niradh ~surrender~

[Eastern Mind]

Vannakkam: Yet again, silence in and of itself is no pointer. A tree is silent. An angry person can give another the 'silent' treatment. Silence can be deafening. A sadhak can be on silence vows. A victim of violence, feeling helpless, will remain silence in certain situations. So for me, it is more than mere silence.

The additional requirement (for me) is something called 'presence' which again is difficult to put into words.

Aum Namasivaya

[yajvan]

hariḥ oṁ
~~~~~~
namasté

Vannakkam: Yet again, silence in and of itself is no pointer. A tree is silent. An angry person can give another the 'silent' treatment. Silence can be deafening. A sadhak can be on silence vows. A victim of violence, feeling helpless, will remain silence in certain situations. So for me, it is more than mere silence.

The additional requirement (for me) is something called 'presence' which again is difficult to put into words.

Aum Namasivaya

I do not comprehend 'silence in and of itself is no pointer'. What is the pointer idea you are offering?

That said, let me offer my POV of some of your examples...this is in the spirit of conversation and above any fault finding.

• With the angry person giving another the 'silent' treatment. His anger is with himself and no harm comes to the other person. So, in this silence, there is turmoil in the person's mind ( the angry person). The silence used as punishment; the silence does not benefit the angry or the angered.
• A tree is silent - sure. Yet look how perfect the tree is. It brings shade, it stays in one place, it needn't go here-or-there for any of its needs. I wish to have some of the tree's silence.
• The sādhaka-s vow of silence. If it just a vow not to speak yet the mind chatters all day long , is this the vow that has strength ? It is no different then retiring to a cave to be out of the realm of every day life; but while in the cave one's mind is still filled with the opposites of life.
• A victim of violence, feeling helpless, will remain silent in certain situations. Yes, he or she may not talk, but what is happening emotionally or mentally? turmoil as I see it.

The silence I wish to convey is beyond the absence of the movement of the lips. It is the silence of Being, of calmness , of pure awareness. It is the mind that begins the noise that is transferred to the lips.
The silence one may wish to groom is that of restful alertness. When one experiences it, then there is no doubt of which silence is of value and which is just the absence of speech.

iti śivaṁ

[Eastern Mind]

It is the silence of Being, of calmness , of pure awareness. It is the mind that begins the noise that is transferred to the lips.
The silence one may wish to groom is that of restful alertness. When one experiences it, then there is no doubt of which silence is of value and which is just the absence of speech.

iti śivaṁ

Vannakkam: Indeed. I shall exercise it now.

Aum Namasivaya

[yajvan]

hariḥ oṁ
~~~~~~
namasté

... no additional thoughts on niradh ?

iti śivaṁ

[surrenderindailylife]

Namaste

Thank you for this nice post. Just to get my understanding validated, as any other worthwhile thing in life, 'niradh / surrender' cannot be experienced without GOD's grace as (as IMHO) silence "happens" and one cannot be silent just by wishing to be / practising silence...

IMHO, silence is a happening (GOD's grace)

Aum Namah Shivay

[yajvan]

hariḥ oṁ
~~~~~~
namasté

Namaste

Thank you for this nice post. Just to get my understanding validated, as any other worthwhile thing in life, 'niradh / surrender' cannot be experienced without GOD's grace as (as IMHO) silence "happens" and one cannot be silent just by wishing to be / practising silence...

IMHO, silence is a happening (GOD's grace)

Aum Namah Shivay

Silence is one's real state of being... if one ~wishes~ for it, they activate the mind in the search for silence and that , in and of itself does not promote the silence.
So, silence and grace come as a package. One's perfect Self is grace itself.
Does one need to go to a cave ? No. Does one need to become the hermit and leave society ? No. In both cases the internal chatter and dialog can still continue.
Well then what does one do ?

iti śivaṁ

[surrenderindailylife]

Namaste Yajvan-ji

As usual thank you for your thought provoking post.

hariḥ oṁ
~~~~~~
namasté


Silence is one's real state of being... if one ~wishes~ for it, they activate the mind in the search for silence and that , in and of itself does not promote the silence.

Well then what does one do ?

iti śivaṁ

As I understood, IMHO, all that a sincere sadhak can aim for is pray to HIM so that search for silence is activated. Once this Grace descends, thereafter, onus of taking this further lies with sadhak. It is like watering the plant everyday. I guess after sadhak has done all his part, all that s/he can do is patiently leave it to HIM to take him/her further. Thus having a sincere wish is all that is within scope of sadhak. Thereafter Grace descends, silence descends and surrender happens.


Aum Namah Shivay

[yajvan]

hariḥ oṁ
~~~~~~
namasté

Well then what does one do ?

... ātmamukhaṃ¹

iti śivaṁ

1. ātmamukhaṃ = ātma + mukhaṃ

• ātma = Self, or Being, some say svarūpa ( one's essential nature)
• mukhaṃ = mukha = turning towards; facing