Awakening in Silence

by David Simon, M.D.

The great paradox of exploring silence is that ultimately we cant experience it with our
mind or encapsulate its essence in words. To enter a deep state of stillness and silence,
we have to go beyond the minds constant stream of thoughts into the field of pure
awareness. In our dynamic, goal-oriented world, we dont usually spend much time or
attention cultivating this quality of awareness, but it has been my experience that
learning to surrender to silence nurtures all aspects of life including our environment,
our body, our relationships, our creative expression, our heart, and soul.
The Sufis and Taoists say that those who say, dont know; and those who know, dont
say. So the fact that Im willing to spend a few words discussing silence may imply to
the reader that I dont know, but Ill take my chances because I believe that if this
exploration helps you weave even just a little more silence and peace into your daily
life, the benefits will be profound.
Learning to Listen
If you close your eyes right now and listen to your environment, you may hear the
traffic moving on the street below, the television in the next apartment, or the
refrigerator humming in your kitchen. These sounds contribute to the ambient noise of
modern life, which we usually filter out of our conscious awareness.
Even if you are in a completely silent setting, you may still notice an ongoing level of
activity that is independent of your surroundings. The source of this activity is your
mind, which hosts the continual inner conversation you are having with yourself. Notice
that you dont have to try to think; the thoughts keep bubbling up from an
inexhaustible source.
Noticing our minds constant inner dialogue is actually a cause for celebration, for until
we become aware that we are having thoughts, we usually believe that we are our
thoughts and that were defined by a continuous pattern of memories and anticipations.
Freedom begins when we are able to transcend the thought traffic and start to shift our
identity to the silent witness that is not bound in time or space. This inner silent witness
observes all the thoughts, emotions, sensations, and experiences unfolding in our life
without getting caught up in the stories, repetitive thought-loops, and conditioned
reactions that keep our mind in bondage. You can connect with the witness right now
by noticing what youre thinking and then asking yourself Who is the one who is
thinking? The aspect of yourself that is able to observe your thoughts as well as your
answer is the silent witness.

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Learning to still the minds dialogue opens the door to a domain of silence that has the
potential to heal and transform your life. As you tap into this inner silence, you begin
the process of shifting your internal reference point from ego to soul, from fear to love,
from anxiety to peace, and from constriction to expansion.
There are many ways to access the field of silence, yet I have found that one of the
most powerful and systematic approaches is the practice of meditation.
A Tale of Two Minds
I remember my first experience of meditation when I was in the seventh or eighth
grade. I had a remarkably conscious social studies teacher named Mr. Schacko. One
day when we were studying a lesson on Eastern philosophy, he introduced the idea of
meditation. He said, You know, in the Western world, we take great pride in having a
very active, creative, dynamic mind. In some way or another, the underlying belief of
the Western mind-set could be summarized as whoever has the most thoughts, wins.
In contrast, in certain parts of the Eastern world, such as India, Nepal, and Tibet,
theres a much greater appreciation for a quiet mind.
So we have these two world views, Mr. Schacko continued. The one were immersed
in is about keeping our minds active, having our thoughts going all the time, and
memorizing lots of information. Then theres the Eastern view, which is focused on how
we can find silence.
When my teacher introduced this concept to my class, most of my fellow students
thought it was very funny. It seemed like it was so easy to have a quiet mind. Why was
it such a big deal?
Then Mr. Schacko said, Okay, right now everybody close your eyes and see how long
you can go without having a thought.
Of course, anyone who has practiced meditation even once knows that it doesnt take
long before we have thoughts. And I remember my very first thought was Uh oh . . .
what if they are right? And what if having a big, active mind isnt the best use of our
awareness?
Although I didnt know it at the time, this was my first real introduction to meditation
and it has stayed with me for more than forty-five years. I learned that the ability to
quiet our mind and experience silence is a practice that requires attention and
cultivation.
*** ***
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Several years later when I was a young college student, all things Eastern seemed to be
exploding on the Western cultural front. I was once again exposed to the concept of
meditation and quieting the mind, and I started to realize that we in the West have
been really afraid of the emptiness that often accompanies silence.
When we havent embraced silence, we seek fulfillment and gratification through
achievement, material possessions, sensory experiences, and status; but no matter how
much we acquire, the pleasure we glean is transitory and only partially satisfying. Its as
if were trying to stave off the anxiety and discomfort that are bubbling just below the
surface by filling our minds with thoughts and engaging in perpetual activity and
busyness. We may do this in a thousand subtle ways automatically turning on the
radio when we get into the car, opening the refrigerator to grab a snack when we find
ourselves alone and bored on a quiet Sunday afternoon, feeling uneasy about a long
silence in a conversation and rushing to fill it with our words.

