Focus on Life™

Seldom can we experience silence by chance anymore.
Walkmans, TVs, radio, traffic, and household appliances keep
us company. There isn’t any moment in a day when we would
feel the silence without active effort. It takes a power blackout
to get us even close to the silence. What is it like, the sound of
silence?

We fill our life with action. Motion is important; destina-
tion and purpose are secondary. This is the case with silence
as well. We regard it as something unnatural. We are afraid of
the silence—the emptiness. It feels like something is missing
or something is not right.

What happens when we are totally silent? By silence I
mean internal silence—our mind is at rest. Naturally it helps
if there are no external noises either. But when we are focused,
the outside voices disappear to the background. Silence is an
opportunity; it is a chance to experience something new. We
can start to hear the sound of silence. By removing all the
motion and noise one sets the mind free for something else to
emerge.

Silence can teach us and let us experience something new.
When we experience it more deeply, we start to realize that
emptiness and silence are not totally without anything.
Actually, they are the opposite. But we have to be open-
minded and humble to experience the sound of silence.

Why do we fear everything that is unfamiliar to us (or, to put
it differently, why are we uncomfortable with something
new?)? Actually, how is it possible to fear something that is
not known to us (i.e., understandable, defined, strange)?

We do not. We are only afraid of the things we know and
have—we have nothing against the unknown. We simply are
afraid of letting go of the past—afraid of the idea that we might
have to part from the current state of affairs (i.e., possessions,
friends, job, lifestyle, way of living, our point of view, etc.).

How do we stop fearing or getting angry? By letting go.
When you give away—there is nothing left. No fear. That’s
freedom, eternal happiness.

We are not afraid of the fear—only the concept (i.e., idea)
of the fear itself.