The Renaissance of Thought

Reality begins with a thought. Thought in turn creates feeling and attitude, which is called consciousness. This inner, subtle world of consciousness manifests externally and it is called living, which includes expressing, interacting, relating and creating. It is the fabric of our human life.

At this time of severe crises and chaotic upheavals the movement towards any kind of stabilization and well-being can only come from the inner world of each individual. The way we see, think, feel and ultimately behave needs a drastic overhaul. The first step is a change in thinking. Without a revision of thinking there cannot be a rejuvenation of living.

We need to connect to our original blueprints, which are deeply embedded in the human consciousness, in the soul of each one of us. This emergence of original qualities will facilitate newness and meaningfulness. How can we reach these inner, subtle blueprints of the self?

It begins with thought, and finalizes itself in behavior. Positive behavior is always the mirror that proves a real restructuring of thinking has happened.

Thought these days needs to be more contemplative. This does not mean becoming nuns and monks (and there is nothing wrong with that), however, the "everyday-aware" person wishes to remain in society but seeks inner quietness. The quietness of a creative space within the mind fulfills and refreshes the self and eventually positively impacts his or her societal existence. All begins with the way we think. We will look at three types of thinking.

1. Formula Thinking 

This type of thinking is deceitful and hollow and includes a variety of slogans, ideas, quotes, catchphrases, guidelines, precepts and maxims. The formulas are all very true in themselves, and sound tremendously impressive, but are rarely and systemically practiced. To all intents and purposes they are "dead letters."

The latent truths of these "dead letters" deceive both listeners and speakers into believing that they doing what they are talking about. Propaganda, whether political, religious or emotional functions on such self-deception. Such formulas include "treat all with equality," "God is love," "act with integrity," "truth, justice, freedom," "respect all living things," "share," "democratic rights," etc.

The evidence of such "dead letter" or formula thinking is the growing fragmentation, fragility, collapses, prejudices and sorrow that perpetuate in systems both personal and societal. Crises are the direct progeny of this formula thinking. We think we know these values but nothing is known until it is lived. There is a complacent blindness that we know and what goes wrong is the fault of something or someone else. Formula thinkers and speakers are all about clever words, presenting impressing facts and arguments which are not the reality. Such thinkers and speakers create mirages that crumble and disintegrate with time.

2. Reflective Thinking

This type of thinking is constructive and progressive. The thinker is able to step back from self-centered "I-ness" and creates a clear space of research and inquiry within the self that generates authenticity. The intellect and mind focus, go deep into a question or idea and try to see, find and experiment with possibilities. Doors open that once did not even exist.

People such as Edison, Florence Nightingale, Archimedes and Maria Montessori are among such thinkers. They found insights and these insights offered benefits to others. When such thought is strongly married to action then benevolence is experienced by many.

On the other hand, reflective thinking can be counter-productive if it is not aligned to some kind of benefit for self and others. There will be too much analysis, too much intellectual scrutinizing, criticizing and over-thinking and over-discussing. Consequently, the original creative result or discovery can be dissipated or misused.

This type of thought (although effective) can go off track, and without a higher, benevolent purpose can become useless and (as has happened in the world of science) can become unethical when there is selfish motivation.

3. Contemplative Thinking

To keep reflective thought on track and for the best to emerge, the thinker must also learn how to be silent and still. To hold silence within reflection creates contemplative thinking. A leap of unprecedented insight spontaneously happens.

When we hear about Archimedes we read that he had reflected and analyzed for a long time a mathematical problem. One day, whilst relaxing quietly in the bath, he suddenly got the solution and shouted, "Eureka!" (I have found it!) He found the solution he sought whilst relaxing. In a more contemplative, silent state, having let go of his intellect's grabbing and grasping, he was open to realize. Archimedes needed to engage in analytical reflection first as preparation, but when he let go of his intellectual activity a new door of knowing opened.

Fritjof Capra in his book Tao of Physics describes a similar state. After a period of researching and analyzing aspects of physics he went for a holiday. As he was relaxing near the ocean away from experiments and scientific thinking, listening to the rhythm of the waves he had a vision. Suddenly and most unexpectedly he saw the dance of atom particles. They were cascading, turning, swirling in a rhythmic dance and he felt himself a part of this dance. He felt this all around him and felt it as the eternal dance of the cosmos.

The rhythmic dance of atoms reminded him of the statue of Nataraj, the cosmic dance of Lord Shiva. In 2004 at CERN Geneva a two-meter statue of Nataraj, the dancing Shiva was unveiled. A plaque with a quote from Capra was at its base:

In our time physicists have used the most advanced technology to portray the patterns of cosmic dance. The metaphor of the cosmic dance unifies ancient mythology, religious art and modern physics.