Honoring the Sabbath Queen

Growing up, I can remember how my family seemed to value busyness and outward
productivity over taking time to quiet down and be still. I was brought up in the Jewish
tradition, and as a young boy, we celebrated the Sabbath on Saturday. Although the
stated intention of honoring this day of rest was to take quiet time and connect with
family and friends, many people, including my family, used the day to catch up on
activities they hadnt been able to finish during the week. As I was growing up, I didnt
have a sense that the Sabbath was considered a sacred day of rest.
I recently was talking with a Chabad rabbi who told me that in some mystical Jewish
traditions, the Sabbath was considered an opportunity to transcend the daily activity of
life and experience a different domain of reality. The rabbi explained that in the
Chabad tradition, the sacred Sabbath wasnt simply about stopping work for the day,
but rather was about embracing a completely different state of consciousness in which
time and space disappear. The metaphor that has been used for thousands of years is
inviting the Sabbath queen into your heart and soul and mind and celebrating for that
day.
It is as if by stepping out of time, we free ourselves from the constrictions, fears, and
separation that keep us trapped in a mode of constant doing and striving. After twentyfour hours, the Sabbath queen brings us back into time and space what we normally
consider reality. And yet by touching the realm of the sacred and going beyond our
usual mundane thoughts, when we come back into our daily lives, returning to school,
work, and our usual patterns of activity some remnant or residual memory of
transcendent wholeness stays with us, reminding us of the paradox that we can be in
this world but not of it.
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Like honoring the Sabbath, meditation is about taking time to experience the stillness
and silence that lie below all the busy thoughts and activities that usually preoccupy us.
Taking time to close our eyes, quiet our mind, and go within offers a profound
opportunity to go beyond our egos tight identification with the transitory aspects of our
personality and personal lives and connect more deeply with our essential nature,
which is infinite and eternal. Then when emerge from our meditation, our mind is
refreshed and were able to see the same experiences from a slightly different
perspective one imbued with the peace and clarity we have tapped into during
meditation. This is the basis of authentic love, healing, creativity, and transformation.
Questions about Silence
As Ive thought about silence and explored the subject with friends and family, Ive
noticed some common themes and questions that Id like to explore here.

1.) Why does the human mind seem to have a reluctance to experience
silence?
When people begin to practice meditation and other technologies to quiet the mind,
they may experience a sense of discomfort ranging from restlessness to actual
agitation. Its common to feel resistance in part because so many of us grew up with
nearly constant sensory and mental stimulation. If weve never sat quietly with our eyes
closed, opening to silence may feel unfamiliar and uncomfortable at first.
Yet the shift from outer activity to inner awareness ultimately allows us to generate an
internal state of peace and happiness that is independent of the people, situations, and
circumstances around us. With practice, the transition from activity to silence reduces
stress and becomes the source of our most blissful state of awareness.
Investing the time and energy to go through this transition is well worth it. When the
mind quiets, we experience the silent space between thoughts. And the thoughts that
do arise are less conditioned and come from deeper, less predictable, and less familiar
layers of awareness. The philosopher Alan Watts described this as the wisdom of
uncertainty, which reminds us that in the ambiguity of life, we drop into a deeper
domain of awareness that touches the sacred source of all evolutionary impulses.
Since uncertainty is woven into the fabric of creation, we cannot always accurately
predict which sensations will unfold happiness or sadness, pleasure or pain,
enthusiasm or emotional constriction, love or hostility. Yet stepping into the unknown,
while sometimes terrifying, is what makes life compelling, powerful, and meaningful. In
addition, as we become more experienced travelers in the realm of silence, we can
learn how to consciously choose interpretations that generate more comfort than
distress.
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The mind is complicated. We will never master it because its very nature is to generate
new impulses, ideas, concepts, and associations. As long as the mind, with its innate
paradoxes, is the dominant place we live, we will experience some level of discomfort.
Expanding our sense of self to deeper dimensions of awareness in which we can
embrace ambiguities and contradictions accelerates our ability to experience silence.

Exercise: Noticing the Mind

As an exercise to expand awareness and enhance witnessing, close your eyes and begin
observing the thoughts that arise. Notice that the mind is a thought-generating organ
that is constantly giving rise to memories and desires, as well as attending to impulses
that arise from within or without.
Our patterns of thought have a lifetime of karma or conditioning woven into them. As
the ancient Vedic epic the Bhagavad Gita states, unfathomable is the field of karma.
Knowing this, we want to increase the likelihood that we generate thoughts that
promote happiness, comfort, and the greatest possibility for success. Simply moving to
a witnessing mode with the intention of enhancing relaxation expands our silence and
creativity.
Whether by conditioning or by nature, when we are with other people, particularly
those with whom we are not necessarily very intimate, we tend to avoid or distract
ourselves from silence. This is the basis of small talk, which seems driven by the human
impulse to keep the noise going. I suspect that we tend to engage in small talk because
even if what were communicating is of relatively low value, the fact that vibrations are
flowing enhances our sense of connection and unity. Although it is not a common
practice within most families and communities, cultivating unity in silence is worthwhile
and allows for creative possibilities to unfold that are not available to us when we fill
mental spaces with chatter.
Relinquishing the Mind
The rewards and benefits of not succumbing to the resistance that silence may
engender are of immeasurable worthiness. However, we cannot impose silence on the
mind. The seeds of silence will germinate when the soil of awareness is right.
Throughout my lifetime of teaching meditation and practicing medicine, I have seen
many cases in which someone who was unable to sustain a meditation practice at one
point, was able to easily embrace a mind-quieting practice at another time. When a
person is not ready to meditate, its almost impossible to force it. And when someone is
ready, there is almost nothing that will keep him or her from it.
Ive seen it both ways. Sometimes peoples lives are so turbulent that they are
desperate for quiet and turn to meditation as a technique for cultivating inner calm and
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peace. And at other times, peoples lives are so joyful and creative that they embrace
meditation as a way of reinforcing their access to the underlying creative silence.
I encourage you to be awake to the opportunities to make silence a regular aspect of
your life, and I invite you to see silence not as something to be feared but as one of the
most nurturing aspects of life.
I have noticed that each of us has a certain tolerance for silence. When our lives are
extremely turbulent, we long for a settling of the mind and put our attention on
behaviors on practices that reduce the level of chaos. On the other hand, it is not
uncommon to feel bored when there is too much silence. Most of us have a natural
rhythm of consciousness that ranges between turbulence and boredom.
Notice as a practice that when your life is too stable, you may end up unconsciously
making choices that generate chaos; on the other hand, when your life is too turbulent
you will naturally gravitate towards choices that encourage quieting of the mind. The
more awareness you can bring to the rhythm of silence and activity, the more readily
you can choose where on the spectrum your life is best served.

