417 I Find Wisdom Thru Silence | February 2018 Wednesday Week 4

Wisdom Wednesdays-#417 February 21st The Strong Within Daily Affirmation Podcast I Find Wisdom Thru Silence   “Silence is the sleep that nourishes wisdom.” ~Francis Bacon A westerner came to a Zen master to learn the ways of enlightenment. As the teacher invited the visitor in to sit down, he placed a teacup in front of his guest and began pouring tea, and after the cup was full, the master kept pouring as it began overflowing.   The teacher just kept pouring as the liquid began flowing onto the floor; the visitor became impatient and said “Stop! No more can go into that cup; it’s full.”   The visitor felt proud at himself for seeing what a Zen master could not.   The teacher then spoke and said, “you, like this cup are full of your own beliefs and assumptions. How can I teach you unless you empty your cup?”   One of the interesting things I have found out about Zen is it teaches without having to be taught. We try to theorize and tell what certain stories mean, which can be a good thing, but the most powerful lessons are the ones we come to on our own. It’s like the joke that you don’t have to be told what it means, as you naturally laugh at how simple it is. And that’s what I believe Zen’s purpose is…to be so simple that sometimes the meaning gets lost in seeking for a deeper answer.   There’s a term in Zen tradition called wu wei. Wu means “without” and wei means “to do” or “to act.” So the literal meaning of wu wei is, “without action” or “without effort.” And sometimes it is said to be wu wei wu, which means action without action.   My greatest epiphanies, the greatest wisdom that I’ve been bestowed, came from my wisest teacher…silence. In the hardest times of my life I had to learn how to be one with silence, so I could empty my cup. Because during those times, my mind was filled with many emotions that literally clouded my judgment and clouded the peace I was so desperately seeking.   We spend so much time searching for answers outside of ourselves, running our mind rampant like a computer hard drive endless buzzing away trying to solve the problem. And thus we trap ourselves within the noise of our mind, never finding what we seek.   I walk every day to help clear my mind, and ever since July 18th 2015 I have walked 947 days to date…or two years seven months and one day. On my walk I listen to podcasts, audiobooks, and I sometimes call friends. But I really decided to do my daily walk outside, come rain, sleet, snow, or shine so I could stop spinning within my mind to calm myself. And so I made the purpose of my walks a time to be able to pray, meditate, and find peace within silence.   There was something so beautiful when I turned everything off and just found myself present in the walk. I breathed more deeply, I looked up at the sky and marveled at its seemingly endlessness, and I connected with my spirituality more. Maybe it might sound strange, but I was taken somewhere else, as I left the physical plane of just being me, and I was connected with everything around me. And during that time, during those hard times I was going through in my life, I was whisked from pain and struggle into peace and tranquility.   I found answers without seeking answers, I found calm without seeking calm, I found myself again without realizing I was so desperately seeking to know myself again. And knowing what I know now, I believe I had come to wie wu wei…I had found my answers in action without action.   There’s a soundtrack all around us that we are missing. We are caught in a time where it’s never been like this before. A time where you can watch almost any tv show that you want at any time and even pause it the middle if you desire, where you can listen to any song you like as many times as you like, where you can look up any question and find an answer within seconds, where you can relisten to radio shows at your own schedule, and where even books are read audibly to you when you want. And these are beautiful things, as it’s a time where anything we want to know is literally at our fingertips.   But I believe we’ve traded in wisdom for knowledge as we want to know all the facts…when the facts are only a partial source to our healing and full knowing. Thomas Carlyle said, “Silence is as deep as eternity, speech a shallow as time.” So are you listening to silence with the vigor that you would when listening to a master teacher speak? Are you emptying your cup so you can be open to deeper knowing? Are you finding peace within nothingness…knowing that there is something within that nothingness?   Those who have come before us may not have had Google to answer all their questions at hand…but they had something better as they were able to tune into the Universe’s computer and know a wisdom that is pure and timeless…and we can get to know that place, if only we learn to empty our cups and find a way to become one with silence again.   Today’s Personal Commitment: What do you think about silence?   That’s a weird question. I had never really thought much about silence except when I wanted people around me to shut the heck up. I wanted my peace and quiet. But I had to go through the hardest times in my life, to accidentally stumble into the power of silence. Two years ago a very hard situation in my life happened and so I decided to direct my attention away from misery and put it to good us. I wanted to start a podcast, and write a book and actually finish it and publish it this time, so I created a routine to help me take breaks from the writing and brainstorming. I believe it was an act of divine intervention when the answer just popped into my head. I decided I was going to walk a mile outside every day no matter what the weather was.   I did it to prove how tough I was and that I wouldn’t be deterred by anything, but I did it to help me get away from my mind of the misery I was going through at the time. And something magical happened as I stopped trying to do something, and I found myself becoming one with the universe around me. And nature spoke back to me as grasshoppers encircled me in droves on some days, or how the sunrise never looked the same, or how I stopped trying to define myself by where my skin ended and the air around me began.   Your way to peace and finding your answers will be different than mine. It might be in meditation, walking, hiking, doing a hobby that relaxes you, or some other avenue that helps you to find a quietness around you and within you. I don’t have your answer, but I can promise you this…when you are consistent in seeking silence and you find that place you can connect to silence…you will be taken to your heaven. It’s a place of answers, it is a place of immense beauty, and it is a place of calm reminding you about the purposes of your life.   So how can you create time to become one with silence, and how can you make it a habit to continually seek the wisdom within silence? And when you do this, you will never be the same. However, it will be a continual search, as humans, we are quite forgetful. And when I ask myself why am I feeling resistance, why am I so stressed, a vision comes into my mind as I visualize myself walking outside. Because over the past 2 and half years of doing my daily walks I’ve had the time to think about a lot of things. I’ve had time to wrack my brain until it couldn’t think anymore and it submitted to silence…and that is where I found my peace. My silence is the Universe speaking to me. My silence is walking with God. Your silence may be different, and that’s perfectly ok.   So where do you find your silence? Sometimes we need a tragedy to help us stumble into silence, but it’s my hope that you find your way to it before then. Because a tragedy is no time to start preparing to do the work. A calm life is built by readying ourselves before the storms hit that will inevitably come our way in the future.   I Find Wisdom Thru Silence   Thanks for listening.  I'm sending great energy your way as we become Strong Within together, Personal Development Life Coach- Chris O'Hearn Contact info- email: [email protected]  phone:865-219-3247     Music by: - Zest by basematic (c) copyright 2011 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. - I Have Often Told You Stories (guitar instrumental) by Ivan Chew (c) copyright 2013 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. Location: Knoxville, Tennessee USA but available worldwide