Extraordinary Quietness

Meditation is to find out whether the brain, with all the activities, all its experiences, can be absolutely quiet. Not forced, because the moment you force, there is duality. 

The entity that says, 'I would like to have marvelous experiences, therefore I must force my brain to be quiet,' will never do it. 

But if you begin to inquire, observe, listen to all the movements of thought, its conditioning, its pursuits, its fears, its pleasures, watch how the brain operates, then you will see that the brain becomes extraordinarily quiet; that quietness is not sleep but is tremendously active and therefore quiet.

A big dynamo that is working perfectly hardly makes a sound; it is only when there is friction that there is noise.



Krishnamurti

I find this to be a wonderful image of a mind meditating. Often, we think of quiet as being inactive; but here Krishnamurti reminds us that the truly quiet mind is actually filled with activity. The only noise comes from friction.  

This Silence

This silence, this moment, every moment, 

if it's genuinely inside you, brings what you need.

There's nothing to believe. 

Only when I stopped believing in myself did I come into this beauty.

Sit quietly, and listen for a voice that will say, 'Be more silent.'

Die and be quiet.

Quietness is the surest sign that you've died.

Your old life was a frantic running from silence.

Move outside the tangle of fear-thinking.

Live in silence.

~ Rumi ~

When I am on the beach, the connection to silence is so easy. This silence is not quiet but rather it is filled with all of creation and I am, too. No more frantic running, no tangle of fear-thinking ~ just living in silence.