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SILENCE By Adyashanti The waves of mind demand so much of Silence. But she does not talk back Does not give answers or arguments. She is the hidden author of every thought Every feeling Every moment. Silence. She speaks only one word. And that word is this very existence. No name you give Her Touches Her Captures Her. No understanding Can embrace Her. Mind throws itself at Silence Demanding to be let in. But no mind can enter into Her radiant darkness Her pure and smiling Nothingness. The spiritual journey does not consist of arriving at a new destination where a person gains what he does not have, or becomes what he is not. It consists in the dissipation of one's own ignorance concerning oneself and life, and the gradual growth of that understanding which begins the spiritual awakening. -Aldous Huxley "The most devoutly religious and spiritual people - those who reset their coordinates and retask their lives to pursue spiritual growth or reshape themselves to conform to religious ideals - would seem to be the most likelycandidates for the type of spiritual rebirth I am describing, but they are invaribly the ones most effectively shielded against it. Even the most committed spiritual aspirants are seldommore than amateurs and hobbyists, as dedicated to their spiritual practices and ideals as others might be to their model trains or needlework. The most sincere seekers are the most desperateto stay lost; that's the real dynamic at work in the spiritual quest. They're not seeking truth or answers; they're seeking relief from Spiritual Dissonance. Providing this relief is the lifeblood of the religious and spiritual marketplace. It has nothing to do with truth or awakening. in fact, just the opposite. In the final analysis, stripped of all it's holy pretensions, the entire spiritual marketplace is really nothing more than an existential quick-lube shop, and while there may be an endless variety of packaging, there really is only one product. Spiritual Consonance is what all seekers seek; an end to discomfort, not delusion. But the consonance they seek can only be found in deeper unconsciousness, which requires the reduction of dissonance. There is such a thing as true Spiritual Consonance, an integrated, natural and exceedingly desireable state, but acting tranquil and serene has never gotten anyone there and never will. How is it possible that so few are able to find the only thing that can never be lost? It's not easy. It takes everything we have, but it's the one thing at which mankind truly excels....there is one thing we do remarkably well, and only when you get clear of it can you look back and see what a miracle of consciousness engineering self-delusion really is."  | 
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