The Importance of Silence and Meditation Exercises

Silence is a quality of a mind that is able to watch its internal movements and observe external perceptions without distorting or interpreting them. It requires a high level of attention and relaxation to achieve such a mind. In fact, silence is not when we sit during our meditation practice, if we look carefully even in that condition we can observe the wandering of the mind.

Those kinds of exercises help us see the confusion that prevents the clear and objective perception. However, they have nothing to do with the meaning of the word "meditation". In fact, the meditative state is something that happens naturally at a given time. It cannot be forced. However, through the so-called "meditation exercises", we can start to have a glimpse and understand experientially what we are really talking about.

External silence can be helpful to gather the necessary energy to observe the core of our mind. However, a mind that has established itself in a profound attentive observation is able to be surrounded by noise and activity without being affected by them at its core. In fact, having a silent mind does not preclude activity. Activities will always spring as we are alive.

However, the quality, the precision, the effectiveness of the action of a mind which has established itself in silence are evident and clear and lead to a better life.