'Keep Noble Silence'

'Keep noble silence.' This was Buddha's teaching. Is there a difference between ordinary silence and noble silence?

Ordinary silence is mindless. Noble silence is mindful. Alert as the listening doe between a taste of dandelions and a munch of violets. Yet relaxed as an otter on its back in a wave.

Ordinary silence is the absence of noise. Noble silence is the fullness of Being. It is pure awareness, free from the chatter of conceptual thought.

Jesus asked, "Who of you by taking thought can add one inch to your stature?" Peace comes through Being, not through argument.

When thought melts away, past and future dissolve into Presence.

Mind sinks into the groundless, journeys deep into the virgin forest of the heart. There, in noble silence, one sees all causes entangled in causelessness. One sees golden emptiness pervading all creatures. One sees sparkling stillness in all action.

A silent heart irradiates the world with compassion.