We are hardwired as human beings to want to feel safe and protected. But in such an unpredictable life and demanding society, where can we find safety and protection? Where do we take refuge? In this article I’ll talk about the secret that’s always available to us: silence, and how it is perhaps the refuge we’ve all been searching for our entire lives.
Can We Really Be Safe?
Each one of us hopes to go through this life with as little trouble and as much comfort as possible. None of us wants a bumpy ride, full of pain and turbulence. And somehow, although we’re hardwired to want that, life always seems to destroy our hopes. One thing is sure about life: it is unpredictable and in constant change. So how exactly are we going to find safety and protection? And where? Some of us feel that if we manage to manifest a very stable life, with a stable home, solid relationship, stable job, a pension etc, we are safe. I’m not against that and I definitely see the benefits in all the above. But, all of those physical assets can be taken away from us. This can happen either by war, unexpected financial loses, disease, death of a loved one or of ourselves and so on.
In other words, the physical dimension, although beautiful and seemingly concrete, is not really so promising in terms of safety and protection after all. As a matter of fact the physical dimension itself IS the reason for fear and the survival instinct. Its density and the notion that any moment things can be taken away from us, produces this desperate need for safety.
The Dimension of Silence
Safety and Protection by nature have to be found in a place where nothing can happen to us. A place that nothing can touch or harm. Isn’t that the definition of safety? The amazing discovery in meditation and spiritual practice is the unchanging dimension of Silence within. It is astonishing to realize for yourself that in your most intimate experience there is something completely quiet and peaceful. When you reach that depth of yourself, it quietens you so deeply, that you realize: “Wow, everything is totally ok!”. This miraculous silence is revealed as your very nature, what you are. And please don’t think that silence means just quietude. It’s full and rich and fulfilling.
It is the ground behind all your experience. What a miracle! And the astonishing thing about silence is that it is there both in positive as well as negative emotions, moments and events. There’s no discrimination. It is always present. And doesn’t something that is always present, always reliable in both good and bad, resonate with real safety?
Safety in The Spiritual Dimension
Did you ever think about the fact that anything with a physical nature can be broken, destroyed or simply get too wobbly? On the other hand, anything with a spiritual nature cannot be cut, split, broken or destroyed. Nor does it get old. So here’s the breaking news: Silence, which is the spiritual dimension of your being, is your refuge. It is your safety and true protection. Silence is always trustworthy, always there, always available to you – AS you. No matter what you experience, it is there, inviting you to lean in and relax. You may be going through a terrible time – perhaps divorce, split up, loss of your job, uncertainty with your next steps, anxiety, depression; and yet silence is there, unconditionally available.
Naturally it has to be developed over time and practice. One must not assume that the fact that it is there makes it available. Also the moon is there, but we still need a spaceship to reach it – a proper vessel. In this case, your vessel is meditation and the spiritual path.
Invest in Silence
I love talking to my students about investing in the only thing that matters. We definitely should be good investors, but not in the way society would imagine it. Being a great investor means to invest only in that which is of eternal and lasting value. It is putting your effort, love, practice and money into that which yields freedom and wholeness not only for a short moment but for your entire life and beyond – into your Soul. This is absolutely possible and attainable. It simply requires continuous practice and dedication to what you know has real value. Silence is the kernel of your being, where all the treasures hide. Everything else comes and goes, changes so rapidly. Silence on the other hand is there like the endless skies, always embracing you with its all-inclusive vastness. Eternal and unchanging.
What a blessing it is to open up to it. Just meditate regularly and deeply and you will not be able to resist it yourself! The beauty and the safety you’ll discover in silence will be like a magnet you can’t resist. And whenever you feel in the need of protection, it’ll be there for you like a true lover, like a true parent.