Silence,

 

I have said so before and I will say it again: my silence is different from the imaginary silence of anyone, who still believes in inner language or in having thoughts or a mind. Whenever I don’t talk, don’t listen, don’t write or don’t read, I am totally silent, because I am without any language.

 

Those who know the difference between DL and EL, will stop their DL, because they prefer to have EL and they experience their silence as a result of their ongoing EL. In effect, they will know, their silence is created and maintained by the presence of their effective language, language which accurately describes who they are and what they experience. Those who engage in DL, however, view language and silence as incompatible, because DL describes their experience incorrectly. Consequently, in DL, silence means, the absence of language, but in EL, silence means, the presence of language.  

 

Interestingly, a very similar thing occurs with listening. In unconscious, automatic, unnatural DL, listening always only either seems to mean, listening to others or making others listen to you, but in EL, listening only means listening to yourself. Moreover, in EL, listening to yourself means listening to others, but in DL, listening to others means not listening to yourself. To be clear, in DL, we never listen to ourselves and in EL, we always listen to ourselves.  

 

Silence and listening are, of course, connected, but this connection is only becoming evident to us during EL, because it is obfuscated during our usual, insensitive, coercive, unintelligent DL. In EL, we realize, we are silent, and, yet, there is no urge to be silent. Stated differently, in EL, we no longer believe in becoming silent, because it is our self-nature, to be silent. In our conflicted DL, we are endlessly trying, to find peace and quiet, but we never succeed, since we believe ourselves to be the product of DL. Although we have been conditioned by DL, our self-nature hasn’t changed. Each night, in deep sleep, we are rejuvenated, as we are without language.

 

For those who begin to explore the difference between DL and EL, it is of great importance, to fully recognize – each time, when they don’t speak, listen, write or read – that there really is no language, no thought and no mind. Initially, due to our common history of conditioning with DL – when we don’t speak, listen, write or read – we still believe, that we have private speech, covert conversation or inner language, but if we manage to have ongoing EL, and, therefore, stop our DL a little longer, we become more and more sure, there really never were any words or sentences inside of our heads.  

 

Another fascinating aspect about silence, is that in EL, it continues, while we engage in language, – that is, while we speak, listen, write or read – but, also while we don’t engage in language. In EL, we understand, rationally, that we never go in or out of our silence, but in DL, we seem to be either going away from our silence or out of our silence, but seldom, if ever, into our silence.

 

When it is said, someone’s silence is worse than his or her anger, we refer to the so-called silence of DL. Also, if someone’s silence said volumes, we are dealing with DL. These two sayings are good examples, to make clear, that it is merely a way of saying. Likewise, having thoughts, a mind or hearing internal speech, is due to our habitual way of talking, in which we don’t listen to ourselves, which is DL.

 

When you say, that his or her silence lasted for a minute and then, he or she began to speak, you first didn’t hear him or her say anything, but then, you heard him or her say something. In both cases, you weren’t listening, because in both cases, you were – due to DL – assuming, imagining, believing, that he or she was quietly, deeply, mindfully, thinking something, which he or she, then, supposedly, expressed, as if covert language became overt. However, this person was simply relaxing his or her body, so he or she could speak. ‘Thoughtful’ speech is less noisy or coercive or emotional than our usual speech.

 

Only during DL can a silence be experienced as uncomfortable. The discomfort is always about the fact, that – although we don’t know about the difference between DL and EL – we don’t like DL and, unknowingly, prefer EL. When, in DL, someone, finally says something, he or she,  of course, broke the painful silence of DL. Yet, this so-called speaking up or speaking out, has never resulted in EL, as it always meant more of the same DL. Breaking the silence also indicates that we speak, in order not to feel what we feel.

 

The silence of our ongoing EL is our Language Enlightenment (LE). With EL, we are silent with and without language. Everything we say in EL dissolves and, therefore, we are continuously new. Moreover, in EL, our silence isn’t – as we say in DL – deepened, but it is renewed. In the same way, that what we say – in EL – is never the same, our silence is also never the same.