2.) What is the best style of meditation to encourage quieting of the mind?
Any technique that supports a sense of comfort, joy, peace, and optimism can make a
valuable contribution to quieting our minds. At some level, the mind has a natural
tendency to become quiet because it is built into our essential fabric to move in the
direction of greater happiness. Since the expansion of happiness is the purpose of life,
choices that generate bliss will be more attractive than choices that generate stress.
Therefore, each of us has an internal gage as to which meditation practices are most
useful and desirable. If a particular meditation technique leads to expansion of
awareness, creativity, playfulness, joy, and freedom, it is a sign that your practice is on
the right track. If, on the other hand, your practice leads to straining, discomfort, or a
sense of rigidity, despite how expertly you may be practicing the technique, it will
generally not serve the higher purpose of meditation, which is the expansion of
awareness.
There are many different techniques to quiet the mind, and almost any consciously
applied practice can be meditative. These are a few meditation suggestions that I
encourage you to try, observing how they influence your mind and body:
Take a walk in silence. Simply pay attention to the sounds, sensations, sights,
tastes, and smells in your environment without engaging in conversation. In the
mere process of witnessing of your experiences, you will find that your mind quiets
and your awareness of your connection to the whole is enhanced.
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Pay attention to your breath. From the moment we are born to the last impulse
of our life, we are generating an inflow and outflow of breath that directly connects
us with the rhythm of nature. Its as if the universe is performing cardiopulmonary
life support on us throughout our waking, dreaming, and sleeping experiences.
Bringing our awareness to the breath, even when our mind is turbulent, can awaken
greater silence. Taking a slow, deep breath when we notice that our lives are
turbulent can accelerate the process of returning to balanced, comfortable
awareness.
Practice yoga. Physical yoga practices, when performed with awareness, can
encourage settling of the mind. Although the word yoga has been usurped by
promoters of its physical aspects to support flexibility, strength, and balance, the
essence of yoga is the cultivation of unity. When performed with present moment
awareness, stretching the body with focused attention will quiet the mind. Even just
five to ten minutes of conscious movement can support hours of meditative peace.
Focus on the five senses. Any of the five senses can be used as a meditation
technology to enhance silence. Listening to the sounds of nature, such as birds, the
wind, and moving water, with the intention of witnessing, will quiet awareness. As
anyone who has received a massage will confirm, being touched in a loving,
conscious way quietly expands the mind. Observing beautiful images can bring our
attention into the present and still our emotional turmoil. Ingesting delicious flavors
can reduce the tendency of our awareness to be distracted and bring us to the
present. Aromas that distinguish themselves from the usual routine smells can bring
attention to a focused mind. This is why in many meditative traditions, people are
encouraged to burn incense or diffuse aromatherapies. Chanting, either listening to
others or expressing these vibrations yourself, has traditionally been used to
meditate for thousands of years. Almost every spiritual and religious culture has a
tradition of consciously choosing rhythmic vibrations to bring awareness from past
and future to the present. Performing or listening to chants from the Vedic,
Christian, African, Buddhist, Jewish, or other traditions will still the mind and allow
the gaps between the thoughts to emerge.

Mantra Meditation
For decades, we at the Chopra Center have been applying consciously chosen mantras
as vehicles to move awareness from constriction to expansion. The use of mantra, a
word that means mind vehicle is an ancient practice for settling awareness without
straining or concentrating. These devices tend to be pleasant resonant sounds that
have a vibratory quality without accessing the meaning quality of the mantra.

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When we say the word flower, there are two components: one is the meaning, which
may conjure up visual and olfactory experience. The other is the actual vibratory
quality, to which we have assigned an association between the word and its definition.
Flower in Spanish is flora; in Italian, fiorire; and in French, fleur. In each case, we
associate a vibratory quality with an experience, but this is at least in part arbitrary,
based upon tradition. Unlinking the relationship between sound and meaning enables
us to utilize the transcending, enhancing quality of the mantra because in this context,
the vibration does not automatically require the invoking of a meaning.
There are thousands of ancient mantras. The universal mantra is the sound Aum, which
is said to be the vibration of the universe moving from silence to activity and back to
silence. The A component is the expression of the beginning, in which the world
moves from unmanifest to manifest. The U represents the maintenance of the
experience, temporarily captured in time and space. And the M is that which
expresses dissolution of the individuation, allowing for the vibration to settle back into
silence. We can couple the sound with the breath, but will probably soon discover that
your awareness transcends both the mantra and the breath as your mind settles and
your body relaxes.
I encourage you to explore various technologies to see which meditative practices
resonate with your physiology so that you have ready and reliable access to silence.
After a while you will find that simply closing your eyes becomes a meditative practice,
one that very effortlessly takes your mind from activity to silence. Because it is more
comfortable to have peace than turbulence, with a little practice it will become easy for
you to meditate and to reap the benefits of mind-quieting practices.

