.comment-link {margin-left:.6em;}

Sunday, June 19

The universal silence week

Starting from June 18, the universe is celebrating the universal silence week, I’m sure that many of you do not know the significance of silence in our life, and there is no better way to introduce it than this e-mail I got from the Bahrain Meditation Center, enjoy your silence everyone, and get to know yourself better:

“This Week”
by the
Bahrain Meditation Centre
18th June, 2005
Retreat

Today more people than ever are going on retreats, people from different walks of life, from a variety of age groups and from cities, suburbia or an island. Though it can be attributed to the pace and complexity of life today, the reason is there is a need – people are seeking something deeper, meaningful and most of all innate.

Retreats are a temporary withdrawal from our daily routine designed to help us re-align our focus with our values and inspire us to live our spiritual centre within that routine. In fact the term retreat has been derived from the military. The army would retreat from battle in times of uncertainty to re-align its troops for an effective victory.

The purpose of retreats has always been to attain a deep insight into one’s existence and one’s own individual nature, and in some cases to find God. It is the deep desire for some silence, solitude and reflection that draws us to retreat. These desires are not unique to our time; in fact pilgrims have been retreating for centuries to find their inner peace and it is perfectly natural to do so. However, it is true that we tend to connect retreats to a spiritual discipline as they traditionally were done within a monastic context. Places maintained for retreats tend to have very special vibrations; this reflects the power of the collective consciousness that accumulates over time.

Though retreats today take many different forms, their main intention should be to cultivate some space for silence and self-awareness. Silence should always be one of the main components of all retreats and it is what sets a retreat apart from the affairs of daily living. Silence works not only on the soul but at the more tangible level of the body. It is a physical relief to be in a silent environment, even for a day. Noise pollution is one of the principal causes of stress in the world today. Imagine what New York would be like if for ten minutes everyone went about their business in silence?

Let us define silence. Silence is not simply to step away from the hum and drum of city life into a place of solitude. A real retreat will give you a taste of a quiet mind and a confidence that this can be achieved any time and any place. Whilst on retreat choose not to speak for some hours, or days even, and you will be more gathered, more contained, more present with yourself than if you had used words. One begins to sense the weight of words, how potent they can be and how wise it is not to waste them. Furthermore genuine silence is about gaining a grip on our mind. Practise creating fewer and fewer thoughts i.e. making the mind simple, so that it can reach into the deeper recesses of your being for those hidden pearls.

So this week or this year, as you plan your time away, may we suggest you ‘treat’ your self and take the ultimate journey… back to your inner self.

Om Shanti
(I am a peaceful soul)


Bahrain Meditation Centre is administered by B.K.W.S.U.

Posted by AyyA:: at :: 1:58 PM::