Just Be Quiet

"Just be quiet.

This quiet does not involve talking or not talking.

It does not involve any doing whatsoever.

Just let the mind fall into Silence.

That is enough.

Papaji

Sometimes the most powerful spiritual teachings can be summed up in just a few words (or less). Take, for example, the words of the spiritual teacher, Papaji; who was a student of the great sage Ramana Maharshi. Though many people from the West traveled thousands of miles in hopes of receiving some sort of great spiritual awakening from him, Papaji would simply instruct those who had come to see him to, "Just keep quiet." He knew that the minds of those who sought out his teaching were filled with endless thoughts and opinions about the way things should be, and filled with fear and worry about what the future may hold. Because of their identification with this endless chatter, the freedom that they longed for continued to allude them. He understood that, as long as people's minds were filled with this endless thinking, they would not be able to 'hear' the great Silence that lies behind all thought.

In his directive, he was pointing the seeker back to the simple, yet profound Silence that is always available when we drop all of our attempts to figure ourselves out with the mind. If we are truly tired of our own opinions, and the exhausting search for a deeper peace through thinking, we can find ourselves open and willing to see the profundity in these simple teachings, and to actually be transformed by them.

Try it for yourself right Now: take a moment and close your eyes, and come home to your breathing. As you enjoy the flow of your own breath, listen very intently to the sounds of life arising around you, and then listen to the space out of which all sound arises.

Get a sense that behind every sound, including the sound of your own thoughts, there is a Silence that is inviting you to come home to relax and rest in the Present moment. It alone calls you to leave the confusion of you're wandering mind, and return to It's spacious presence, here and now. This Silence is the backdrop of all we say, think and do, and in It's embrace we rediscover the peace, fulfillment and joy we long for.

Just keep quiet...

And listen to the Silence.

Nothing else is required.