature. And if the call of a bird or the sound of a waterfall is heard, it is as though these very sounds were part of the silence: rather than destroying it, they emphasize and contribute to it…. For, quite often, we are not even conscious of silence; we don’t notice it. It takes the sound of a twig snapping, a bird singing or a pebble falling to suddenly awaken us  to an acute perception of the silence around us. Even the subdued roaring of the waves cannot destroy the profound silence of the oceans.

Many people confuse silence with solitude. That is why they are afraid of silence: they are afraid of loneliness. The truth is, though, that silence is inhabited. If you want to ensure that you will never be poor and lonely, seek silence, for true silence is inhabited by countless beings. The Lord has populated the whole of creation; in the forests, lakes and oceans, in the mountains and even in the depths of the earth dwell living beings. Even fire has its inhabitants. yes, even the ether and the stars: everything is inhabited.”

Omraam Mikhael Aivanhov    The Path of Silence

Taking a few minutes to enter into the primordial silence of nature can reassure us that we are not alone. Last May, I sat on a log and gazed at a carpet of bluebells among the trees. It seemed to me then that if silence has a colour, it must be that of bluebells!  I became suddenly aware of the calming affect of the blueness and listened to the birdsong that was entering my ears from all directions. The birds were calling me into a parallel land of peace and stillness where for a few moments of grace I could experience oneness with the soul of all that is….

So many of us suffer from feelings of loneliness or isolation- paradoxically, most acutely when surrounded by the noisy hustle and bustle of the crowd!
For me, the stunningly beautiful extract in today’s post sheds some light on the phenomenon. SJJ

Revelations from a starry sky