I went on a 5-day silent intensive with Lola Jones a few weeks ago. For me it was pure heaven. I have in the past done 24 hours of silence on my birthday, and loved the clarity I experienced. To be able to ignore all others and go within myself for listening, for sharing, for counsel, was very powerful. There is a lot of noise, especially in my work on the social web (twitter, etc) And much as I love it, I was yearning to talk to the divine, to God directly. I can say that the moment we dropped into silence, having prepared for over 2 weeks, my mind came alive with conversation and insight, as if I were seeing my wise best friend after a very long absence.
Curiously enough, I still became quite close to the others on the retreat. We shared the energy of this experience – far more powerful than sharing words, which fail me so much of the time. There was more to this retreat that I will talk about later. For now, I offer up silence as a way to connect with your #1 – your large self, the divine you. And then you become such a gift to others.
Hawaiian word:
Hāmau: silence
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that is so cool…I wasn’t aware of that program and it sounds like a form of meditation….was this for the entire time you were there or for parts of a day?…example what did you do for entertainment or dinner?….did you feel energized/emotional?..or was it draining…anyway it sounds like a great experience and thanks for sharing
It is good to keep outward things from befuddling the inward being! Thank you for sharing your recent experience, gaining new insights and clarity from your inward journey. Sounds like you went farther than Bali or Hong Kong this time 😉
Hope your Lexi is mending well and that we’ll see her again soon. Mahalo for sharing your upbeat energy with us. It is very much appreciated!!
@Bob from Canada – The whole time = silence. We did eat together, and do activities together, though no eye contact or other communication. I did not read anything or watch TV. I explained to the hotel staff in advance, that I would not be talking. We passed notes one nite when I couldn’t find the laundry room. I took long walks on the ranch land, so we were physically active, but not verbally active. The experience was energizing – though we slept a lot too. At the end? Marvelous.
@Susan and my dog Lexie – You are correct – this trip was much farther than Bali and Hong Kong! Wonderful observation. It did leave me not wanting to speak for quite a while though.
This is one of my favorite episodes you’ve done. You’ve made me think seriously about the fact that I’m one of those people who buys too many books searching for answers to the big questions.
Thanks for telling us about your experience.
@Celeste – I can relate to the book thing! It is so freeing to connect directly with this larger body of knowledge and power rather than believing in the need for others – who really became gate-keepers as much as anything. (My own doing to be sure,)
This sounds like a really nice thing! I’m encouraged to give it a 24 hour try. I live alone and often just sit in complete silence knitting and absolutely love it. There’s just not enough quiet to the days anymore!
Beautiful, simply beautiful.
And just what I needed to hear today.
Thank you.
Hello everyone,
great experience, Rox… thanks for sharing it with all of us… I do like silence from time to time – to the point of using earplugs in an attempt to lower the volume of daily sounds…
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I am thrilled that you’re making contact with this friend of yours from years ago. If he is anything like my inner friend, He is always there in a supportive counselor role when the situation requires; we only have to ask.
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I attempted to leave a blank message to get in the spirit of the message, but technology as it is does note permit empty comment boxes… (sigh)
Until that time… Earl J.