Creating Inner Silence

In this episode we will explore how to cultivate a deep inner silence through the method of introspection and loving redirection of thoughts and feelings from external circumstances to our innate benevolent nature.

Transcript

Hello, good morning and good afternoon. Welcome.  In our personal practice, the Brahma Kumaris, one of the main practices is to experience that inner silence, inner stillness.  And so I thought to share a little bit about that with you, because that practice of going into silence, into inner silence and experience that inner peace, is something we all want, right?  It's very beneficial in many different ways, and it's very refreshing and empowering. 

From outside noise, we can step away, we can distance us, right?  We can put a request to a person to speak less loudly or turn the volume of the radio lower. But what about the noise in our mind?  And so that inner stillness has a lot to do with learning to direct my own thoughts, my own way of thinking.  And of course, we also have lots of feelings, right? 

And we are very busy internally in terms of thinking about someone, something,  what someone should do, why they are not doing this way,  what happened yesterday or the day before, or maybe even 20 years ago,  what someone did.  And then the worry what might happen, how will it go? Will I manage? Can I do that?  A lot of our thoughts are connected with the past or the future. 

And then we have so many different types of thoughts.  The best, of course, are the positive, pure thoughts.  But then there is a lot of waste that we also produce even in our own minds.  And some thoughts are useful in order to go through the regular daily routine. But these useful thoughts can very quickly become waste. 

All the thinking about other people.  Why? What, how? When is all extra waste? There's no benefit in it. 

And so the waste, when we go on with wasteful thinking, wasting our energy, then that can very quickly then turn into negative.  And once we have some negative thoughts, even the body gets exhausted, we are unhappy.  So  when we practice inner silence, going within,  then  I'm checking,  where did I spend time  over the last hour, for example,  where did my mind go? What did my mind do?  So the practice to observe, to assess, to come to know what my own mind is doing. 

We are so busy. It's so important for us to know what someone is doing, how they are doing, where they are.  But what about our own mind?  And so the practice to go within allows me then to find out.  And then I have a choice. 

When I find out, it's like I'm assessing without judgment, without opinion.  And as I come to know, then I have a choice.  If I check the way I think, the type of thoughts I have, if I'm okay with it, go on with it, fine. But if it is the case that the thoughts are not that healthy for me, they are not very positive, and there is no real benefit in continue to think in this way.  So here I have a choice to redirect the mind. 

So at a very subtle level within my own subtle being, within my own consciousness, I have the power to redirect the thoughts in my own mind.  And so the more I become proactive in this, the more I take the initiative and make not only intentional choice, but start to have auspicious intention.  It's like you want to think. You choose to think whether it's about the self or about someone or the world in an auspicious way. It's a beautiful word, right? 

And so more than just have beautiful thoughts, but thoughts that empower, that uplift, that bring benefit.  Thoughts without selfish motives, thoughts that come from a place of self-respect.  And true self-respect is very much connected with understanding of a deeper part, that we are much more than just our physical appearance, but deeper within.  I am a being that has many treasures, many qualities, a lot of goodness and a lot of power.  But that power now is not to control others, to rule over others, but that power within I now need to use to create and sustain that inner base. 

And so the more we do that, there's an inner silence that starts to emerge because the thoughts become slower, fewer thoughts, which is very good. It will feel very good in your mind, but also the quality of thoughts is increasing.  And so we will have fewer thoughts, but those thoughts will have more value, they will have more strength, and we will be able to put those thoughts, those auspicious thoughts that we are creating, beneficial, uplifting, beautiful thoughts into action.  The way I look, the way I speak, what I speak, where do my feet take me? What's the purpose? 

So whatever we do, we can give it a higher purpose.  So it uplifts the self and also others.  And that goodness is really accessible when I connect to myself as such.  But then also there is that inner silence, that inner quietness, inner stillness.  It empowers me and allows me to choose to see my choices and to bring a change. 

So let us pause here and move in a meditation. So we will do a little bit of reflection now.  So I sit comfortably and give the muscles in the body permission to relax as I prepare myself to go on a journey inward and to meet my own mind. 

So temporarily, I choose to let go of all my thinking, all my thoughts about what happened today or what will happen soon or later. 

And the aim is to create that awareness, that idea that thought, to give few moments to the self, to empower the self and to dive deep into my own purity, the purity of being. 

Purity of being. 

So the human part of the self will put that on pause.  Whatever I need to do, I can do this. Later, all these thoughts come to a pause and I stabilize.  And for that, you can hold your focus gently at the center of the forehead, as this is said to be the place where the third eye is. 

So I gently hold the focus there and start to look inward. 

I go beyond the surface, beyond the shell of the body, beyond the bone and flesh, and I connect with myself at the level of my mind. 

And the biggest ability of my mind is to create thoughts.  My mind keeps having thoughts.  So many thoughts are there.  I see them,  I acknowledge them,  and I let them pass  while I stabilize or become stable  on that inner point of stillness,  the awareness  that I am a being  of peace, a being of love, the point of stillness. 

As I hold that awareness, being this point, unlimited point or light of a stillness, I am peace.  I am love.  I am this being of goodness. 

And in front of me, there’s the big screen of my mind. 

There might be a lot of movement, many thoughts running here, going there.  The mind is wandering. 

I become the observer of my own mind.  From the point of stillness, I the being of light, observing my mind. 

And gradually I let go more and more.  I let go of the observing part, and I merge within my own purity. I merge within my own base.  I become that base. I am that base. 

I am that point of stillness.  And so breathe into that inner space of silence, relax and even enjoy.  Feel free, feel light.  I can give permission to myself to just let go of any burden. There's no need to hold on. 

I am still.  I am peace.  I am afraid.  I am light. 

And I deeply acknowledge  my own presence  and my inner treasures,  my inner powers,  and the power to remain still. 

And so then gradually I come back.  And as I'm about to engage  in movement or physical activity,  I still can maintain  that awareness  of the point of stillness,  and I can withdraw in that any time of my choice. 

Om Shanti.