I fell in love with ...

[Highwhistler]

.
.
I fell in love with the
Silence of the Universe
and it became a significant part
of my center-most identity.

I could not help myself
because once a true lover becomes entangled
with the object of her love
she merges with It.

...................................................

By "Silence" I mean the entire field of personal inner awareness that can be described as infinite, emptiness, quantum, the ultimate peace, unconditional love, absolute harmony, the birth place of Creation and creativity, acceptance ... and of course, of Silence itself.

To me the word "Silence" is poetic, and in my writings it is used to identify this infinite realm of awareness and Presence, at the heart of all Creation.

Have you, too -- the Presence reading these words -- have you identified with this inner realm of wonder?

It turned out to be very helpful to have this love, as I've noticed, understood and appreciated many things that are associated with the inner realm of Silence.

One thing is Presence. I noticed that my own Presence has the same foundational, non-physical qualities as Silence. Once I started investigating Presence (not from a book, video or the sayings from any spiritual teacher, but through my own experiences), I noticed that the same Presence that I am, appears in the outside world and all inside worlds of thoughts, feelings, dreams, memories, imaginative movies, visions and on, and on ...

Just as silence stays in the background and can largely be "invisible" to one's awareness, so is an individual's Presence to itself. And so Presence has the natural abilities to be aware of itself (in the so-called physical world and all inner realms), and also to instantly disappear so that only the conscious materials that the Presence is observing, remains in its awareness. This, actually, is entanglement for the moment ... entanglement with the materials that the Presence is observing. Another way to say it: a Presence looses itself in the materials that it is focused upon.

The individuated Presence -- whether focused in the physical world or the inner worlds -- has its home in silence, stillness, peace and emptiness. Presence operates from this vast boundless area, as it explores, touches, sees, feels, dreams and recalls from memory, its adventures in the external and internal worlds.

Presence is host to the thoughts, feelings, dreams, memories and imaginative movies that float in and out of one's existence.

The nature and abilities of Presence is a beautiful topic to ponder, and can easily occupy one's fascination for thousands of lifetimes.

Another significant thing connected to the inner field of silence, emptiness and infinite space, is that once you identify with it ... then you can sense it everywhere -- in the outer worlds and inner worlds. As you slow down and stop your thoughts for continual periods of time, you are in and part of the multiverse of Silence. Then you, as a Presence are standing still in the here and now. Thoughts, dreams, imaginative movies and memories will certainly arise ... but you are not attached to any of them. From this POV ... you just allow inner material to be born, live for a while, and then disappear ... without becoming involved with them. There is great areas of exquisite empty space between the rising and falling thoughts.

This perspective is especially intriguing, as when you as the Observer have stepped out of the flow of time, you are still and quiet, and you are just watching things come and go ... you watch that empty space give birth to thoughts and memories, and then watch each thought and memory disappear back into the emptiness from which they came.

It's like the emptiness is the quantum field in which there is nothing physically, but all things potentially, and all the stuff of Creation is coming out of the stillness ... and returning back to it until it ultimately disappears from view.

The inner emptiness is like the Quantum Field Library from which is born every experience you've had and all of Creation.

So called "outer experiences" from the physical world, are also actually inner experiences. After all: the outer world is delivered to you by the senses and those data streams are projected into your inner theater ... which is the place that you are actually experiencing the external world.

For instance, you are reading these words now, and you think they are on the computer screen in front of you ... but what is actually happening is that the light composing these words is coming off the screen and has traveled to your eyes. The light then passes through your eyes and travels to your brain ... which is where you are actually seeing the reflection of these words.

Even the mechanics of seeing the outer world inside yourself, has been going on quietly behind the scenes, in a field of silence, space and emptiness. The inner space provides room for the theater to operate, and there's always seating for you, the observer ... in silence.

If you've fallen in love with Silence, please share your insights.

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Click to enlarge.

[TraineeHuman]

My experience of getting to be in love with the Stillness seemed to be the outcome of my having been very strongly and exceptionally loved as a child. Once a person has been truly, unneurotically loved deeply enough and absoluetly enough and long enough -- at whatever age, if indeed ever, I'm sure they'll more or less automatically find that all-consuming love for the Stillness, or, if you like, for Existence itself.