3.) What is the relationship between meditation and spirituality?

Although meditation does not need to be associated with spiritual unfoldment, it seems
that when one practices meditation regularly, we cannot help but have thoughts about
God. Perhaps this is because God lives within the gap of the mind, and when that
dimension is not occupied with obsessive thoughts about the past or the future, God
wanders in to fill that space.
In a sense, even when were thinking about God, the very thought of the divine
squeezes out the sacred. Words are intrinsically restrictive because the very nature of
language is to differentiate one thought from another. When I say that youre beautiful,
intelligent, and kind, Im implying that youre not ugly, dim-witted, or mean. However, if
were being honest, we all know that each of us can be beautiful and ugly, intelligent
and foolish, kind and mean.
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It is the nature of the languaging mind to dichotomize the world into pluses and
minuses; it is not the nature of life. We use our mind to define ourselves. It has been
fascinating as I lose my mind as a consequence of my illness to recognize that I have a
mind but Im not my mind. In actuality, we are the silent witnessing awareness that
gives rise to thoughts in the mind and sensations in the body.
Embracing Unity
One of the most curious, amusing, and, at times, distressing aspects of language is the
use of the word God. Many conflicts have been encouraged and sustained as a result of
that vibration. In the name of God, both wonderful and terrible actions have been
performed, and still today people feel justified in committing violent acts under the
guise of divine guidance. One cant help but suspect that if God didnt have a sense
of humor, she would feel tremendously disappointed in our human application of her
name. Therefore, a vital question to ask is How do we cultivate the concept of God as
a unifying rather than as a dividing force of life? One of my dear friends, Beth Nielsen
Chapman, has a song with the line Im a Hindu Buddhist Jew Islamist Christian. This
wonderful expression reminds us that the essence of divinity is the embracing of
diversity. If in the name of God we find ourselves creating more rigid boundaries,
conflict, judgment, or fear, God is not being served and she is not serving us. If, on
the other hand, the thought of God brings about joy, flexibility, creativity, laughter, and
love, God becomes a vehicle for celebration.
How do we allow God into our minds, bodies, relationships, and life? We stop squeezing
the divine out through our preconceived notions of what is sacred and what is profane.
When we assume the mind-set that everything is ultimately divine, though sometimes
more disguised than others, then we can see that all of our thoughts, impulses, and
desires arise from and can bring us back to awareness of the sacred. My beloved Hafiz
expressed this idea beautifully in the following poem:

Pray
to be humble
So that God does not
Have to be so stingy.
O pray to be honest.
Strong.
Kind.
And pure.
So that the Beloved is never miscast
As a cruel great miser.
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I know that you have a hundred complex cases

Against God in court.
But never mind wayfarer,
Let's just get of this mess.
And pray to be loving and humble
So that the Friend will be forced to reveal
Himself
So
Near.
(Source: Let's just get of this mess fromThe Gift, translated by Daniel Ladinsky)

When our awareness is open, God is not hiding but rather tickling us at every moment
of creation to get our attention. Cultivating and embracing uncertainty expands our
capacity for the divine. Uncertainty resides in silence. The more uncertainty we can
integrate into our daily life, the more silence will resonate in our experience, and the
more our comfort with detachment will be enhanced. In almost every spiritual tradition,
divinity is associated with creativity God is the creator and creativity arises from
possibilities rather than from preconceived notions to which we become consciously or
unconsciously attached. Meditation, by encouraging the quieting of thoughts, the
embracing and the awakening of silence, invites the sacred into our lives and
transforms even day-to-day, mundane experiences into a celebration of God.
It is possible to simply utilize mind-quieting practices as technologies to relieve stress,
and this is a worthwhile and valuable application. However, the chances are that if you
take time to quiet your mind and go within, the divine will use this opportunity to enter
into your life. Its interesting that when our minds are active, divinity tends to hide,
whereas when there is even a little bit of quieting, the sacred becomes enthusiastic and
rejoices in the opportunity to connect more deeply with the underlying universal field
that we refer to as God.
We sense that were moving into the realm of divinity when our potential joy begins to
expand and we can barely contain our bliss as our bodies, hearts, and minds recognize
the precious gift of a human incarnation. Then God co-creates our essential divinity,
inextricably linking the silence of meditation with the experience of the sacred.

4.) How do we integrate silence into our communication with others?

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Silence can be unifying or divisive. For most of us, not speaking implies not connecting.
If were upset with someone, we may stop talking to them, give them the cold
shoulder, or simply withhold information that we know the other person is seeking. As
a child, you may have been given the silent treatment as a punishment by your parents,
caregivers, siblings or friends. As an adult, if a friend hurts your feelings, you may
ignore their phone calls for a time, cutting off communication to send the message
(albeit passive) that you are unhappy with their behavior.
One of the first papers I read as an anthropology student was a report by Walter
Cannon entitled Voodoo Death. Dr. Cannon recounted numerous cases of people who
were literally frightened to death. Most of these descriptions were from aboriginal
cultures of South America, Africa, New Zealand, and Australia and involved situations in
which an individual had violated a tribal taboo. As punishment, the chief medicine man
placed a curse on the person, declaring that he or she was no longer among the living.
From that moment forth, the individual was treated as a ghost, completely ignored by
other tribal members. Cannon wrote that within days to weeks, many of these outcasts
expired of circulatory collapse. They died from the stress of being isolated and cut off
from family and community.
Even though our culture extols the value of rugged individualism, we each feel a
profound need to feel connected and part of a greater whole. When we feel isolated
and disconnected, while were unlikely to expire in the sudden and dramatic way
described by Dr. Cannon, we are likely to experience emotional pain.