Nataraj in Hindu mythology symbolizes the divine cosmic dance of destruction and creation. A weary, damaged corrupt world is destroyed and preparations are made for the deity Brahma to begin a new creation. The cosmic dance of Shiva, Nataraj, is a perpetual cycle of birth, death and renewal. Nataraj is surrounded by an aureole of flames, as he dances in perfect balance over a devilish creature which symbolizes ignorance or illusion. Capra believed this image of Nataraj captured perfectly what he experienced. He said"Shiva's dance is the dance of subatomic matter" as well as the dance of nature's and humanity's constant cycle of birth, bloom, decay, death and regeneration.

When I looked at the face of Nataraj, it reminded me of the face of the Charioteer statue in Delphi. Both are very composed, very neutral , calm, in balance, fully focused on the task with an easy mastery of movement.

The contemplative thinkers all stopped their intellectual activity and became quiet. Many innovators also speak of revelations received in this quietness of contemplation. It dramatically changed their perception and way of being.

For us as individuals living in this 21 century how can contemplative thinking be relevant? How can it facilitate the destruction of useless patterns and return us to an original, harmonious rhythm of being?

Contemplative thought rejuvenates consciousness enabling the self to be more perceptive and balanced. The self is no longer dragged into the spinning, stressed and routine wheel of being but actually is able to create a new space for more meaningful ways of behaving and interacting.

Eight tips for contemplative practice:

1. Slow down. Slow right down. Consciously decide not to think, analyze, label, categorize.
2. Become quiet, feel the inner stillness. Be still.
3. Take one thought such as peace, kindness, serene. Just hold it silently in your mind for just a moment. Just hold it gently, no force, no rush.
4. Gently repeat your thought ... slowly ... for example: serenity ... serenity. Contemplate that chosen thought slowly.
5. As you hold the thought you will gradually feel the thought transcends into feeling.
6. In contemplative thought we are absorbed in awareness. In awareness we transcend thinking.
7. Whatever thought I choose I become that: I am serene. I am serene. Serene.
8. Now let go, let go of all thought. Only Serene Stillness. A Serene Silence. Embrace it. Hold that complete silence and whatever is beneficial to come will come.

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The Call of Silence

It is early April, early morning and the curling mist fills the valley below Assisi. The only things I hear are the birds and the bells which chirrup and chime in turn. Otherwise a silence embraces the dawn lit city. A silence that has existed, I am sure, in Assisi during the time of Francis and Clare.

As I gaze outside my room there are two tall pine trees totally occupied with Francis' chattering sisters, to whom he once said: "little sisters, if you have now had your say, it is time that I should also be heard.' It is said after these words they became silent and listened to him. However at the moment the birds are still chattering away obviously happy to feel the sun's topaz light aureole their tiny heads and glow,like golden hosts, onto their open melodious tongues. For a moment it looks like a new painting by the great master Giotto, who is well known in this city.

Beyond our sisters' voices there is a vast calm, an infinite feeling of quietness. Just to be here, away from the mind's rampart scurrying and scampering is heaven. The mind has been trained to be relentless for facts, believing that intellectual acrobatics and a plethora of facts define truth. In fact I find the opposite. Too much thinking, too much talking, takes us very far from the truth of things but even more so, from our inner peace. Prove, catalogue, plan, classify, validate, theorize, analyze, scrutinize, judge, demonstrate, interpret....."STOP!" I have often screeched. How about a break?

Everyone has an opinion about everything. Now, with all these crises everywhere, an ocean of opinions on the whats, the whys, the hows have created a flood of repetitive facts. Read any newspaper, watch any television program, browse the internet. The flood rises as everyone claims justice, blaming real or imagined culprits and it just goes on and on , higher and higher.

It seems that in the 21st century we have precipitated ourselves into an abyss of extremes. Over informed and over opinioned, people often do not halt the consumption of information. It's healthier to find a middle way: to know when to think and when not to, when to speak and when to keep quiet, when to step in and when to step out, when to make things happen and when to allow things to happen, when to be extrovert and when to be introvert. The realities of life can be found also through a complementary silence in one's self. When we cool down, when we can listen, when we can tune into the other then we can speak from a space of insight otherwise it is just a cacophony of emotive, often prejudiced ramblings.

So I came to Assisi just to stop: to be quiet, to contemplate the flow of things. I remember Plato's words: "I am trying to think, don't confuse me with facts." True reflection does need a distance from the barrage of facts!

Even the great thinkers like Plato needed to take time out. Silence, the slowing down of one's self, creates a space of quietness within, which in turns creates clarity of understanding. Silence refreshes and rejuvenates the mind, whose habitual appetite for noise, news and diversion has created an addiction to everything external. We are the creators of our stress, our crises and breakdowns because we have forgotten to stop, reflect and renew. We clearly understand the obvious need to recharge our mobiles but what about our minds? To experience inner quietness is as important as expressing ourselves. Without recharging ourselves we cannot function, we cannot communicate with life. Actually this inner calm gives perspective and a balanced perception to the myriad details and negative things we are daily bombarded with. Inner silence filters everything that comes to us from the outside.

