Thinking vs. Being; Words vs. Silence
I have been thinking about thinking lately. How the self-generated yakketyyak only stops when we read a book, listen to the radio, or watch television, substituting other voices for our own. Occasionally, we meditate and have a modicum of success at suspending the static. The last few days I read the stacks of back issues of the various journals I get, looking for articles on particular subjects, and finally tossing what wasn't pertinent. By the time I was finished reading all the various experts — some highly intellectual and wordy, some new-agey and wordy, some with what they thought were brilliant insights, and a rare few who spoke simply and clearly — I was ready to never talk again!

I did find, however, a blurb from Gangaji's book, The Diamond in Your Pocket, where she describes her discovery that she was the beingness that runs through everything. She says, ". . .there occurred a remarkable shift of attention from my story of being to the endless depth of being that had always existed underneath the story. . . Finally, I realized that whatever I thought was always only a thought, impossible to rely on because it was subject to conditioning and disappearance. In the discovery of truth, thought could no longer be trusted. Thought could no longer be master. The previous fear of not knowing was transformed into the joy of not knowing. To not know was the opening of my mind to what could not be perceived by thought. What profound release!" These words feel so clean and catalytic. We really don't have to use so many words. What cannot be perceived by thought? Let us put down our cell phones and be still.