Inner Silence?

[Jesness]

This may be a stupid/ the-answers-obvious question, but what is it; how do we get it? Is it a lack of thinking, worrying, talking to yourself? I am kinda at a loss… Sorry if this is a dumb question, but if someone could help me out?

 

[cecilia97]

This may be a stupid/ the-answers-obvious question, but what is it; how do we get it? Is it a lack of thinking, worrying, talking to yourself? I am kinda at a loss… Sorry if this is a dumb question, but if someone could help me out?

I think a better question is: is it something we even want? Our thoughts, emotions, and internal dialog are there for a reason. We have the gift of being able to reason, plan for future events, and avoid dangers. These are good things.

In my small experience, practicing external silence and spending time with Jesus either in prayer or in the Blessed Sacrament makes room for me to “hear” God speaking to me.

But totally lacking thoughts and internal dialog? I do not think this is entirely possible for humans and I doubt that it should be, IMO.

 

[Barzillai]

Hi Jesness,

I used to be a Protestant and thought I would share a bit about what inner silence means to me and how to enter into that inner silence.

The Goal. In one type of prayer, I want to listen to God. In this type of prayer, I do not want to speak to God or make a request or intercede on someone’s behalf, or give thanks. My own hearing is what I want to enable and direct to God.

For me this listening prayer puts God at the beginning of prayer, at its end, and as its purpose. The goal is not inner silence. The goal is to hear God. But inner silence is often associated with such hearing.

The Principle of Listening Prayer. Cecilia97’s advice is crucial. The way to listening or inner silence to reach the goal of hearing God is not by putting your mind into a state of unconscious oblivion. There are several methods to practice listening to God, I will describe the one I know.

The Rule of St. Benedict is a book about how monks should live together in a monastery under the authority of an abbot. As odd as it may seem, some lay people find that the Rule has extensive applicability to modern life — both my wife and I are Benedictine oblates.

The Rule is about how to enter into and progress on the journey to dwell with God – to hear God. The first word of the Rule addresses your question directly. The word is “Listen.”

The entire first line of the Rule of St. Benedict is, “LISTEN carefully, my son, to your master’s precepts, and incline the ear of your heart.”

The word listen is “obsculta” which is Latin for “listen carefully.” This is the type of listening when you are walking in the woods and hear a faint bird’s song — you actively try to cancel out all the other sounds of the woods to focus just on the next time you might hear the same call again. And obsculta is the careful listening made by a doctor with a stethoscope.

You can see that in this type of listening your mental state of attention is not turned off — just the opposite. But at the same time you want to be still and quiet. You need an inner silence free of distractions to fully hear.

You might know the same type of inner quiet when you look at something prior to drawing it. There’s seeing and then there is that special way in which an artist sees much more clearly than the rest of us.

A Way to Practice Listening Prayer. There are several ways to hear God. Again, I will describe one associated with the Benedictines. It is called lectio divina (pronounced LEX-ee-oh dih-VEE-nuh). It is Latin for “divine reading.”

Lectio divina is slow, contemplative Bible reading that lets God speak to your heart and seeks close communion with God by God’s illumination of your soul.

There are several ways to describe the core concept of lectio divina. For me it consists of (a) slow reading of the Bible until (b) God’s illumination and (c) then stopping to contemplate and rest in that illumination. The last part of the process consists of the time in inner silence immediately after reading and in keeping the illumination in mind.

The illumination of God’s word in the Bible through such slow reading and then stopping is a way to have the inner silence I think you were asking about.

There are other ways of listening to God and entering into his silence and even other ways of doing lectio divina (described here.) But as an easy-to-describe and practical method of “how do I do it?” — the listening to God while slowly reading the Bible is a way you might want to consider. In fact, you might say, “hey, I already do this in my Bible reading.” In some ways it is the natural way to read the Bible and then listen to God in the inner silence when you hear.

 

[DesertSister62]

Originally Posted by Jesness
This may be a stupid/ the-answers-obvious question, but what is it; how do we get it? Is it a lack of thinking, worrying, talking to yourself? I am kinda at a loss… Sorry if this is a dumb question, but if someone could help me out?

Cecilia said:
I think a better question is: is it something we even want? Our thoughts, emotions, and internal dialog are there for a reason. We have the gift of being able to reason, plan for future events, and avoid dangers. These are good things.

In my small experience, practicing external silence and spending time with Jesus either in prayer or in the Blessed Sacrament makes room for me to “hear” God speaking to me.

But totally lacking thoughts and internal dialog? I do not think this is entirely possible for humans and I doubt that it should be, IMO.

Practising Inner Silence,…is an important part of learning to hear God speaking into our lives. As to the “How” of it, Cecilia is right in that spending time in prayer with Jesus, makes room for me to “hear” God speaking to me;…BUT, it is no guarantee that that approach will always work! Anyone that has become aware of the noise in their spirit is remarkably aware of the “monkey mind” that we all have naturally. And that “monkey mind” does exactly what we see monkeys do,…it jumps from here to there and then over there,…etc. It is NOT a reliable way to spend time with God and to hear from Him!

