we now consider to the next ‘C’ in matthew fox’s “10 C’s of being human.”
learning to make silence is one of the many gifts we might cultivate as we grow into our elderhood. this is the process of calming the reactive brain and making way for the brain of our humanity.
contemplation and meditation are not the same practice, though they both lead to moments of inner silence. contemplation is the focus of the mind on a train of thought. for instance, the mind might begin with a bit of sacred text and follow the thought process in examining that text.
sandra anderson, of the himalayan institute teaches that, “meditation is training the mind to rest in a particular focus that leads to a connection to the source of consciousness itself.”
(while there is a clear difference, for the purposes of this blog post, i will use the words interchangeably because both practices support our humanity and our elderhood.)
“We must spend a couple of hours each day in receptive silence—any silent spiritual practice that brings awareness and equanimity to our hearts and minds—and put the inner revolution and the outer revolution together….Sometimes the most radical thing to do in a polluted violence-based system, is to be still. The mud settles to the bottom and we then have a clearer vision about our next steps—for example, facilitating the growth of the communities we want to live in or realizing that the most efficient tools against a system based on greed, fear, hurry, and violence, are generosity, courage, slowing-down, and loving-kindness.” ~~~Pancho Ramos-Stierle, a Mexican-born former astrophysics student turned full-time community activist and humanitarian.
while we may not “spend a couple of hours each day” in meditation, we certainly can devote some time to our inner silence. from this open, receptive inner space we can step out into the world refreshed and revitalised. we can, from this quiet, look with compassion at our lives, the past/present/future with the eyes of an eagle. we can see the big picture, knowing that all the experiences of the past have led to the elder we are today.
those moments of contemplation also provide fertile ground for creating the future we wish to occupy. while our circumstances vary…emotionally, educationally, financially, physically…the space of quiet is universal. it is here we can find our truest inner elder, the one that guides us through the challenges and joys of this phase of our lives.
it is from this silence we can take action and shift the paradigm of being human, ageing and eldering.