Why do you think people have such difficulty sitting with each other in silence?
A sense of uncomfortableness and awkwardness bubbles to the surface after just a few seconds of silence between people.
Why is that?
Look closely, and you will find that it is only ever you. For purposes of this practice let's call you "ego" even though there really is no such thing. Ego, as I'm using it here, just means mental and emotional resistance to what is. The uncomfortableness and awkwardness (just as with all emotional movements such as suffering, sadness, conflict, anger) are energy forms which arise and dissolve within awareness. These movements are not "out there" in the silent room. It sometimes feels as if the awkwardness is in the room. And there may indeed be a transfer of energy from one body/mind to another. But ultimately, these are movements only within your own awareness. This is a great way to peak into self-realization, which is to realize that the source of all suffering is never outside of you. It comes from your story, your resistance to what is.
So in the silent room, the uncomfortableness and awkwardness is resistance to what is. These movements often manifest into thought forms. You feel this enormous pull to say something, and break the silence. The ego cannot stand the silence. It does not want peace. It lives and thrives on resistance. It is resistance. One could say, you are resistance. Notice this. Do not trust a word I'm saying. The truth is for you to realize, not to hear from someone else and then simply agree or disagree (which is only another mind movement). To grok means to realize something profoundly and intuitively with your whole being. True spiritual insight or realization must be groked in order for a true transformation to occur. Simply reading or listening to others, or thinking about these things, will only give you a superficial, conceptual understanding.
Try the silent room practice of watching what happens within you in a group of people who are not speaking, or even in a one to one encounter. As the conversation falls to silence, watch the movements of uncomfortableness and awkwardness that arise within you. Sit quietly and watch the mind furiously attempt to formulate something to talk about. You are directly experiencing your own resistance to peace. By watching these movements, you are becoming fully aware of ego. You are facing the resistance directly.
Here is the real kicker: Notice that---whatever it is that is watching---IS peace.
TheSilent Room