St. Anthony, one of the first of the Desert Fathers, retired to the desert to find just such silence that we are talking about. And his wisdom grew in relation to the time he spent with the Father;

"Christian contemplative prayer has its origins in the third century when St Anthony, a relatively well-to-do Egyptian peasant, left his village in lower Egypt and fled to the desert to become a hermit. One day, on hearing the Gospel words, “If you would be perfect, go and sell all you possess, and come follow me”, he received them as spoken to himself, disposed of all his property and goods, and devoted himself to an ascetic life of prayer and fasting."

"For fifteen years he lived alone on the outskirts of his village, an act not utterly unknown in his day, but then he felt a need for even greater solitude and lived in an abandoned fort alone in the desert. He did not emerge for twenty years. We can only guess at what he did and what he experienced, but when he did emerge and began to teach others what he had discovered, he was widely recognized to be a transformed and deeply wise human being".

"Following in Anthony’s footsteps were many young men who regarded him as a wise teacher and wanted to be near him in order to learn from him. Around Anthony and his followers grew the first Christian monastic communities. Creating monastic communities made it possible for others, who were not perhaps inclined or capable of enduring many years of solitude, to nevertheless go to the desert and learn the way of desert spirituality. If the only alternatives had been to be swept along by the distractions and entertainments and repressive exploitation of the dominant culture, or to live alone in the desert for decades, not many would have found a way into contemplation."

"Fleeing to the desert for solitude and transformation did not begin in the third century. John the Baptist fled to the desert, as did Jesus after his baptism. And there was a Jewish precursor in the Essenes, active at the time of John and Jesus, who left Jerusalem and created a community in the desert to try to regain some of the purity of religious practice that they felt was being lost in the temple practice in Jerusalem."
forums.catholic-questions.org/newreply.php?do=newreply&noquote=1&p=6869104

*Anyone reading about the Desert Fathers is reading about our beginnings in great spiritual growth! And anyone who has read anything on the Desert Fathers has probably heard the saying that “we should go into our cell and our cell will teach us everything.”

The very best that I can do for you in relation to this subject is to give you this url and ask you to watch it. It is an hour in length and shows an Anglican priest and his search for meaning in his faith walk. His search ends on this mountain behind the Monastery of St. Anthony, where he goes to spend a total of three weeks, 21 days, in total silence with nothing to distract him. Watch for the breakthrough that he experiences!

mycobwebs.wordpress.com/2009/02/14/extreme-pilgrim-ascetic-christianity-full-program-featuring-father-lazarus-coptic-monk/

If you don’t watch it, you will never know what you are missing!

DesertSister62
*

 

[LilyM]

This may be a stupid/ the-answers-obvious question, but what is it; how do we get it? Is it a lack of thinking, worrying, talking to yourself? I am kinda at a loss… Sorry if this is a dumb question, but if someone could help me out?

To an extent. To me it’s more like that state of comfortable silence you sometimes get into with your best friend, spouse or parent.

Where you’re so secure in that person’s unconditional love and trust, and they in yours, that you don’t have to fill your time together with chatter. And in whose presence you are so comfortable that even your mental chatter (thoughts, emotions and the like) subsides. Maybe not completely, but nearly so.

You can just BE, together with that other, and kind of drink in their closeness without really wanting or needing much other thought or feeling.

 

[Samson01]

To an extent. To me it’s more like that state of comfortable silence you sometimes get into with your best friend, spouse or parent.

Where you’re so secure in that person’s unconditional love and trust, and they in yours, that you don’t have to fill your time together with chatter. And in whose presence you are so comfortable that even your mental chatter (thoughts, emotions and the like) subsides. Maybe not completely, but nearly so.

You can just BE, together with that other, and kind of drink in their closeness without really wanting or needing much other thought or feeling.

What a nice and peaceful thought. Being manic, this can be difficult for me, but went I first wake up in the morning, this “moment of clarity” is there and I’m thankful for that.

 

[AlanFromWichita]

What a nice and peaceful thought. Being manic, this can be difficult for me, but went I first wake up in the morning, this “moment of clarity” is there and I’m thankful for that.

I’ve had severe bipolar illness, and my healing has come largely through silent prayer, which invites “contemplation,” a gift of the presence of God.

The CCC refers the three forms of prayer; the vocal, the meditative, and the contemplative. Lectio Divina, as described above, contains all three.

CCC:

2717
Contemplative prayer is silence, the “symbol of the world to come” or “silent love.” Words in this kind of prayer are not speeches; they are like kindling that feeds the fire of love. In this silence, unbearable to the “outer” man, the Father speaks to us his incarnate Word, who suffered, died, and rose; in this silence the Spirit of adoption enables us to share in the prayer of Jesus.

2718
Contemplative prayer is a union with the prayer of Christ insofar as it makes us participate in his mystery. The mystery of Christ is celebrated by the Church in the Eucharist, and the Holy Spirit makes it come alive in contemplative prayer so that our charity will manifest it in our acts.

Alan

 

[Samson01]

Interesting Alan. In the Screwtape Letters, ole screwtape told wormwood to " cultivate noise" in stealing a soul. Life is full of static these days. Yes, I need to practice silent prayer more. Thanks for the advice.

