Answering to
a questioner is a strategy with serious drawbacks. Every answer leads to
another question. Every answer can be misinterpreted. You say something, but
the listener draws a different conclusion from it. This strategy is bound to
fail because the mind is always misinterpreting. You are always roaming on the
level of the mind when using this strategy……
On the other
hand, listen to “what is” to enter into the state of Presence. It establishes
Stillness inside you. You cannot pay attention to Silence if you are not still
inside. In other words, if your attention is stuck in the muttering of the
mind, you miss the "Silence outside and Stillness inside." Presence
and Silence cannot be separated, and are a simultaneously unfolding phenomenon.
Does it mean
you do not exist when not paying attention to Silence? Not at all. You do
exist, but you are just absent; you are lost in the mind, and you are not even
there, so to speak. Don't get me wrong, there is a place for the mind and
thinking too. When you do use your mind, you may not pay attention to Silence
because then you become one with the experience.
Basically,
it is important to understand here that every question you ask, every answer
you get, they are all thoughts. They may bring some understanding, but that is
not all. All the questions and the answers are nothing more than thoughts. They
are not the truth; they point to the truth. If you somehow manage to drop all
your questions, even the important ones, you become still within instantly. The
questioner is the mind…… I know there are questions which consume you and bug
you almost all your life. Why did my son die? You are going to die too! I don’t
want to appear harsh, but it is a fact. Nothing is permanent in this Universe.
Why did my parents leave me? Where does this existence begin? Why did this
existence even start? Why do we die? Can’t we live forever? What if there were
no existence? Who comes first, the chicken or the egg? Why are humans or any
other creatures capable of experiencing this peace? No one can answer these
questions. Even if someone can, they will be thoughts too. No human has the
answers to these questions. If someone claims to have them, he is just throwing
out thoughts. The problem in trying to answer these questions is that they put
you on an endless loop, and as a consequence of that, the mind keeps on running
forever. You keep discussing these questions everlastingly with others. You try
to arrive at an answer through logic. Logic is the movie; you are the screen.
No logically acceptable movie proves the existence of the screen on which it is
running. Eventually, you end up without a conclusion, or perhaps only beliefs
if you are unlucky. Imagine if you had the answers; you would just repeat them;
they would be thoughts too. Acknowledge that you don’t know the answer, and
that there is no possibility of knowing the answers. Nothing touches Reality.
If you quit and stop answering such questions, it will establish peace. The
other way around, you will establish a peace with the unknown.
At the end,
only Presence remains, free from delusional thoughts, doubts, misconceptions
about whichever subject it may be, and so on. Presence and Silence emerge
together. They may sound different, but they are both the same. This is why it
is said the highest form of doing is listening to “what is.” It is not possible
to put everything into words; your mind will misinterpret these too. Questions
are thoughts; Stillness is who you are.