Interpreting Silence
Since it can be difficult to interpret the meaning of another persons silence, we may
have to do some work to sort it out. It can be helpful to realize that the assignment of
value to silence and speaking also has a cultural component. In the West we tend to fill
in every gap of silence with words. Ive observed that people from Eastern cultures
generally embrace silence and are comfortable when conversation drop away and the
participants remain quiet. However, as we practice mind-quieting techniques, we
recognize that communication can occur even without the use of vibrating vocal chords.
Being connected in silence is often more fulfilling and profound than creating the
connection through verbal language. When we are in an open-hearted, open-minded
space, just our presence communicates our awareness of our essential interrelatedness
and unity. We can often more lovingly express our awareness in silence than through
the words that we choose. Knowing this, we can cultivate a skill set in which silence
and language can be expressed simultaneously.
In order to benefit from this possibility of integrating both silence and sound into your
communications skills, I encourage you to commit to a meditative practice that brings
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your awareness to the junction point between silence and activity, between a quiet
mind and an active, creative mind. We have the capacity to bring our awareness to
both the silent ocean of unboundedness and the waves that this unboundedness is able
to generate. The more readily that we can access silence and activity in our daily life,
the more we experience creative thought, the more comfortably and playfully we
experience the world, and the more profoundly we feel the value of silence.
The essence of communication is the transmission of uncertainty. When we use
vibration consciously, we stir the silence to transmit possibilities that were otherwise
latent. This expands our awareness, creativity, and our enthusiasm for life and enables
us to resonate in the junction point between silence and sound.

5.) One resistance that we have to silence is that it seems so serious. Since
the purpose of life is the expansion of happiness, how does this reconcile
with silence?
Silence is the basis of laughter. When someone tells a joke, it usually follows a specific
pattern. At first we set up a pathway that tells a story or expresses a perspective that
seems familiar and predictable and is likely to lead to an anticipated outcome then,
just as we are becoming complacent in our expectation of where the communication is
proceeding, direction is changed, surprising us in a way that temporarily stops mental
activity, encourages the opening of the gap, and allows some new idea or unexpected
interpretation to emerge. If the content and timing are just right, there is a brief
opening into silence with a reversal of expectation which leads to a wave of joy, which
we experience as a burst of laughter. For example, as the debate over President
Obamas nationality was raging, the comedian Jay Leno said, Before I demand a birth
certificate for Obama, I would like to see a certificate for Donald Trumps hair. Even
after hearing it several times it still brings a wave of laughter into my bodymind
because the response is so unexpected and unpredictable.
Laughters Healing Power
The healing system of Ayurveda teaches us that nourishing our five senses enlivens our
health and well-being. I have found that its just as important to cultivate our sixth
sense . . . our sense of humor. Weve all found ourselves facing difficult circumstances,
mired in worry. When a good friend calls and has us laughing at ourselves, were
reminded that there is more than one way to view a situation. The very experience of
laughter shifts our perspective and opens us to new possibilities. We feel internally
tickled as we make a connection between the predictable way of looking at a situation
in an offbeat way.

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Many studies have demonstrated the psychological and physical health benefits of
laughter. It not only improves blood pressure and respiratory function but has also been
shown to enhance immune functioning. Studies conducted by scientists at Loma Linda
University suggest that one good belly laugh enhances immune function for twenty-four
hours. Years ago, Norman Cousins, the editor of the Saturday Review, developed an
autoimmune disease and his physicians offered no optimistic approach to treatment.
Rather than surrendering to the dismal prognosis, he rented Marx Brothers films, which
he watched for several hours a day. The only negative side effect was that the somber
hospital staff complained that he was disturbing the other patients, but despite the
staffs concerns, he participated in this laughter medicine and cured himself of this
otherwise untreatable condition.
The expression laughter is the best medicine has validity. At some of our healing
courses at the Chopra Center, we ask participants to bring a joke or funny story that we
share with the group as a way of invoking the positive health benefits of laughter.
Of course, laughter can also be accompanied by sarcasm and can occasionally come at
someone elses expense. Therefore its useful to recognize that humor can be both a
tool for well-being as well as a source of distress. The subtle use of laughter can invoke
joy and healing, but it also can create discomfort if not used with sensitivity.

Laughter Is Contagious
Im not sure what hyenas are feeling when they express their sounds, but for the most
part, human beings are unique in the natural embracing and expressing of humor and
laughter in their lives. Even infants at the young age of a few months spontaneously
smile and coo, and parents invest elaborate efforts to evoke that response through
making funny faces, tickling, singing, and physical play. There is something intrinsically
liberating about smiling and laughing, and something fulfilling about getting others to
do the same.
When we have a laughter session at one of our courses at the Chopra Center, it often
starts with people not remembering a single joke and feeling self-conscious, but once
someone begins, its as if a channel of laughter opens and people tap into the
humorous stream of life.
Laughter allows us to temporarily step outside our space-bound and time-bound state
and touch the field of awareness that is boundless and eternal. The American
theologian Reinhold Niebuhr wrote, Humor is a prelude to faith, and laughter is the
beginning of prayer.
Of course, discussing the value of laughter is about as fulfilling as talking about eating a
delicious meal or making love. The benefit is not in the description but in the
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experience, so I encourage you to lighten up. Look for humor in life and give yourself
opportunities to embrace the paradox, allowing joy and the healing value of laughter to
permeate your life. Relationships that have space for laughter tend to thrive and
enhance our love and intimacy.

