Silence as Refuge... (with Gangaji)

 

“When there is a storm of challenging circumstances raging around you, do you know where to take refuge?” 

At this time many people across the globe are being challenged, whether by the specter of Covid-19, by racial tension, by political turmoil, or by natural disaster. These are challenging times and they are complicated times. Yet the message that I offer, and the message that my teacher offered to me and his teacher offered before him, is simple: There is a precious space of refuge within every living being, no matter the times we are living in or our individual circumstances. Regardless of all that may be swirling like a storm, externally or internally, there is a wellspring of pristine silence within you that remains unmoving and unaffected whatever the events.

Pure, conscious silence is peace. Pure silence is love. Silence is who you are. Silence is awareness, aware of itself as awareness. This silent awareness is what your body has appeared in, what the events of your life have appeared in, what everything around you is appearing in. Throughout it all, this silence remains at peace, filled with love and conscious of itself, whether you are consciously aware of it or not.

This silence is not a lack of anything. It is not a silence that denies events in the present or past. It is not a silence that represses the truth that must be spoken. It is a silence filled with so much of itself that there is nothing else, and nothing separate from it. I celebrate this silence in each of you, and I recommend it as the point of discovery, a point of inquiry. No matter what is occurring in your life, in your mind, in your emotions, your body, or your environment, you are free to inquire, has this pure silence really gone anywhere?

Rather than questioning where current events are headed, how bad is it going to get, and how it will affect you, you can instead—at least in this moment—give your attention to the silent core of your being.  Give your questions to this silence. That silent core remains unmoving and unaffected by it all. Silence is your refuge—your refuge from the storm.

~~Gangaji