Creating a space for silence is crucial for meaningful living. Taking time out to be silent is a necessity. To stop, to step back and be still gives fresh oxygen to the mind. It is like a car. We buy a car because we wish to move. To go from one place to another but we would never buy a car that did not have a brake because no matter how far or well the car moves it must also be able to stop. Our life is for expression and interaction but we also have to stop from time to time and reflect on our motives, our judgments, our movements. To stop means to observe and see where the traffic in my heart and mind are going, otherwise habit obliterates the truth of things and my clarity and peace disappear. So Assisi was a place where I could brake and stop as I had often done on a mountain top in India.

Enjoying the tranquil hills of Umbria I could forget the clamor, clatter, push and rush of the cities I usually find myself in and experience the serenity and beauty of nature, which activated my own inner tranquility.

Francis created his spiritual gentle revolution by first getting close to nature and tuning in to her serenity and principles. He provided an alternative to a legalistic, theologically congested church which had forgotten the simplicity of its own original spirit. His experience of the Divine had reminded him of a Universal Benevolence, which he felt was reflected in the interconnectedness of life not only of humanity but also of humanity with animals, nature and her elements. It became his task to remind others of this divine love and intrinsic interconnectedness. No wonder he is regarded as the Green Saint,the patron of animals and the environment.

At his hermitage just outside Assisi I saw a bronze statue of him lying on the ground and two companion monks with their circled fingers held up to the sky measuring something. It is said that Francis loved to gaze up at the bright Polar Star and his companions were trying to measure certain aspects of that star. The earth and sky were also his companions.

Francis learned to be realistic as well as spiritual for he stated: "Start by doing what is necessary, and then do what is possible, and suddenly you are doing the impossible."

To make the impossible possible is a sign of real spirituality, to achieve what others cannot dream of. What others may call crazy or unrealistic but is accomplished by an individual step by step is a kind of sanctity: an integrity of spirit

Francis once said:

"Sanctify yourself and you will sanctify society."

"Sanctify" is not just a religious term he is using but it is his deeply felt sense of wholeness and oneness with nature and humanity and unlimited trust in the Divine. To achieve this sanctity he realized that he and his spiritual companions had to absolutely let go of selfish possessiveness and the greed of being. The respect we give to that interconnectedness of life and to life's resources is an answer to the wars and crisis we see around us today and what he himself had experienced in medieval Italy. He was so shocked by war's brutality and violence that he broke down and had to reposition himself, his purpose and his code of being. This breakdown is vividly represented outside the Basilica of St Francis where a statue of him on a horse captures his sense of utter desolation and disillusionment as both horse and man limp back from the war.

So in his hermitage away from his task of rejuvenating Christianity, traveling over Italy and to countries such as Egypt, Corfu, Syria , aligning himself with the poor and sick, Francis found the time to gaze at the stars, mountain, flowers ,water and trees. He also spent time talking to the animals and to his brother sun and sister moon. Giotto captures all of this in the paintings which decorate the basilica of Francis where we spent Good Thursday early morning in meditation. A small group of us, who had especially come for a two day dialogue, shared a collective silence for about one hour. Two days earlier a small group of Buddhists, nuns, yogis, Platonists, Christian meditators had actually come together to discuss the creative and healing power of contemplation as a contribution to today's crises.

Certainly our group felt that inner silence was a crucial start for newness in thought and action. Greece came up as an example of crisis and our Platonist friend from Germany perceptively stated that the crises has first started in Greece because that is the heart of western culture and all western culture , to a smaller or greater degree is suffering from the same malaise. So Greece as the parent receives the first blow of the Western collapse. He went on to say that where the crisis is also exists the solution. The roots of heritage hold the antidote to the poison.

The American coordinator of our Contemplative Alliance stated that now it appears to be the time that spiritual principles need to be valued and applied for social transformation. Thought, word and understanding are necessary but also action. So thinkers do not just keep on thinking, speakers do not just keep on speaking, analysts do not just keep on analyzing but also act. Action that can be effective when a contemplative empowering has happened individually and collectively to change the anachronistic routes of thoughts and behavior. Without that inner transformation then the same consciousness keeps repeating the same mistakes. The wheel keeps turning in on itself and there is no exit. All innovation began and was sustained by a transformation in consciousness. To act from a space of transformative silence facilitates the application of spiritual principles into social living. Otherwise either we rehash decrepit formulas or become too complacent. As Plato said:

"The price good men pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men."

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/anthony-strano/the-call-of-silence_b_1414299.html

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