6.) What is the relationship between silence and death?

As soon as we engage in a human experience, we are embracing the process by which
life unfolds. Everything in this relative world of form and phenomenon moves through
three stages of expression: creation, maintenance, and dissolution perhaps more
easily understood as beginnings, middles, and endings. As a wave emerges from the
ocean of life, the wave differentiates itself, sustains itself, and then returns to its
universal form. This awareness of the threefold expression permeates wisdom
traditions, reminding us to connect with this pervasive principle. An individual is born,
grows up, and eventually dies. An idea arises, takes shape in the manifest world, and
then dissipates. A flower blossoms, diffuses its fragrance, and then fades.
Its intrinsically more joyful for things to be born than for them to die. Seeing a new
flower bloom brings usually brings more happiness than watching it wither. The passion
and playfulness of a new relationship usually generates more bliss than its ending.
However, death is a part of life, for an ending is inherent in every beginning. Learning
to embrace the inevitable finality of circumstances, relationships, people, and things, is
an essential aspect of living a conscious life.
The Most Amazing Thing About Human Beings
As Ive been navigating my illness, I cannot but be aware of the fact that sometime,
almost certainly sooner rather than later, I will not exist as an individual personality.
Although each of us faces this reality, none of us actually understands what it means. I
certainly dont. There is an insightful story from the Bhagavad Gita in which the five
heroic Pandava brothers are banished to wander the countryside. After many days, they
are lost in a forest and about to die of thirst. They are overjoyed to come across a lake
of crystal clear water. The youngest brother, Nakula, kneels down and is about to scoop
up some of the precious water in his palm to drink when a magical crane commands
him, Stop! I am the one who owns this lake and you must answer my questions before
drinking or you will die. Nakula ignores the crane, takes a sip, and promptly keels over.
This happens with three more brothers, leaving us to wonder if anyone is paying
attention. The fifth brother, Yudhisthira, takes the warning seriously, however, and
agrees to try answering the cranes questions. There are a series of eighteen different
riddles, but the one that I find to be most interesting is this: What is the most amazing
thing about human beings?
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Of course, I did not get the correct answer but this might be a good time for you to
come up with what you think the best response to the cranes question is before
reading on.
According to the story, the most amazing thing about being a human being is that
despite the fact that every day people around us are dying, each of us still believes and
acts as if we will live forever. On some level, we are actually fortunate that were able
to live in a state of denial about our mortality because if we were perpetually aware of
our ephemeral nature, we might experience an anxiety disorder or depression. But if we
were able to completely deny our mortality, we might not appreciate the transitory gift
of a human incarnation. If offered a choice between a beautiful, freshly picked rose and
a plastic one, most people would more highly value the natural flower precisely because
it is impermanent. Our very awareness that this expression of life will die awakens our
appreciation for its existence.
Embracing the Unknown
It is natural to be afraid of death because it is the ultimate unknown. Death seems so
permanent in that when someone dies, with rarely reported exceptions, they do not
return. On the one hand, this encourages us to fully embrace life. Even the most
awakened, enlightened people on the planet, when facing their impending ending,
probably feel some reluctance to fully let go of their personhood. But since theres
nothing we can really do about it, learning to surrender with grace and appreciation is a
skill that will serve us both in life and hopefully in death. This is where our spiritual
practices of meditation and yoga and contemplation can better prepare us for the
inevitable surrender of our individuality.
The more deeply we can embrace our own silence through meditation, the more
authentically and comfortably we can embrace our death, for ultimately silence,
meditation, deep sleep, and death are expressions (actually, non-expressions) of the
same phenomenon, which is that aspect of life that has the potential, but not the
manifestation, of individuality.
Conscious listening is an important aspect of integrating silence and creativity. If you
have the tendency to obsessively fill in silence with noise, consciously attend to stilling
the mental turbulence and listening to the creative impulses that are seeking to arise
from a deeper domain of your awareness. When you can readily access silence in your
own awareness, you will experience creative solutions to both inner and outer questions
and challenges in your life and gain the confidence that you can participate with the
sacred to manifest your deepest desires.

7.) How can we use silence to awaken creativity in our lives?