I believe I was born already somehow believing that I was extremely lovable, and then the more my mother would take up the ball, the more that seemed to confirm to me even more how very lovable I was. That in turn would elicit even stronger affection from her, and so it went on in a kind of circle throughout my early childhood. In a number of respects I became gigantically entitled as a child. But it was just that as a result of all the affection I had an immense, unshakable belief in my self-worth. By the age of sixteen I had had my first enlightenment experience -- which could be described as the experience and insight that absolutely everything there is is ultimately made out of pure love plus understanding/awareness. Such immense self-worth isn't "normal", but most of my schoolteachers played along with it, even though they usually didn't understand fully what was going on. But they also usually gave me huge affection -- because that was what I expected as "normal".

I don't now consider that being in love with the Stillness is the ultimate, though. There's a long journey after that, of learning to also be in love with the mud, the "noise" of everyday life and the fallen, limited world we live in on this planet. That journey took me at least another 35 years to get through most of it.

[johnf]

I am still in a love hate relationship with silence.
I struggle with thoughts and want to shout at them to silence them at times,
then every once in a while I experience a deeper silence than I have before.

This morning was one such time, but I have experienced it more in the last week or
so.
Has anyone else experienced more ease and silence very recently?

jf

[GloriousPoetry]

Silence is Gold.......6 years ago I went to a meditation retreat for 10 days of silence.....it was wonderful and when I got out driving through the busy city felt more like I was driving above it....surreal feeling....detached from the intensity of noise and movement....

[Spiral of Light]

I feel like I am coming home when I enter into the silence of meditation.

It feels to me like a pleasant quilt that wraps around and comforts me. It is a treasure, indeed.

[Johnny]

I fell in love with

Once I started investigating Presence (not from a book, video or the sayings from any spiritual teacher, but through my own experiences), I noticed that the same Presence that I am, appears in the outside world and all inside worlds of thoughts, feelings, dreams, memories, imaginative movies, visions and on, and on ...



This is the crucial point !

It's so simple and yet it is something most people overlook. Investigating is everything in questions for oneself. And with investigating the insights come.

Many people who try to 'find themselves' are going in what I call analyzing mode. They ask why instead of what.




The inner emptiness is like the Quantum Field Library from which is born every experience you've had and all of Creation.



Magnificent observation.

Thank you Highwhistler for the beautiful post.
BTW this song has always been 'my song to my Presence'

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4lazdg-eqmQ

Much love :)

Johnny

[Beren]

Wonderful thread!
Silence is where we hear the language of God.
Indeed it is everywhere since all is from God. But in silence you see and hear for the first time.
There you understand the noise and sounds all around.

God is teaching us or reminding us where is the power. It`s not in noise and external machinery or tools or whatsoever kind in universe. It`s the quiet inner thought and heart and soul joined with Love which creates everything.

Someone wonderfully noticed that after you hear the silence and God`s voice therein , you now learn to hear it even in noise of the existence, then the circle is completed.

[Highwhistler]

Silence is the most under-valued, healing,
creative, enlightening & beautiful essence within
the individual & collective human existence.

[Highwhistler]

.
.

.
I fell in love with
the Silence of the Universe
and it became a significant part
of my center-most identity.
.

.
When we talk of Silence, well ... there's usually not much to say.

True Lovers of Silence are devoted to a quiet mind and peaceful heart, and they are not very interested in breaking the continuity of their Love.

And so to communicate with others about their Love ... the Lovers of Silence try to share their insights, ideas and feelings about the essences of human existence that are woven into the infinitely vast multiverse of Silence.

Here is my attempt to talk about Love ... and its relationship to Silence ...

..............................................


24192

All of us are lovers of love, are we not?

In the deepest recesses of our minds, in our most private feelings, most of us have secretly wondered:



What is love?

Where does it come from?

Why does it appear and disappear?

Can I get more of it!?

And, the best question of all:

What is True Love?

Believe it or not, I have a few answers.

Love is never far away. It is always close by, as love is an essential part of Nature and of being human.

The reason that love is one of the greatest mysteries of life ... the reason that it is hard to pin-down and talk about, is that most of the deepest loves exists behind the scenes ... in the parts of ourselves that are silent and incomprehensible. Love lives in the quietest part of our being.

It’s fascinating to try and follow love back to its source.

