The light that comes from an inner fire that never dies

As Rembrandt's life moves toward the shadows of old age, as his success wanes, and the exterior splendor of his life diminishes, he comes more in touch with the immense beauty of the interior life. There he discovers the light that comes from an inner fire that never dies; the fire of love. His art no longer tries to "grasp, conquer, and regulate the visible," but to "transform the visible in the fire of love that comes from his own unique heart."

November 2008 (Vol. XXI, No. 10)

"Is there enough Silence for the Word to be heard?"

Greetings of the season, dear friends! Silence can be a great revelation, a gentle revolution, and can evoke resolution. Ever awaiting us in the Silence are insight, intuition, and inspiration. Be still, remain awake, and listen! While shallow ponds and brooks are noisy and busy, still waters run deep; they are calm and silent. True Silence is the blessed, eternal language of soul-Love. Silence: a sacred garden of meditation. In the Silence be still and Know; be still and See.

God is silence

God is Silence. There is a silence of the tongue, a silence of the whole body. There is a silence of the soul and the spirit. The silence of the spirit is when all its movements are stirred solely by Being; in this state it is truly silent, aware that the silence which is upon it is itself silent.

~ Abraham of Nathpar, 6th Century
Abraham of Nathpar silence

Silence before the Beloved has deep significance

Silence before the Beloved has deep significance in the quietness of the soul as the individual sinks into the central fire of communion. In the circle of community the most personal elemental chords of life receive their deepest stimulation. In the silent act of breathing and in the unspoken dialogue of the soul with Love, solitary as these are, deep communion can be given.

~ Eberhard Arnold
Eberhard Arnold silence

Walk through the world in silence

Know who you are.
Do not debase the name.
Carry it in your heart,
a root flame of love.
Walk through the world in silence.
The moment will come.
The sign will be a soft
stirring of wings,
a gold shimmer of air.

~ Dorothy Walters
Dorothy Walters silence

The silence is magnificent and healing

The sun tries to come out. It is a true November morning--cold and grey, with hints of blue and white light in the sky, a haze over the hills and trees, the ground covered with wet leaves, the trees dead and barren except for the pines. ... I sit content, held in peace as if God is embracing me. The silence is magnificent and healing. I become a part of it--silent, calm, at peace. My soul is quieted.

~ from THE SOUND OF LISTENING by John Dear
John Dear The Sound Of Listening silence

Real silence is both supremely simple and yet not easy

Real silence is both supremely simple and yet not easy. It draws us into a dimension always open to those who will allow themselves to be centered. ... We enter into silence to let the holiness of mystery take possession of us.

~ S. Wendy Beckett
S. Wendy Beckett silence

The disciple of silence is essential on the path

The discipline of silence doesn't mean just taking a short vacation from the spoken word. It also means giving complete relaxation to the muscles, the tissues, the tongue itself. A modern writer once said: "Knowledge has never been known to enter the head via an open mouth." It is when you become completely silent that you are able to absorb knowledge. God speaks in silence. The discipline of silence is essential on the path.

~ from THE DISCIPLINE OF SILENCE, thanks to Edward C. Brady
Edward C. Brady The Discipline Of Silence silence

Building mansions of silence in our souls

Meister Eckhart tells us that in silence we make room in our soul for God and that God delights to be in our soul when we have made room. Should we not then be building mansions of silence in our souls to welcome Love's Holy Presence.

~ Hyatt Carter
Hyatt Carter silence

We can make our minds so like still water

We can make our minds
so like still water
that beings gather about us
that they may see,
it may be, their own images,
and live for a moment with a clearer,
perhaps even with a fiercer life
because of our quiet,
our silence.

~ William Butler Yeats, thanks to Robert Purcell
William Butler Yeats silence

Silence pregnant with all sounds, I come back, prodigal that I am

Why do I forget You, abandon You?
You who are wholeness,
You who are home, always now, always present,
giving what every cell in me yearns for--
to collapse into Your warm breath of Life;
defenses drop, naked I be,
cherished solely for my nakedness,
my void, my forgetfulness.

Silence pregnant with all sounds,
I come back, prodigal that I am--
bruised, tired, wired,
To be undone again by Your embrace.

~ "Mother Silence" by Vivian Larson
Vivian Larson Mother Silence silence

Silence is our spontaneous response

Silence is our spontaneous response
to the experience of numinous presence,
to Love-in-our-midst.