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Creativity implies that something that did not previously exist has now manifested in
the world of form and phenomena. The Buddhists like to ask, What was the
appearance of your face before you were born? and in many ways this question
underlies all of life. Where do things come from? From where do thoughts arise? How
does something come out of nothing? These questions are great mysteries, and any
insight into the answers will enhance our day-to-day life and empower us to create a
meaningful existence.
Although the belief that we create our own reality has become popular in some New
Age circles, if were being honest with ourselves, we will recognize that while we do
have power over how we direct our intentions and attention, most of what happens in
the world is beyond our control. Its therefore important that we maintain a level of
humility about our ability to create and determine outcomes. Still, the question of how
something comes from nothing is a perennial one.
In the modern world, there tends to be a division between those who believe that
consciousness is primary and that material manifestation is secondary, and those who
believe that the material collaboration between molecules gives rise to conscious
experiences of thought, emotion, and creativity. This is a variation on the question do
molecules give rise to conscious experience, or does conscious experience give rise to
the physical world? Its not a completely esoteric topic in that it influences how much
authority and ability we can invoke to affect our lives. My view is that there is truth to
both sides of the debate and that we can enhance our healing, transformation, and
creativity by cultivating the flexibility to see the widest range of perspectives.
Holding the idea in our minds that we are both the underlying silence and that which
manifests out of the silence frees us from the rigidity of the ego mind, which craves
certainty and security and tends to resist ambiguity. As the Vedic masters taught, the
ability to embrace ambiguity is the hallmark of enlightenment.
Tapping into the Universal Flow
Participating in the creative response is one of the most fulfilling, nurturing, and joyful
experiences because it allows us to be part of the divine dance that gives rise to form,
phenomenon, and the experiences of life. Taking time to consciously surrender to
silence enables us to intimately share in the process of creation, filling us with joy and
enthusiasm. It also allows us to understand and share in the process of translating our
intentions into good choices.
I recommend that several times per week, you consciously use silence to support your
desires. Sit quietly with your eyes closed, settle into silence, place your awareness in
your heart, and ask yourself What do I want? What do I need? What would I like to
manifest in my life? Then from the silence of possibilities, observe what emerges.
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Youll know that youre tapping into a deeper domain when thoughts or ideas come
forth that you had not been consciously aware of before. Pay attention to these
surprising impulses of creativity. When you a new or unexpected idea comes into your
awareness, ask yourself with your attention in your heart What are the possible benefits
of this creative idea manifesting in my life? If your heart and intuitive response tells
you that acting on this impulse will serve yourself and and those around you, then ask
yourself What can I do to nurture this idea into reality?
Simply by fertilizing the nascent expression of our idea with our attention and intention,
the creative response is supported and the old forms give rise to the new.
Conscious listening is an important aspect of integrating silence and creativity. If you
have the tendency, as many people do, to obsessively fill in silence with noise,
consciously attend to stilling the mental turbulence and listening to the creative
impulses that are seeking to arise from a deeper domain of your awareness. When you
can readily access silence in your own awareness, you will experience creative solutions
to both inner and outer questions and challenges in your life, and you will gain the
confidence that you can participate with the sacred to manifest your deepest desires.

8.) Is there such a thing as truth? How do we recognize it and how does silence relate
to truth?
Agreeing upon what is true is not an easy task, as evidenced by the number of conflicts
in our personal, social, and political lives. The human mind seems to have an unlimited
capacity to disagree. You say tomato, I say tomahto. We can and do argue about
almost anything . . . religion, politics, education, money, diet, and so on. If our goal in
life is the expansion of peace, harmony, laughter, and love, we must develop the skill
set of respecting differences of opinion that is, different concepts of truth while at
the same time seeking to find underlying consistent ideas that enable us to make
choices that support unifying evolutionary impulses and harmony.
Some would say that truth is that which never changes, and since thoughts, feelings,
and the material world are always changing, there is no such thing as absolute truth for
a human being. On the other hand, we can acknowledge that the one thing that never
changes is that everything is always changing. Therefore, to get closer to the truth, we
need to embrace the paradox that truth is both the underlying eternal, constant
dimension of life (the absolute) and the relentless transformation that underlies all
form and phenomenon (the relative).
Accepting this paradox gives rise to creative possibilities. I am the silence and the
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manifested vibrational world. I am that which has no beginning, middle, and end and
I am that which has a birth, a life, and a death. I am an individual and I am God. How
can all of these seemingly contradictory statements be true?
How We Decide Whats True
There are several contributing factors that influence what we hold to be truth or false.
Much of truth is conditioning, in that we tend to take on the perspectives of expert and
caregivers because aligning our truth with theirs makes life easier.
As we live our lives, we naturally test these ideas to see if what we have learned is
consistent with our experience. If a certain idea about the world consistently seems to
be in alignment with how things manifest, we will tend to accept those ideas as true. If
an idea or belief contradicts our experience, at some point we may reject that idea as
being not useful and therefore not truthful.
Truth is often a social choice in that when we accept a particular point of view, if it
enhances our connection to family and community, the benefits of that connection
reinforce our acceptance of that reality. This is why people hold and rigorously defend
even ideas that we may think are obviously false, toxic. For members of gangs, cults,
and fundamentalist organizations, the benefits of being a part of a community
outweigh, at least temporarily, those of being connected to something with an
underlying substance and sustainability.
One question we can ask ourselves when evaluating an idea is Does it enhance our
ability to love more and be happy? We can also ask Does this concept increase the
possibilities of us being comfortable in the world or does it tend to restrict us?
The more universal the application of an idea, the more likely it is to be resonating in
the field of truth. Concepts that are constricting or overly rigid are less likely to be an
expression of deeper universal truths.
The Wisdom of Our Body
We have a built-in mechanism that supports our ability to authentically identify truth,
and that is the sensations in our body. When we have a choice or idea or possibility
before us, we can sit quietly, bring our awareness into our heart, and feel our body.
With our awareness on the idea and on the sensations that are generated, we simply
ask ourselves Does this feel good? Does this enhance our level of comfort? Does it
support the quieting of our mind, and the comfort in our body?
If the answer to these questions is yes, the ideas arising are more likely to be true than
those that create dissonancy, discomfort, conflict, and confusion (distress). Therefore,
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becoming intimate with silence and awareness of the sensations in our heart can help
us live in alignment with truth. This enhances our ability to fulfill our potential in life as
both human and sacred beings.
Although every truth that we can express is at some level relative (meaning
incomplete), choosing ideas and concepts that favor wholeness over fragmentation,
timelessness over transitory perspectives, and expansiveness over constriction serves
our environment, body, heart, mind, and spirit. Integrating the truth of eternal, nonchanging silence with the truth of perpetual transformation enables us to participate in
the creative dance of healing and the expansion of wisdom.

