For me, it’s mental noise I need to quiet. For others, they need to stop talking.
Ram Dass (quoted in the graphic above) was a spiritual teacher, who, I haven’t studied a lot of, but whenever I’ve listened to his talks or seen of videos of him speaking, would almost always give me goosebumps at some point. In a positive way of course. His cup runneth over with love and compassion.
Contrast that with the spiritual teacher I have studied the most, Eckhart Tolle. Eckhart rarely gives me goosebumps, but who communicates in a way that connects with me deeply, on whatever subject or subtopic he speaks about. I try to watch one of his videos on YouTube every other day.
I’ve also read both The Power of Now and A New Earth which I whole heartedly recommend. They’re very long and dense, so going with the audiobook version is probably the most pragmatic way to go. I’ve done a read through and a listen through of each.
As I’ve gotten older, I’ve become more quiet. I’m sure I talked more and was louder and more obnoxious in the my past than my ego and memory will allow me to believe. But I am now, and for a decent number of years have been a more quiet than talkative person. I recommend it. A great quote that I find evergreen and true is; “the loudest one in the room, is the weakest one in the room”.
At times I’m too quiet for my own good. But I find that to be a better way than the alternative. Especially in a culture where more and more people not only think what they have to say is valuable, but worthy of immediate and constant broadcast.
As I’ve gotten older, my mind has not followed my mouth in becoming more quiet. I’ve been meditating for around fifteen years now. On and off. The relative consistency to habitual consistency kicked in ten years ago. Meditation is one of the only things I recommend to all human beings without exception.
The practice of meditation has quieted my mind more than it was before I started the practice. Like anything else it is not a one time, cure-all, magic bullet. Hence why it is called a meditation practice. But it does help me. There’s more and more science showing how it tangibly helps people.
The greatest gift meditation has given me up to his point, is to help me quiet my mind and to disidentify from my thoughts. Individual thoughts, thought streams, mental movies, the voice in the head. Meditation has helped me to reduce their influence, their frequency, and to stop confusing those things with who I am.
So there is less mental noise. So I can hear more. So I can learn more. So I can do more. I don’t know about you, but I have a lot to learn and a lot to do that will help me live my life the way I know I want to. So every little bit helps.
