Step Out Of The Noise And Discover Silence

I had the idea for this journal after a conversation about leaving my home in Tuscany. The Italian countryside has been divine, but I want to give to this world as best as I can, and so I feel called back into life. In this journal, I share my insights on the journey into our mind. Grammar correction wants me to change it to minds, but there are no two minds. We share the same source, and without access to that source, our mind creates endless thoughts and suffering.

Since I was introduced to meditation at age 9, I’ve been discovering the source of our mind. I found silence underneath all the noise. To access this profound quietness, I first had to face the stress and agitation at the surface. We tend to avoid uncomfortable sensations and distract ourselves from them. Nowadays, whenever we feel more than we can bear, we reach for the phone or other kinds of stimulation. This increases the stress further, and we’re lost in a vicious cycle.

To step out, we need to look at our mind and investigate its source every moment. What’s underneath our stress and agitation? (That’s a different question from where it comes from, which is usually pretty obvious.) If we give room to observe and feel, we can become aware of many subtle levels of experience: physical, emotional, and mental. In that awareness, there is silence, in which we can be still. Looking at our mind in this way is simple but not easy. It requires no particular skill but the courage to look and the intention to see whatever is happening through to its source.

There’s no shortcut on that journey. Answers and experiences given to us are not ours. As J. Krishnamurti used to say, “Truth is a pathless land”. We can only see for ourselves, with the support of guides who don’t impose their view but encourage our own. This is my work now, for which I move in the world.

I say to myself, be open–hear the calls of life and act on them. We can see the world anew each moment. Be attentive and aware and walk in the unknown as a pilgrim.