9.) How can we use the power of silence to manifest our desires?
Power is the ability to translate our intentions and desires into expression. Authentically
powerful people dont need to threaten, coerce, or manipulate others. They express an
idea or intention or cause that is so compelling that others naturally become
enthusiastic about supporting its manifestation.
The Law of Least Effort
Nature supports choices that are evolutionary, which means that they effortlessly move
from constriction to expansion, from imbalance to balance, and from discord to
harmony. If the intended outcome is truly evolutionary, we wont have to use a lot of
force or willpower, and our intentions will manifest with a minimal expenditure of
energy. In the process of moving from idea to manifestation, happiness and joy arise,
encouraging the ongoing support of the intention.
There is often greater power at subtler levels of creation. Dynamite is a relatively gross
conduit of power that is difficult to direct and is often destructive. In contrast, the
power that directs energy and information to our iPad across thousands of miles is an
example of an extremely subtle level of creation.
True power is subtle. If the expression of power is obvious, such as when dictators and
tyrants are in control, it easily provokes resistance and resentment, sabotaging the
outcome that one is seeking. If we dont try to manipulate or control people, situations,
or events, we are less likely to mobilize resistance and can more readily manifest our
deepest intentions.
Harnessing the Power of Intention
The ability to tap into the subtlest level of intention grows as we consistently spend
time in the stillness and silence of meditation. The more deeply we can embrace our
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own silence in meditation, the easier it is to access the intrinsic power of our
awareness. Power arising from silence requires a certain trust in nature to orchestrate
the forces that arise from and give expression to the manifest world of form and
phenomenon. The confidence to allow nature to express its evolutionary magic comes
from cultivating comfort in silence.
We all want to be powerful people. We all want to readily fulfill our desires and needs.
And we all want to manifest our dreams with the least expenditure of energy. We see
this principle of efficiency and power throughout nature. She always chooses the path
of least resistance to support the evolutionary flow of life. Aligning with nature, we can
also be expressions of authentic power that derives from silence, expresses itself
efficiently, and brings about joy, happiness, and vitality.

10.) How does silence relate to evolution?

The term evolution often invokes strong responses in the world today. The basic
premise of the concept of evolution is that nature uses principles to test possible ways
to create the world and selects those that enhance survival, wisdom, comfort, beauty,
and love. Silence provides the field through which nature experiments, testing the
possible forces that give rise to the world.
In the field of biology, Charles Darwin is credited with the development of the theory of
evolution, which essentially says that the world is always changing and that biological
beings respond to those changes with greater or lesser adaptability. Those tendencies
that allow the individual organism to survive and thrive will be favored over those that
do not. The world is always changing and living beings are always changing, so it is the
dance between the experience and the experiencer that leads to the unfoldment of life.
For example, if theres a relatively rapid change in the climate and the average
temperature drops quickly within a few years, those creatures that thrive in cooler
environments will be more likely to expand their population.
The Evolution of Our Awareness
Spiritual traditions also use the term evolution to describe the process of consciousness
expansion. To evolve spiritually generally means the integration of greater inner peace,
wisdom, harmony, and connection. The more expanded our sense of self, the greater
capacity we have to interact harmoniously with the world, and the more likely we are to
enjoy our human incarnation. The process of identifying ourselves as beings of
conscious awareness (as opposed to skin-encapsulated egos) is an evolutionary
process.
To evolve implies that our sense of self is embracing more of the world so that what
unites us predominates over what separates us. The value of utilizing silence to evolve
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is that we become more comfortable in a wider repertoire of circumstances. Ideally, the

evolved being is inexorably rooted in the field of silence that embraces our divinity and
our humanity. Since whenever we think a thought or say a word, we are in some ways
constricting our possibilities, embracing silence in our lives enables us to remain in
alignment with the natural evolutionary flow of life.
Its not that evolution cannot take place in noise, for we have many examples of how
intensely chaotic experiences can be creative opportunities. Land is generated from
volcanic eruptions, tornadoes and hurricanes give rise to new geographical formations,
and institutions and nations are born from violent revolutionary forces. Still, from the
blooming of flowers to the birth of a baby foal to a groundbreaking scientific discovery,
silence more often than not underlies the creative evolutionary impulse.
Ive observed that writing is an expression of the evolutionary and creative power of
silence. I dont know where the thoughts that flow through my mind come from, but I
do know that its the silence cultivated in my meditation that is somehow allowing these
concepts to emerge. From the development of a new cake recipe to a breakthrough in
treating brain cancer, before an impulse arises, there is silence. The deeper we can
connect and align with that silence, the easier and more likely we are to access the
creative forces that can heal and transform us.
Our Influence over Evolution
Evolution will happen whether or not we care. It does appear, however, that we can
influence the evolutionary flow of life through our conscious attention and intention.
The more comfortably we resonate in silence, the more we can consciously choose
which impulses we wish to nurture. Silence therefore directly contributes to our ability
to influence the evolutionary process. Without regular access to silence through
meditation, we are passive participants in the evolutionary process. With engagement in
daily meditation practices, we have some ability to influence the flow of life in a way
that supports our happiness, vitality, and ability to love.

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