Education Without Meditation

Does creativity arise from my thoughts, or from the spacious crystal silence between them?

If I observe very deeply, I see that my creativity manifests in silent waves of Being, not concepts. Only after the creative impulse wells up like a tear of joy from the a priori silence deeper than mind, only then do I quantify those waves of infinite stillness into finite thoughts.

The images that form my thoughts come from memory. Thoughts are images of the past. But the creative power that energizes thoughts is image-less. If past images are not empowered by the image-less vibration of Presence, my thoughts are not creative.

Every wave of creation is connected to the ocean of quietness beneath it. Every great work of art or dance incorporates stillness, every great work of music or literature incorporates silence, and in every true poem what remains unspoken makes it poetry. We feel the "greatness" in art because we feel, through its forms, the awe of the formless.

In American culture today, we have compulsive thinking without silence, frantic action without stillness, education without meditation. That is why our institutions seem paralyzed with dissension and stress. We Americans will never recover our greatness by hastening our thoughts and actions, but by deepening our silence.

"In returning and rest shall ye be saved; in quietness and in confidence shall be your strength." (Isaiah 30:15)