Today about 4 different stages of developing inner silence and stillness, free from thoughts. For most of us human beings inner silence and stillness don’t come naturally. What comes naturally, due to complete misunderstanding of human life and existence, is relentless engagement with the thoughts, attachment and identification. So we have to work on making ourselves free from thoughts, clearing a path to access inner silence and stillness.
There are different stages of connecting with inner silence and stillness, becoming free from thoughts.
First stage:
-we start practicing no thinking and getting away from thoughts. In the beginning, the going is slow and difficult, due to the need to constantly police the flow of thoughts, and step in whenever attachment occurs. With time and regular practice it gets progressively easier. Flow of thoughts slows down, and we are getting more efficient in letting the thoughts pass through without attachment.
Second stage:
-we extend our practice into everyday activities, specially those that can be done on autopilot. Periods of disengagement from the thoughts prolong, as well as inner silence and stillness. We spend more time immersed into them.
Third stage:
-a new habit of no attachment to the thoughts has been established. No more policing the thoughts, there is automatically no engagement without any effort on our part. Thoughts are passing by freely and undisturbed, inner silence and stillness persist, as there’s no more movement with the thoughts, and no identification. As a consequence, the self or I or me disappears completely, existence is not centred inside the human body anymore, but hovers and spreads everywhere, all inclusive. It becomes obvious that the nature of existence is not physical.
Fourth stage:
-this stage is all about deepening the inner silence and stillness, getting absorbed into them more and more, and getting completely away from the thoughts. We are connecting with pure existence directly, and insights about its nature follow. They can appear as mental images, sounds, or just direct knowing that is later translated into mental concepts.
These stages might not be the same for each one of us, as we all progress at our own pace and perceive different insights on the path. It’s important though to understand that this process of sinking into inner silence and stillness, free from thoughts, is a gradual one. Stay persistent and patient. You will be awarded beyond imagination.
Thank you ❤️
Take care,
👋
Awakening with Di