Is Silence Really Found In The Space Between Two Thoughts?

There is a school of thought which suggests that silence is found in the space between two thoughts.

In order to experience mental peace, you need to experience and gradually lengthen the gaps between two thoughts, thereby extending the duration of the silence.

Now, this sounds pretty logical at first, but I disagree with the reality of this idea, for a number of reasons. This viewpoint creates a few problems. Allow me to explain.

1) It creates the idea that thoughts/noise can somehow replace stillness/silence/awareness/presence.

The idea is that you experience either silence OR thoughts. This is true. Physical experience is indeed dualistic, but it’s not how things actually are.

The problem with this idea is the belief that silence somehow “disappears” when thoughts are present. It then magically “reappears” in the space between two thoughts.

Silence is ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS present. It can not be replaced by noise, only temporarily covered up by a noisy distraction.

It is the infinite silence of the forest that allows us to hear the rustling of the wind.

It is the silence of the audience in the concert hall that allows us to hear the orchestra perform.

It is the stillness of the mind that allows us to hear thoughts at all.

If the silence was replaced by infinite noise, it would be impossible to pick out any thoughts in particular. It is the presence of silence that allows us to listen to thought in the first place.

Our true nature is one of awareness. Now, awareness can be focused on awareness itself, the unmanifest silence, or it can be focused on thought, the manifest form.

The unmanifest is permanent. The manifest is transient, temporary.

Thoughts do not REPLACE silence. They simply sit on top of silence, are supported by silence, come up from silence and subsequently fall back into silence.

Thus, awareness is more like a continuous background awareness. Awareness can be aware of itself (silence) or of thoughts (noise). Either way, awareness is always aware.

It may SEEM as though silence disappears when the mind is thinking, but the reality is simply that awareness has shifted focus to the thoughts. It’s not that the silence has actually disappeared and will only reappear in the space between two thoughts.

2) It sets up the idea of finding silence as some sort of accomplishment to be achieved.

So, recognizing that thoughts are not replacing silence, but really sitting on top of silence, it becomes recognized that we don’t have to “go anywhere” to find silence. It’s ALWAYS been right here, right now. We ARE silence.

What’s necessary is a shift of focus (from the false self to the True Self). It’s not like you somehow accomplish the creation of silence. You simply focus on the silence that’s always been there, that you’ve been overlooking all along.

The “accomplishment” of abiding in silence is accomplished by ceasing the struggle to accomplish anything at all!

It is by letting go of the mind’s compulsive need to think that the silence that is always there automatically presents itself.

3) This idea is based upon the idea that thought is who we are and silence is what we need to go find.

Again, this is a helpful understanding at first, but eventually you’ll graduate to the next level.

The idea that silence is in the space between two thoughts presumes thought is first and foremost. Silence is secondary.

When you start to reconnect to your true nature, you’ll realize that you have always been here, always are, and always will be. It’s the thought that changes. It’s not who I am. It’s what is experienced in the moment, not unlike the feeling of a cool breeze against the skin. Sure, sometimes it’s more like a hurricane, but you get the picture.

(There’s another stage where you realize that there was no “you” to experience thought in the first place. Just the experience of thought itself, but that’s a whole ‘nother story.)

4) The perspective sets up silence as an equal, yet polar opposite counterpart to thought.

If silence is the space between two thoughts, then the two seem to be on the same level. They have equal weight. One gets more time than the other, but the two are mutually exclusive.

There then arises a battle between the two heavyweights, a slugfest to see which one can stay standing longer.

Silence doesn’t struggle. It is only the mind that struggles. When you struggle, the ego wins. Always.

When you put them at the same level, it becomes a competition to see which one can win. In reality, there is no competition.

There is infinitely more power in the silence, the formlessness behind all form.

This can be experientially realized as the difference between us trying to push and struggle and physically make something happen in this world versus surrendering to the universe and allowing the flow to synchronistically and seemingly magically handle everything automatically, as if life was one big miracle.

In fact, what we perceive to be solid is actually made up of mostly empty space! Physical matter is composed of atoms which are very far apart. Even the atoms themselves are mostly empty space. There is much more “emptiness” than there is “stuff.” The world is 99.9% silence! Yet the mind tends to pay attention to that teeny tiny fraction we call noise. It’s like staring at a black mark on a big white wall. Attention goes to the noise.

Silence is always present. Instead of thinking of silence as the space between two thoughts, let’s adopt a new metaphor.

Silence is like the vast ocean. Thoughts are like fish that pop up out of the water’s surface and dive back in.

The same fish may jump up over and over, or another fish may jump out next. It may even seem that lots of fish keep jumping out of the water, and they won’t stop!

You are not the fish. You are the infinite vastness and depth of the ocean itself. You are the infinite silence.

The fish may temporarily grab our attention (the mind loves to pay attention to movement and action) but the ocean is always there, silently embracing the fish as it dives back in.

Thoughts may arise, distracting you from your true nature as the ocean, but the ocean never goes anywhere. It is always present, supporting the fish.

The ocean is not ONLY found in the space between two fish, but as the very source out of which all fish arise and fall into.

It is said that we are connected to Source. Silence is the source. The Unmanifest. The Formless. Beingness. Consciousness. Presence. Awareness. Love.

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to updates via RSS or email!

This site is supported by your donations. If you have recieved extraordinary value from this site, consider donating to keep the energy flowing. Thank you! =)