"Celebrating Silence" – Meditations on Knowledge
Spiritual Soup to Help Transform Stress into Bliss
Apr 28, 2009
The first of a series of Sri Sri Ravi Shankar's volumes of brief, meditative talks, “Celebrating Silence,” offers wide-ranging wisdom on aspects of life that are real and down-to-earth.
The talks are divided into three sections that reflect life, the path towards transformation, and the relationship with a spiritual transcendence.
Each bit of this knowledge says so much that summarizing often gets in the way of the simple, penetrating truth contained therein. Therefore, the following comments are best read on their own, allowed to speak for themselves.
What You Want to Change in Who You Are
The brief talks in this section of the book discuss problems that we face in life and aspects of the self, such as the ego, which frequently appear as obstacles to spiritual growth.
- On Habits/Vices: “Your inability to do something, such as break a habit, causes a pinch and when you are deeply pained by something, the pain will rid you of the habit. If you are pained by your shortcomings, then you are a sadhak — a seeker. Pain takes you out of addiction.”
- On Doubt: “Doubt cannot come where there is a sense of closeness. Doubt needs distance to appear. You never doubt something that is dear to you, close to you. The moment you doubt something, it is no longer dear to you; a distance has come. You may doubt yourself, but you do not doubt that which is yours. Self-doubt is a lack of closeness to oneself. Belonging, closeness and intimacy are all antidotes for doubt.”
Who You Are Becoming as Your Own Goal
This middle section has discussions of aspects of a spiritual path, as signposts on the way to transformation. They are like the categories of badges that girl scouts and boy scouts work towards.
- On Service/Seva: “Poor people fight for food. Rich people share their food. Richer are those who share power. Richer still are those who share fame. Richest of all are those who share themselves. A person’s wealth is measured by his ability to share and not by what he hoards.”
- On Spiritual Practices/Sadhana: “Dissolving the name is awareness. Dissolving the form is meditation. The world is name and form. Bliss transcends name and form.”
You and the Universe
The final series of this compilation describes how it is to attain the goal of spiritual growth, and the experiences, or manifestations, which readers are guided towards in the earlier parts of the book.
- On Laws of Nature: “Celebration is the nature of the spirit. Any celebration must be spiritual. A celebration without spirituality has no depth. Silence gives depth to celebration.”
- On The One In The Many: “You only see the fall of water. You do not see how the ocean becomes the cloud. The ocean becoming the cloud is a secret, but the cloud becoming the ocean is obvious.
- "In the world, only a few can notice your inner growth and height, but your outer expressions are apparent. Never brood that people do not understand you. They can only see your expression.
- "Look at the water. Even the fall of water is beautiful. If a rock falls it shatters, but when water falls it generates power and beauty. Being somebody is like being a stone; being nobody is like being the water; being everybody is like being water vapor.”
Courses taught by the Art of Living Foundation integrate Sri Sri’s knowledge with practical techniques using the breath, the body and interactive principles that relieve stress and promote healing and harmony. More information on courses and other books and materials about Sri Sri and Art of Living can be found on their official website.
The foundation also provides trauma relief and humanitarian aid to developing communities year round and during times of crisis through its sister organization, the International Association for Human Values.
Source:
- Shankar, Sri Sri Ravi. Celebrating Silence. Santa Barbara: Art of Living Foundation, 2001.
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