Meditation
The Temple of Silence
Make sure you are sitting comfortably, that you are relaxed.//
Close your eyes and become aware of the sounds around you.//
Note your body sitting on the
seat.// Become aware of your bones pressing against the chair, and relax.//
Note the watery element in your body, the saliva in your mouth, the
blood coursing through your veins, and relax.//
Note the airy element
in your body, the breath passing through your nostrils, down into your lungs,
as your chest rises and falls, and relax.//
Note the fiery element in
your body, the heat of your blood, the light as it falls on your closed
eyelids, and relax.//
You find yourself walking along a path under
a warm sun.// As you walk, you become aware of the landscape around you. What
is it like?///
You walk on and notice a garden hedge to one side.
There is a gate in it. What does it look like?///
You open it and go
in.// You are in a garden.// What kind of garden is it?//
You follow
the path through the garden.// Do the surroundings change as you walk, or
not?/// Note what is around you.//
You walk on. As you walk, the
garden spreads out into a grassy field.// The path crosses it to a gate in the
hedge beyond.// What state is the hedge in?// What kind of gate is
it?///
You open it and walk through into a tree-lined avenue.// How
does it feel?// At the end of the avenue is a small building.// You approach
it. Note what you see.//
As you approach, the building becomes
clearer.// It is a small temple.// Note it carefully. What does it look like
close to?// How do you feel?///
As you near the door, you see a person
waiting to greet you.// You have a feeling that you have known this person for
a very long time.// What does the person look like?///
You stop and
the person tells you that you have reached the temple of silence. It is yours,
and the peace you find inside is yours also. You note the entrance to the
temple.// What is it like?//
You enter, taking note of all you see.//
It is silent and empty inside.// The silence is remarkable.///
You find
a seat and sit there, looking about you. What is the inside of the temple
like?//// You sit there quietly.///
Then your eyes are drawn to a focus
point at the heart of the building.// What is it like?/// How do you feel?////
As you look, you see that the focus grows into a glowing centre of
light and warmth/////....................... You continue to sit there in a
great and deep silence/////.......................
Slowly, the
light fades.// Slowly,you realize that you have to return to the garden.// You
come back from the deep silence and get up.///
You make your way back
through the entrance of the building and notice that the gatekeeper you met
before is waiting there for you.// You talk for a while about what
happened.////
Then the gatekeeper says that you may ask one question
and that you will receive an answer./////
The answer is given and the
gatekeeper tells you that you can return to the temple of silence whenever you
wish.// You give your thanks and say goodbye.//
You turn and start to
walk down the avenue and through the gate.// The path takes you across the
grassy field and into the garden.// Has anything changed while you were in the
temple?////
You walk slowly through the garden and down to the gate.//
Closing it behind you, you take a long, last look at the garden, knowing you
can come here again.///
You turn onto the path, walking back through
the landscape you left.// Has anything changed here?// Note it
now.//
The sun is warm overhead. You feel its heat and note its
radiance striking your eyes.//
The landscape around you dissolves
slowly into this room as you become aware of your slow, quiet
breathing.//
Become aware of the watery element in your body, your
blood flowing, the mucus in your nostrils.//
Become aware of the
solidity of your bones and of the seat beneath you.//
Become aware of
the sounds and movements around you in the place where you are sitting, and,
when you are ready, slowly open your eyes, entering this reality before you.
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