by Ian
(USA)
Question:
Hi Adam,
I listen to the silence between thoughts, but was curious when I raised a question. I was wondering, how does the silence between thoughts lengthen? I find it so peaceful and I want more of it, but wasn't sure how it expands. Hope you could shed some light on the situation.
Response:
Hi,
It doesn’t really lengthen, since it is always there. Silence between thoughts can appear to lengthen simply when thoughts arise less frequently, but the silence itself does not change. It is not personal or bound by limits. It is here as the very fibre of thoughts, as well as being their source.
A helpful thing would be to see if there is actually a self or a “me” that is separate from silence. Is that which is listening to silence at all separate from silence?
At the moment it seems as if the silence is something somehow apart from you, which is great when it comes and so is something you want more of.
But who are you? Are you an actual independent entity that exists apart from silence? Where does the silence end and you begin? Is this “me” that appears out of silence, just another thought or sensation that has been taken to be yourself?
Out of the silence comes an energy of an individual. When the individual is not there, then there is peace and silence, When it rises up, it claims that it wants peace and silence, and tries to do something to get it, but it itself is the illusion that masks silence. If this is held as a conceptual belief, then it is quite pointless. Drop every belief and explanation, and see if there is anything other than silence.
Adam