Episode Transcript
We Americans enjoy a wonderful and powerful way of life, but internally and in relationships, we may wish for better. Join me as we look beneath the surface and gain insights to transform every aspect of your life. My name is Dr. Ann O'Hare, and this is The Spiritual American. Hello and welcome to the Spiritual American. My name is Dr. Anne O'Hare and I'm your host. And today we will be talking about the value of silence. It's a wonderful topic and we're going to do a little talk and then have a little meditation at the end of this episode. But before we get started, if you're listening on YouTube, please consider like sharing and subscribing as you know, that helps to get our content out to more and more people. And of course, please consider sharing with your friends and family as well. So the value of silence. If you've been watching. the episodes of this podcast, you'll probably notice that I'm not too religious, that I kind of go after these concepts from a spiritual science perspective. And also I've shared a lot about my own experience that I wasn't very attracted to meditation. I wasn't very attracted to peace. I wasn't very attracted to silence. I was much more interested in the knowledge and getting something done and finding a way to fix or improve myself, the things that I thought that were, that needed improvement. I was much more interested in that. So I'm here to talk from that perspective, what the value of silence is. So Silence means what? No sound, no movement. So in Hindi or in Sanskrit or in Hindi, it's actually Hindi. I believe we use the word shanti, shanti, S H A N T I or shanti, however you want to say it, that word means peace. It means stillness and it means silence. So all three things. And we say Om Shanti. So Om means I am. So I am, peace, stillness, and silence. So, some people, and I've shared this in other episodes, they immediately feel attracted to that and they go right into those experiences and they feel very attracted to those experiences. I was not one of them. So I'm going to tell you a little bit of the science of why it's important to try to experience silence and stillness and peace. Our mind right now is full of memories, emotions, thoughts, ideas, all kinds of things. And I'm think it's fair to say that we are having some sorrow based on what's going on in our mind. And so, like I was saying, these last few episodes, if you're in a system and you don't know anything else, but what's in the system, you can't change it. So what's outside the system? What is the system? Time, space, memory, human life, all these things that we experience and know about language, we have to experience life outside of it to be able to compare and to be able to see the value of silence and peace. We have to experience it, right? So when we start Raja yoga meditation, one of the first things we do is we say, okay, for this period of time that I'm meditating, I'm not going to think about anything in my life. Good luck. Right? It doesn't work. Your brain, your mind keeps going to one thing or another at first, but little by little, you start to have little experiences, a little break from all that mental activity. And I'm going to mention it again. I mentioned it before. I was teaching a class in a college and one of the students said, Why should I forget myself to get myself? That's me. Why am I forgetting me? It's not that I'm forgetting myself. I'm just trying to have a different experience. So it's not that I'm leaving myself. It's not that I'm forgetting myself. I'm not negating anything. I'm not saying that anything's bad. I'm just saying that I'm trying now to have an experience like this. Peace, silence, and stillness. And what is the value of having that experience? It wakes up our intellect. What does that mean? Our intellect is the part of our consciousness that makes decisions. If any of you have ever quit smoking or quit a bad habit or made a decision, maybe broke up with somebody. There was a decision, a decision that was made at some point that you were not going back from. It was like, I made the decision and now I am that decision. I'm not that other person anymore that was doing that other thing. That's the power of the intellect. The power of the intellect is not only is it making a decision, but it's assigning identity. I'm going to say that again. The intellect doesn't only just make decisions. It also has to do with identity. It establishes identity. One time somebody asked me, because I'm a nurse, one time somebody asked me, how do you quit smoking? And I said, become someone who doesn't smoke. It sounds a little weird at first because we're not usually used to thinking that way. But the intellect is very, very powerful. Who I think I am is very, very powerful. If I think I'm a sinful person who will never amount to anything, then that identity is going to impact every aspect of my life. It's going to impact my decision making and everything else. In Raja Yoga Meditation, what we're doing is we are getting in touch with a different experience of identity. An identity that has nothing to do with what's going on here. An identity that has to do with my eternal truth of who I am and an experience that's beyond. Time and space beyond the mind, beyond memory, and it's just an experience. It's not like something bad's going to happen, but what it does is it gives the intellect a chance to get a break from the old programming and also it empowers the intellect with this new information. My nature is peace. Wow. I'm a soul. I am living consciousness and my nature is peace. That's a new identity. Now, some of you may be saying, well, I'm fine with my identity just the way it is. And I'm going to say, okay, that's fine. The identity is not the only thing that shifts. The purpose of doing a different identity or a more subtle or more spiritual identity is because it does have an impact. It's a positive thing