"IN THE BREATH OF SILENCE"

by Rich Goodhart
(from Shaman Mirror Medicine Tree, 2011)

"Silent knowledge is nothing but direct contact with intent."
~ Carlos Castaneda, The Power of Silence

Silence.
The container of all.

Is it possible to truly speak of silence?
Of course, for a moment, but when we do we aren't.
The words should attempt to point beyond themselves,
or more accurately before themselves, to the place
that exists before words enter the picture.
So let's not linger too long in words about silence,
for they must ultimately be left aside.

In the breath of Silence…
Clear light can be found,
conspired in presence, revealed awake
With a silent mind we can remember ~
remember, allow and gently embrace
In true silence there is opportunity always,
for true awareness, with unassumed grace

The great remembering calls our name...
Re-membering: "the act of becoming whole again"
Just breathing
And the space between the breath
Returning
Returning to the Light of the One
Always there
Re-membering essence
Re-membering love
Returning to love as the only truth, the all that is,
when the separation of fear and doubt are removed.
It's always there,
clearer than the secret held in silence.

Are we still speaking about silence?
There are a couple of empty pages near the end of the book.
On these pages we may read of the un-struck essence of inner silence.
But don't get me wrong, true inner silence is hardly vacant.
In fact there is a precious and refined elixir to be found there,
far more brimming full of vital presence and subtle being
than what may be found in the hungry clutter of an 'un-silent' mind.

There isn't a whole lot more that needs to be said about silence, is there?
The power of silence is beyond the saying.
Then let your words,
Drift away like vapor trails……

Meditation in myriad forms can take us there.
(And many things can be meditation.)

The goal/non-goal of the doing of this art of non-doing:
that this perceptually expansive condition of inner silence becomes our
underlying constant state of being.

Re-attunement with what the qigong masters call Original Mind.

But for now, as we dance with this page of words,
what is it that comes from the depth of this silence?
Umm… everything?
In the immediate vicinity:
This shaman mirror medicine music, these healing sounds, spirit visions,
the poems in this book - all born from the sacred ground of Silence,
all arising from the clear mind, from the silent mind.

This is where the big dream is dreaming
This is where the music is born
This is where the heart star is glowing
This is where the healing songs are found

In silence,
breathing,
presence,
love.

In a Garden of Light, ever regenerating, ever blossoming anew.

It's only Life and we cannot stop it,
so why would we even try?
(Even as we do, but why? What do we fear? True connection? The knowing of a greater truth and the responsibility of clearer seeing? The expansion beyond the relative safety of who we thought we were?)

Silence, breathing, presence, love….. and deeply awakening heart.
I knew there was something else.
Heart.
Healing Electromagnetic Activational Receiver Transmitter
Holding Ecstasy And Rhythm Together

The core element of the great re-membering of our time is the awareness of the heart, of our heart, reclaiming its rightful place at the center of the universe and all that is - at the center of our being. That our heart resides at the center of our spiritual being, yes, but also at the center of our perceptual being. For this re-awakening is, in its prime essence, to the truth that the heart itself is a perceptual organ and in fact the most complex and sensitive one, and one that sends out responses as well as receives them. (Our eyes and our touch can also transmit responses as well as receive them, but even then they are likely but servants of the Master Heart.)

The "sixth sense" is not a mystery - our hearts have been listening all along, even when our minds have been preoccupied elsewhere.

The heart has its own intelligence.
The heart has its own language.

The silent soul perceptions…
In the center of our perceiver beings
True heart awareness…
The time is now and Spirit is calling

And I am talking about something greater in range yet far more subtle than the "universal language of love" that we all know and find such great glorious confusion in. Although we can do well to give that experience a deeper and more refined listening in the receptive presence of inner silence as well. Certainly the consciousness of the heart, in all of its forms, is infinitely worthy of our efforts toward greater understanding. None of its aspects are separate from each other and greater awareness in one realm will holistically influence awareness in all others.

The heart generates an electromagnetic field vastly greater than that which the brain generates. Through this field our heart engages our environment and it receives information from it. And through this field it also transmits responses. This is certainly true human-to-human and most of us are undoubtedly aware of this, even as we may not think about it in such terms. This vibrational field interaction is also present between human and animal, something that anyone who has ever had a dog or cat in the family can surely attest to.

But maybe the most profound revelation is in realizing that this heart field communication is also available in our living, breathing relations with the vast and wondrous realm of plants. That it can occur with small flowers and with great trees, with low growing moss and with taller weeds. And even further to the elements of water, wind and sun and the vibrations within earth itself.

Deep healing power and great spiritual wealth reside in the natural world all around and within us. Vital attuned cognition of this is not new to humanity. Rather, it is ever available as an opportunity to remember and develop a forgotten truth of our core heritage, of our essential nature. Reawakening the depths of our heart-centered perception is key to reclaiming our sacred essence, as well as our engagement of the sacred intelligence profoundly alive all around us, for these things are not separate. This awakening is essential to humanity's great revival, to the reimagining of all that we are and all that we are becoming, and to our role in the healing of this miraculous planet that we have collectively disregarded for far too long. This reclamation requires dedication and commitment. The magic and the means are within us, as they have always been.

Through the breath of silence a doorway appears.
With a silent mind we can remember.

Then from your breathing
Call the wind into waiting sails

Copyright 2011 Rich Goodhart/Beginner's Mind Productions
Reprinted by permission.


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"Called out a tune but I never saw the face, heard but not replaced, I ventured to talk, but I never lost my place."
~ Jon Anderson (Yes)