Mental silence is the starting point for every possible introspection, (it should not be forced, according to my experience, but continually attempted by observing the flow of thoughts with detachment and initially helping with the concentration on a single thought to which it goes every time reported the flow tending to pass normally from one to the other.

 

A quiet place whether it is outdoors or indoors can help, but it is not essential as the disturbance can help deepen the concentration of thought. Even the mental visualization of the thought on which one focuses can help its deepening the state of consciousness, the “presence” that tends to be associated with the activity of concentration can itself become an object of concentration, in this case it is useful to move the consciousness from one to the other with your own times so as to allow the "rest", the absence of mental tension.) all religious but also philosophical and esoteric traditions and not have turned to silence, recognizing its "preparatory" substrate for experiences that, depending on the individual, can take on different characters: mystical, visionary or otherwise perceptive. (which, however, it must be said, do not represent the important part of the ongoing process, being able to constitute, with their sometimes overwhelming presence, a real obstacle. The objective in reality is the constant conscious "presence" of the subject who must be able to bring back any such phenomena to oneself. This activity, which we can indicate as meditative, must not last too long as it is necessary to return to one's normal activities for its elaboration, one must completely detach oneself from the event by immersing with dedication to one's life daily.)

 

As usual, I want to "indicate" some characterizations of (mental) silence as they appear in some works with which I came into contact in my research experience which, it should be emphasized, do not exhaust at all nor do they want to be understood as more important in the almost infinite literary panorama dedicated to it.

 

FROM

"The voice of silence"

BY H.P.BLAVATSKY
 

“These instructions are for those who are ignorant of the dangers of the lower IDDHIs. Whoever wants to hear and understand the voice of Nâda, the silent Sound, must first know the nature of DHÂRANÂ. The disciple, who has become indifferent to the objects of perception, must seek the Râjah of the senses, the producer of thought, the one who awakens illusion. Mind is the great Destroyer of the Real. Destroy the Disciple the Destroyer. For, when his own form appears unreal to him, as in waking all forms seen in the dream; when he has ceased to hear the many, he will be able to discern the One - the internal sound that kills the external. Only then, not before, will he leave the region of Asat, the false, to enter the realm of Sat, the true. Before the Soul can see, it must reach internal Harmony, and the eyes of the flesh must be blinded to any illusion. Before the Soul can hear, the image (man) must become deaf to noises as to murmurs, to the wild trumpeting of elephants as to the Argentine buzz of the golden firefly. Before the Soul can understand and remember, it must be united with the One who speaks in Silence, just as the form according to which the clay will be modeled is united to the mind of the potter. Because then the Soul will hear and remember. And then the VOICE OF SILENCE will speak inside the ear ... "

 

FROM

"The Initiation"

BY RUDOLF STEINER
 

“For him it is not a question of suddenly changing his way of life in order to continually try to achieve this fundamental interior silence. He will have to begin by practicing in some cases he deliberately chose. Then slowly and gradually, by itself, this new way of listening will creep into his habits. In the spiritual investigation this discipline is practiced systematically. The disciples feel obliged to practice, at certain moments, to listen to the most contradictory thoughts, refraining from any approval and above all from any contrary judgment. It is a question of silencing not only all rational judgments, but also all feelings of dissent, denial and even approval. The disciple must especially watch carefully to observe whether such feelings, while not coming to the surface, nevertheless persist in the innermost interiority of his soul. "... .." Meekness and silence, joined in true patience, open the soul to the world of souls, and the spirit to the world of spirits. «Wait in calm and concentration, close your senses to what they have transmitted to you before your occult education, impose silence on all the thoughts that by ancient habit stirred in you, become calm and silent and wait patiently; then the higher worlds begin to form your soul eyes and your spiritual ears. ""

 

FROM

"Practical Manual of Meditation"

BY MASSIMO SCALIGERO
 

".. The object, the theme, the concept, or the image, or the sign of light, or the symbol, which the disciple achieves as the end of the concentration, must objectively stand before him: it does not matter which form or what not take shape. He does not have to worry about seeing something with a form, but about seeing in front of him the quid that formally or informally symbolizes the synthesis-thought. "...." The disciple understands the importance of contemplating the sign-symbol in a state of silent purity. This purity is essentially the independence of the I from the soul: in fact, concentration is achieved to the extent that it is not altered by feelings, memories, tensions, psychisms, psychosomatic states. "...." The thought of concentration, where possessed, can be brought to absolute stillness: it is not eliminated, but united with its essence. One joins with this essence, gathering around it the powers of the soul: silently, avoiding that the soul gives it any form. The thought-force becomes immobile, united, identical to itself: it identifies with its own original silence: it generates mental silence. By progressing in the discipline, the disciple who considers himself mature to access a higher level of experience, must deliberately eliminate the supersensible contents received through mental silence, to the point of achieving a more radical type of silence. This more radical silence is what occult literature uses to call "emptiness". "" .... " Mental silence constitutes a positive achievement of the experimenter: not only is it the pacifier of the psyche and the nervous system, but above all the opening opened to the higher forces of the I. "...." In some moments, it is necessary to recollect oneself in inner silence and let the calm of what one originally is, free from human attitudes: to be as one is, until the exhaustion of tensions, which in truth do not exist for the I, but only for what the I is not. Calm is the foundation from which it continually moves without knowing it. Being is already being calm: it is a matter of knowing it. It is about being what you are, from the ground up. "

 

FROM

"On Himself"

BY SRI AUROBINDO
 

"You can start with any system - which would normally take a long time - and be seized from the beginning by a quick intervention or a manifestation of silence, and obtain effects that are absolutely disproportionate to the means used. You start with a method, but the work is taken in hand by a grace coming from above, by what one aspires to or by the irruption of the immensities of the Spirit. In this way I myself have found the absolute silence of the mind, unimaginable for me before having had the concrete experience "

 

FROM

"The interior emptying according to Giovanni Della Croce and Zen-Buddhism"

BY JAKOV MAMIC

​

“The« climate »of the process. - The trial takes place in an atmosphere of profound silence. This silence is noticed in the interior in which the process takes place, and made visible in the exterior through balanced and silent behaviors. The silence in which the process is enveloped refers to the "calm" of the sensitive life and to the "peace" of the spiritual powers. Furthermore, this silence is continually interwoven with sufferings, caused by the radical nature of purification, and serenity, caused by the growth of love, faith and hope that embody the "palpable" presence of the living God. We can say that the characteristic climate of this process is given by contemplation and inner recollection: silence is created to feel the presence of the Other, and to feel in order to operate according to His will "...." The climate in which the emptying process takes place, we can say, is identical: the need for interior silence, which corresponds to an exterior behavior. We see the greatest similarity in this context in the common affirmation of bringing all the inner faculties to silence. "