you're saying. You're saying, I am peaceful. I'm loving. I'm generous. I'm wise. I'm joyful. Those things will have a positive impact on the rest of my life. One is the positive feelings and qualities that I'm telling myself that I am. The other is the fact that because I'm having an experience of silence, I'm actually training my intellect to pick up when things are not right over here. For instance, I use this example all the time. If I tell myself that my nature is peace and then I get up for meditation, have a fight with my husband. Eventually the intellect is going to say, wait a minute. I just said I'm peaceful and now I'm doing this. So who am I now? Am I the one that's fighting or am I the one that's peaceful? Well, the intellect is probably going to want to be the peaceful one, but you have to have courage, right? This is what a spiritual journey is. I'm awakening these different aspects of myself, my intellect, let's say, and I'm able to, with silence and peace and having this experience in meditation. I'm actually starting to have the ability to pick up different parts of myself that maybe were happening so under the radar that I have no power to change them. Or I just think, Oh, that's just the way I am. I know for myself that I never felt good about myself when I was fighting. I never felt good about myself when my relationships weren't working. Or I didn't feel good about myself when I was unhappy at work or I wasn't healthy. When all of those things were going on, I didn't feel good about myself. So it would help me to change them. You know, that was my feeling. Every, you know, I think sometimes we say, that's just the way I am. And then other people say, yeah, that's the way they are. And this is the way I am. And everybody just kind of. stays there in the fighting and the resentment and the jealousy and the whatever is going on. I'm saying here that with Raja yoga meditation, we're having a different experience where I'm telling myself who I am and the intellect is now empowered. It's had a break and now it's being told something different, something positive. And now when it goes back into life, it's starting to see things differently. And I'm going to say that each of us has the power to transform every aspect of our life. Every aspect become someone that isn't like that. And that's what we do in meditation. We have the experience of being a peaceful being. So I have an experience. It's not just like I say to myself, Oh, I'm peaceful and then I go have a fight. I've experienced it. The intellect has something to compare. So the value of silence, the value of peace, the value of stillness is that I am giving myself an experience that's going to help me transform the rest of my life. So let's practice. We'll do a short meditation and we'll try to experience some peace and silence inside. So sitting quietly, let the body be balanced and relaxed in the chair where you're sitting. And as you're listening to me speak, you can look at me right here in between the eyes like there's a point of light there. Imagine that there's a point of light here like there's a soul here. The soul is the living being, the consciousness. And this soul is speaking and I'm looking at the soul. So just look and watch and relax the body. Take a deep breath in and exhale, inhale and exhale. Let your awareness go to the body. Notice that the body and the mind are different. The body is there. Notice if there's any tension or holding in your muscles. Just release that. The mind may be generating thoughts. You may still have some feelings going through your body. That's okay. Take another breath in and exhale. Now, gently bring your attention to the center of your forehead right here. Gently bring your attention right here. Everything else in the body is working on its own. The heart is beating, the lungs are breathing, but I am looking at the point of light in the center of my forehead. A little tiny star, sparkling consciousness, let the body relax and look at the star. Understanding that for this short period of time, I am drawing my attention away from ordinary thinking. And I'm bringing my attention to the star, the body is relaxed, the body is stable. And I am looking at the star, that sparkling star, suspended, silent, body is relaxed. And I say to myself, I am the soul. I am the point of living light. I am that sparkling star in the center of the forehead. I am the soul. The living being that is using this body to play my part in the world. I am the silent sparkling self and my nature is peace. I am still. I am silent. Just for a moment, let yourself completely bring your attention deeper and deeper into the star watching the star. Absolutely. Still, absolutely still silent, peaceful. There's a gentleness in my nature. I am in harmony with everything, gentle and in harmony. I am the living being, sparkling, living light. I play a part in the world. And my nature is beautiful, powerful, gentle, and in harmony with everything. Take a gentle breath in, and exhale, still looking at the star, inhale, and exhale, and just for one moment. Have complete stillness and silence. And now gently bring your attention back. Gently bring your attention back to the body, back to the room. Move your fingers and toes a little bit. Come forward, back forward into waking awareness. Take a deep breath, waking yourself up a little bit, bringing your energy forward. Inhale and exhale. And welcome back. So I hope that you were able to experience the stillness that is us. We are souls and our nature is peace and stillness. And what is the value of silence? What is the value of peace? What is the value of stillness? I talked about it earlier, but I would hope and I hope that you will try it for yourself. A little bit of this every day begins to make a profound difference in our life. So I'll leave it there. Remember our slogan is heal, empower, and serve. And until next time. Take care. You