 

[Jesness]

I think a better question is: is it something we even want? Our thoughts, emotions, and internal dialog are there for a reason. We have the gift of being able to reason, plan for future events, and avoid dangers. These are good things.

In my small experience, practicing external silence and spending time with Jesus either in prayer or in the Blessed Sacrament makes room for me to “hear” God speaking to me.

But totally lacking thoughts and internal dialog? I do not think this is entirely possible for humans and I doubt that it should be, IMO.

The general tone of the answers seems to indicate that it’s not really an internal silence but an external one. To the end of internally getting your attention in the right place. Is that about right, or am I still missing it?

(Sorry about the lack of enthusiasm in my post, there were a lot of interesting points in the posts, but I am really strapped for time right now.)

 

[cecilia97]

The general tone of the answers seems to indicate that it’s not really an internal silence but an external one.** To the end of internally getting your attention in the right place**. Is that about right, or am I still missing it?

(Sorry about the lack of enthusiasm in my post, there were a lot of interesting points in the posts, but I am really strapped for time right now.)

I’d say that sounds about right. God speaks to us in many ways: in the “still small voice” of our conscience, in prayer, through scripture, through religion, through nature and the world, and through other people. So a balance is good. A balance between an inner “peace” of knowing you can lean on God and the action that faith requires we take in the world.

Oh, that we were all made to be contemplative monks! But, no…most of us have things we need to do.

 

[DBT]

This may be a stupid/ the-answers-obvious question, but what is it; how do we get it? Is it a lack of thinking, worrying, talking to yourself? I am kinda at a loss… Sorry if this is a dumb question, but if someone could help me out?

One of my favorite expressions of mystical writers (Osuna, Br. Lawrence etc) is that “thoughts spoil everything.” So the short answer to your question is yes we need to maintain constant vigilence over the hold our thoughts, feelings and emotions have over us. We can be ever mindful of God . . . even in the midst of our daily activity. And “talking to ourselves” is one of the great traps we want to avoid . . . our monologue with self should become a dialogue with God. Though, oftentimes, that dialogue is nothing more than a wordless sense of presence . . . a state of watching and waiting. Stillness of mind and heart is the essence of “Be still and know I am God.” Or, as Osuna said, “a secure mind is a continual feast.” Why? Because ordinary thoughts are not a “proximate means to union with God” (St. John of the Cross). Ultimately, we must let go of these to “intimately quiet and calm the understanding” (Osuna) in order to find Him as He truly is . . . in silence.

What I am describing is called active recollection or, sometimes, acquired contemplation. The work of training our intellect, will and memory to remain habitually centered in God in silent, often wordless, repose . . . whether in prayer or activity . . . is a major part of the teaching of St. John of the Cross. It is called the active night of the spirit . . . when we learn to let go of meditation (thoughts) for contemplation (the simple gaze of love).

Hope this helps,
Dave

PS. Francisco de Osuna’s teaching on recollection was perhaps the principal influence on St. Teresa of Avila in the development of her spirituality. And the continual self-denial of the seductive hold our thoughts, feelings, emotions have over us in order to remain habitually in His presence lies at the heart of the via negativa . . . or nada . . . that so influenced St. John of the Cross.

 

[AlanFromWichita]

I’d say that sounds about right. God speaks to us in many ways: in the “still small voice” of our conscience, in prayer, through scripture, through religion, through nature and the world, and through other people. So a balance is good. A balance between an inner “peace” of knowing you can lean on God and the action that faith requires we take in the world.

Oh, that we were all made to be contemplative monks! But, no…most of us have things we need to do.

We cannot all be monks, with our active lives, but we can all be contemplatives.

I’m not sure where it was (I think Vatican II) where the church affirmed that holiness and the spiritual journey are accessible to everyone, not just the religious.

Regardless, the CCC article on Christian prayer that I cited earlier (click here) goes so far as to say Christian prayer SHOULD go past the vocal and meditative, and into prayer that truly brings us into union with Jesus – that would be contemplative prayer. Example:
CCC 2708:

Meditation engages thought, imagination, emotion, and desire. This mobilization of faculties is necessary in order to deepen our convictions of faith, prompt the conversion of our heart, and strengthen our will to follow Christ. Christian prayer tries above all to meditate on the mysteries of Christ, as in lectio divina or the rosary. This form of prayerful reflection is of great value, but Christian prayer should go further: to the knowledge of the love of the Lord Jesus, to union with him.

Let me shout if from the rooftops! I was healed in large part through contemplative prayer, which is a gift from God. I became disabled with severe mental illness when I first started spiritual direction. I was an electrical engineer with six kids. I couldn’t go into a monastery, obviously, but I was “treated” in “out patient” method by practicing silent prayer. I’m not talking about outer silence or distractions, although the silent prayer does attempt to control those; I’m talking about inner silence. The absence of racing thoughts, of jumping to conclusions, of emotionally overreacting, of judging – and not even knowing why you’re judging. The only difference between me with my mental illness and what healing it can do for “normal” people is that I had “further” to go to get to a peaceful state than most people. Manic and depressive episodes are opposite of interior silence.

Alan