A practical way to start is by focusing our attention on a single expression of Love that is found in our normal lives: Can you remember receiving a loving glance from a friend? ... or hearing the love in your lover’s voice? Now, trace that outer expression of Love back to where it came from and you enter an inner world of feelings and thoughts. As you follow those feelings back, back, back ... into the inner realm ... eventually they disappear.

You may think that your journey has come to an end, when you find yourself on the threshold of a world of silence. Indeed, many people who journey to this vast region of stillness believe it to be a void that is not worthy of further contemplation. But actually, they have traveled to the main gateway of the real home of Love as the greater part of Love exists behind the scenes ... in this world of deep silence.

In Truth, love is a silent, underground, formless ocean that flows in us ... always present, eternally patient. We can open ourselves to receive its graces, or construct barriers to stop its flow.

The idea that “love comes and goes” is the standard view today, but that’s just how it looks on the surface. What really is coming and going -- what really is changing -- are our preferences and points of view that either turns-off or turns-on the harmony of love that radiates from the silent part of us. Love is always present and we can be open to it or not.

For instance, every loving couple have disagreements that stem from different preferences and points of view. Arguments erupt as each person becomes entrenched in their own point of view. After going round-and-round with the disagreement, eventually they reconcile ... they make peace ... and their relationship returns to its normal state of harmony.

What has happened during the disagreement is not that Love went anywhere. Love remained at home (in the stillness and silence behind the scenes), but the couple denied their access to love as each proclaimed the brilliance of their opinions! Once the attention placed on their differences subsided, they then relaxed and let the love flow normally back into their presence.

What I’m trying to say is that Love does not go away. It is always a part of the fabric of human life, as well as a part of each individual.

One of my favorite, most beautiful sayings is: “Love begins in the body, but ends in the soul.” There is a lot of truth in that.

A new love relationship often starts out with a special attraction to certain physical features and personality traits of your partner. That level of love is fun and produces fantastic experiences (this relates to the first part, i.e., “Love begins in the body”).

But as people age and life goes on, everything changes. If love is primarily based on special outward features of the body and personality, then love will not be present as the features held so dear, fade away.

But remember: the essence of love is deep, eternally present, mostly silent, and part of our natural make-up. That love is present as we change, as our partner changes, and as life goes on. It is not dependent on the outward qualities of a partner, but is based in a personal, enduring, spiritual nature in which you’ve realized that your lover is essentially no different than yourself. This level of love is what is referred to in the last part of the phrase “Love begins in the body, but ends in the soul.”

These might be new words to you, but from your own first-hand experiences, you know they are true.

For instance, we all have had dear friends and family members that we’ve known for many, many years, perhaps decades, who have now passed away. If you look back at your love for them, you will see that you loved them long ago ... their body changed a lot through the years and you still loved them ... their personality and mental features changed too, and your love remained unbroken. Even years after they passed away, your love for them is still right here -- you love them right now!

How can that be? It is because the highest levels of love are eternal.

Our bodies come and go, our points of view do also, but there is a level of love that is always present. Let us try not to make our ordinary preferences greater than love itself, as we never want love to fade away ... in ourselves or in our relationships.

The kind of love that stays ... the love that is here over time, moment by moment, day after day, year after year ... and is even present within our hearts long after our loved ones are not here in physical form -- that love comes from the silence and stillness of Being, and is the highest form of love.

That love deserves to be called “True Love.”

24191

[heyokah]

In Truth, love is a silent, underground, formless ocean that flows in us ... always present, eternally patient. We can open ourselves to receive its graces, or construct barriers to stop its flow.

The idea that “love comes and goes” is the standard view today, but that’s just how it looks on the surface. What really is coming and going -- what really is changing -- are our preferences and points of view that either turns-off or turns-on the harmony of love that radiates from the silent part of us. Love is always present and we can be open to it or not.

For instance, every loving couple have disagreements that stem from different preferences and points of view. Arguments erupt as each person becomes entrenched in their own point of view. After going round-and-round with the disagreement, eventually they reconcile ... they make peace ... and their relationship returns to its normal state of harmony.

What has happened during the disagreement is not that Love went anywhere. Love remained at home (in the stillness and silence behind the scenes), but the couple denied their access to love as each proclaimed the brilliance of their opinions! Once the attention placed on their differences subsided, they then relaxed and let the love flow normally back into their presence.

What I’m trying to say is that Love does not go away. It is always a part of the fabric of human life, as well as a part of each individual.


Thank you for re-minding me of this. I needed it :)