It may seem paradoxical to speak of silence, but the silence in question is not merely an absence of thoughts, words or sounds. It is the very essence of the universe and all encompassing. It is an empty space, which cannot be conceived. Always present, there is nothing particular which could be done to find it. He who seeks is the obstacle. Because silence is what we are. This is another word for the consciousness. The more silence grows in us, the more consciousness unfolds, expands, occupies the space taken by the mind. Each of our actions is then illuminated by the light of the consciousness.

All beings are able to let silence grow in them. It is simply to trust one’s own ability. Meditation can be an aid to perceive our ability to melt into silence, with the body and mind naturally at rest. If, in that manner, we are receptive to body sensations, perceptions of the mind and we welcome them with a neutral attention, then we open ourselves to our deepest being, that is silence. Life offers to us at each moment many opportunities, if we are attentive to each interval of silence that appears surreptitiously despite mental noise or outside tumult, to this immutable background on which noise is superimposed.

Silence is not an absence of sound. Moreover, some sounds reveal silence, and sometimes even lead us to silence. Observe like notes of music or songs of birds do not bother silence, but enhance it… Silence has nothing to do with the absence of thoughts or speech. It is silence that underlies the thought when it is full of humility and the speech when it is right. Life springs from silence and returns back there, and the thought or the speech that has nowhere to go return there also… Whether words are used or not, whether acts spring up spontaneously or not, everything returns to silence. When no personal will intervene to crystallize the energetic movement of the mind, pure perception dissolves naturally into silence… There is no more residue, because there is nobody to take ownership of thought or action. This energy is powerful, without anyone to twist or dissipate it, there is a great creativity at work, without any thought to restrict or manipulate it.

Silence is not just a concept of well-being. Like peace, it is the nature of our true being. We should be able to feel it in the background, to live constantly with that subtle attention that transcends time. Thoughts are then not projected from memory, actions occur spontaneously, without fear. How can we perceive silence if we do not calm down the effervescence of our brain, this disease afflicting us nowadays and separating us from that background ? We no longer understand what life, perpetually springing from this background, has to tell us. We do not understand each other. The real communication is an interconnection inside that silence.

Only a being, with a heart purified and a soul bared by its journey through the desert, is worthy of encountering That which has been waiting for all eternity, and which will be given to hear what is born of silence. It is by the subtle sound of silence, a sweet whisper, that Elias had the revelation of the divine, after walking for 40 days and 40 nights in the desert. On Mount Horeb, where Moses encountered “I Am that I Am”, Elias heard God… He was not in the wind, nor in the earthquake, nor in the fire… Contact with true reality occurs only in silence, when the mind is calm, when “I” is no longer acting. When the nature of thought and ego has been perceived, it is then possible to do the step leading into original silence, the eternal vibration that continues to enfold and penetrate everything at each moment. It is only in that silence that the jump in our depth may occur… An empty space where there is nobody, no ”I”, thus no object to be named.

At the beginning, we experiment a silent state. To reach that state, we only are attentive to each thought, each phenomena, without qualifying or judging. Only a peaceful and detached attention, without purpose. That vision naturally slows down the functioning of the mind. We become silent contemplation…Gradually, the observer dissolves in silence. Finally, we are that silence, whatever happens. The ultimate subject is that silence. With an empty mind, we continue to think, speak and act. The process is spontaneous. All is coming directly from that silent background, and unfolding in it. Our attention, our vision, our listening are silence. We are established in our deep being, we can talk or act, that does not change anything. Silence is the essence of our deep being. It is continuous. No need of efforts to obtain it. It is the heart, the matrix from which emerges the undifferentiated breath and the place where the manifested energies converge, where all objects disappear (including the I). It is the place where the opposites meet and dissolve. It spreads in us when the exact identity between the absolute and the relative, between the source and the expression is revealed.

Silence is one of the names of empty consciousness, without object. It is its substance, the space restored to its original emptiness, when the mind rests in vacuity. It is us. We are not the noisy content which clutters our inner space. We are the containing whose nature is silence. The consciousness is pure perception, free from any comments, the containing that contains all the noises. This containing – ultimate subject, silence, emptiness - is not perceptible, objectified. As soon as we perceive it, it is a reflection of silence – the consciousness - ultimate subject - which is perceived…

When, through the experience of approaching death, was made the leap into the space of pure consciousness, without objects, my whole being in a state of an entire surrender, with an empty mind, senses withdrawn, silence unfolded. There was no sound when my consciousness immersed itself in the cosmic Consciousness. It was not frightening. We feel fully alive in that peaceful and joyful emptiness… The perception was that of an only respiration, as a continuous pulse. The intelligence of the cosmic energy stands there in the silent emptiness. It is it that teaches. In this empty space of unlimited depth, silence, as a divine whispering, communicates the mystery of life. It is through silence that the path to silence is revealed. Reality is accessible only by and in silence. Everything is then known in and through the light… When we return to the perception of the earthly world, silence is lived continuously as our true home, as the matrix of the universe. It impregnates our whole being, goes with our actions, includes everything.

We are only required to listen to the universe. For that, no religion, no dogma, no organized system is necessary… Each human being is able, alone, to listen to the continuous message. That sound of silence, which is perceived and heard, is identical to the one who perceives and hears. That vibration has no beginning, no end, it is eternal and always renewed, still and moving, powerful and subtle. It is in every being, substantially. It is the being … When alone, called from the inner self, each being can realize that he/she is the entire universe. “Stay in silence and your word will be His word.” (Rûmî)

Silence is the eternal substance which bathes the universe. It is the origin. Don’t be afraid of it when discovering it. It emanates from the depth of what we are and leads us there. It is the cosmic breath, which crosses us. It is the freedom of our inner space. It is there when we go out of our small ego, when the mind separating between the world and our response to it calms down. It reveals to us what the manifested really is. This is that voice with no sound that sings the love melody of the universe. Silence is the culmination of love, its exaltation and its rest. To be absorbed in silence is no other than to realize our eternal nature. To flow inside silence, is to melt into the ocean and to disappear, like a drop of water.

Near Pondicherry, is the temple of Natarâja, representing Shiva performing his cosmic dance, the eternal pulse of creation and destruction. Beside, is said to be the true god of dance is hidden behind a veil. When we draw the veil, there is only an empty space…