~ Rudolph Otto
Rudolph Otto silence

As if the quiet were a third party speaking to us

Perhaps nothing would be said at first, but eventually a sound, a poem, an artwork or an impression would spark an exchange, and there would be a clear flow of meditative, constructive thought. Periodic silences would follow, to which we both listened almost as if the quiet were a third party speaking to us. And in response to that stillness we would breathe deeply, come to a sort of relaxed attention, and in a humble, reverent manner lower our eyes, as though acknowledging the mystical presence of something greater.

~ from THE WAY OF THE DREAMCATCHER by S. T. Georgiou
S. T. Georgiou The Way Of The Dreamcatcher silence

When I drop down into myself in the quiet hours of the night

When I drop down into myself in the quiet hours of the night, it feels as though I have tapped into a deep river that runs strongly beneath the busyness of my daily life. When I allow myself to fully experience this deep river without, I connect not only with myself and what matters most to me but also with a powerful stream of silence, mystery, clarity, aliveness. I seem to tap into a universal source available to us all of deeply nourishing spiritual qualities that can provide a healing balm for our out-of-balance lives.

~ from FINDING THE DEEP RIVER WITHIN by Abby Seixas
Abby Seixas Find The Deep River Within silence Buy on Amazon

Silence alone

Silence alone reveals the deepest depths of Life.

~ Maurice Zundel
Maurice Zundel silence

There must be silence

To see there must be silence.

~ Frederick Franck
Frederick Franck silence

The silence of the storm dominated everything

The silence of the storm dominated everything. There are no words to describe a quiet so potent. I knew the snow was echoing a stillness that exists, hidden, in everything. I saw that this stillness generates all life. And sitting there in the snow, I wept at the profound sound and power of that silence.

I began to see the falling flakes as yellow bursts of energy, as light and as I looked at the light I saw that its total composition was Love. That night I suspended many cherished beliefs. The snow was alive.

~ from A NEW SET OF EYES by Paula D'Arcy
Paula D'Arcy A New Set Of Eyes silence Buy on Amazon

God is silence

God is Silence. There is a silence of the tongue, a silence of the whole body. There is a silence of the soul and the spirit. The silence of the spirit is when all its movements are stirred solely by Being; in this state it is truly silent, aware that the silence which is upon it is itself silent.

Silence before the Beloved has deep significance

Silence before the Beloved has deep significance in the quietness of the soul as the individual sinks into the central fire of communion. In the circle of community the most personal elemental chords of life receive their deepest stimulation. In the silent act of breathing and in the unspoken dialogue of the soul with Love, solitary as these are, deep communion can be given.

Walk through the world in silence

Know who you are.
Do not debase the name.
Carry it in your heart,
a root flame of love.
Walk through the world in silence.
The moment will come.
The sign will be a soft
stirring of wings,
a gold shimmer of air.

The silence is magnificent and healing

The sun tries to come out. It is a true November morning--cold and grey, with hints of blue and white light in the sky, a haze over the hills and trees, the ground covered with wet leaves, the trees dead and barren except for the pines. ... I sit content, held in peace as if God is embracing me. The silence is magnificent and healing. I become a part of it--silent, calm, at peace. My soul is quieted.

Real silence is both supremely simple and yet not easy

Real silence is both supremely simple and yet not easy. It draws us into a dimension always open to those who will allow themselves to be centered. ... We enter into silence to let the holiness of mystery take possession of us.

The disciple of silence is essential on the path

The discipline of silence doesn't mean just taking a short vacation from the spoken word. It also means giving complete relaxation to the muscles, the tissues, the tongue itself. A modern writer once said: "Knowledge has never been known to enter the head via an open mouth." It is when you become completely silent that you are able to absorb knowledge. God speaks in silence. The discipline of silence is essential on the path.

Building mansions of silence in our souls

Meister Eckhart tells us that in silence we make room in our soul for God and that God delights to be in our soul when we have made room. Should we not then be building mansions of silence in our souls to welcome Love's Holy Presence.

We can make our minds so like still water

We can make our minds
so like still water
that beings gather about us
that they may see,
it may be, their own images,
and live for a moment with a clearer,
perhaps even with a fiercer life
because of our quiet,
our silence.

Pages