Madame Guyon_ Attentive Silence as a Counterpractice for a Digital Age

https://vimeo.com/413667921

Now do you understand what Silence is, it is being Still, ceasing your efforts to make things happen…no sooner do the bodily eyes close, than the soul is wrapped in prayer… it is amazing that so great a blessing enjoys an internal converse
which external matters cannot interrupt.

Madame Guyon, Christian Mystic

Christian mystic Jeanne Guyon’s devotional posture centered on what some call the inward way, or the “prayer of silence,” a means of communicating with God in humility, inward simplicity, and contemplation. Her situation was couched in a context that was quite different from ours, exacerbated by ruling authorities that were skeptical of any ideas that did not strictly conform to traditional thought. Guyon was able to break the bonds of her captivity through perseverance in the spiritual practice of attentive silence. Christians and others in the digital age can enjoy similar freedom from the temptations, injustices, and distractions that may hold them captive when use of mobile media is tempered by attentive silence and the goods discovered in a place of solitude. The attentive silence of Guyon helped her develop a holy listening that is much needed in our busy world of words.

Roland Trujillo reads and discusses On Rest in the context of Spiritual Progress. Roland talks about stillness and detachment and how meditation helps the sincere seeker find this blessed state. The Universal language of silence wherein GOD is equated as “Being in Presence” Being in the present moment, being aware, being out of thought and being timeless. Mindfulness practices are also talked about from the context of the digital aga an dhow relevant Guyons work is todays stressed demographics.

Christan mystics “controversial” for their engagement with this kind of prayer of silence to silence in silence – quietutde

Minutes 0-5 Reverence of silence in daily life – respect, humility, listening, Guyon found her strength and resilience in silence – in jail and unto death

Minute 31:Powerful rendering of yoga, silence and strength.

A beautiful sharing after the video clips” Patrick sharing : silence dissipated a conflicted parking situation – no ego to take the blows when he simply decided to listen to the other, steeped in anger – allowing its full expression simply took it to rest and resolution. Emily shared the power of listening – not personlizxing – just listening
“I remembered the importance of remembering our interconnectedness – who is fighting with whom – no words needed – there is no one other than parts of “me”.

The Buddhist tradition notes five main obstacles during meditation. These challenges distract the meditator from the meditation technique.

These hindrances sidetrack the mind away from present moment awareness, preventing relaxation and concentration.

If these obstacles disrupt meditation ongoingly, the long-term meditator may have trouble cultivating the deeper states of compassion, insight, and wisdom that meditation can provide. Quite bothersome and disadvantageous! 

The five common obstacles to meditation include:

1. Grasping, craving, or desire: daydreaming, craving sweets, thinking about vacations, sensual desires. The mind is distracted by images, visualizations, and cravings for things that are pleasant.
2. Aversion or ill-will: judgmental mind, inner critic, not wanting to meditate, general agitation, feeling annoyed by others. The mind is distracted by thoughts and feelings about things that are unpleasant.
3. Restlessness: fidgeting with alignment and props, restless body, itching, scratching, busy mind, planning mind, making mental lists.  The mind is distracted by constant motion and has trouble remaining still and present.
4. Sloth or torpor: sleepiness, tiredness, lack of motivation, foggy headedness, trouble focusing, sluggish body, slouching. The mind is distracted by lethargy or grogginess and has trouble remaining alert.
5. Doubt: skepticism, uncertainty, cynicism, wondering whether one is “doing it right,” worry about whether meditation is valuable. The mind is distracted by apprehension and has trouble remaining committed and present.

Which hindrances have you faced recently? Though we tend to encounter the same hindrance again and again, it’s common to bump up against each one at some point. Though it’s difficult to completely eliminate the hindrances, knowing which one(s) distracts you from meditation most often is helpful for reducing its occurrence in the future.

Elevated Doshas and the 5 Obstacles

See how similar these obstacles are are to the elevated or vitiated states of Ayurveda’s three doshas. Here are some common irritations that arise when the doshas are agitated:

• Vata: scattered mind, feeling spacey, restlessness, fidgety body, difficulty focusing, inconsistency, fear, nervousness, ungroundedness.
• Pitta: frustration, anger, aggressiveness, aversion, ill-will, overthinking, criticism, judgmental mind, hot headedness.
• Kapha: lack of motivation, sluggishness, sleepiness, lethargy, foggy headedness, lack of clarity, obstinance.

Notice how similar this list of elevated doshas is to the list of meditation hindrances?

When the doshas are elevated, they contribute to the meditation obstacles—blocking or veiling the natural sattvic state of mind that supports meditation. When out of balance, the doshas play a part in triggering or escalating the five hindrances. 

This is important to note, as dosha-balancing diet, lifestyle, and self-care techniques can radically enrich your meditation practice by reducing the hindrances and boosting a state of sattva.

• Sattva: clarity, balance, harmony, ease, order, inner calm. This peaceful mind state supports insight and awakening.
• Rajas: over-stimulated, frenzied, restlessness, spinning, moving too fast, hyperactivity. When disturbed, rajas puts the mind in a hectic, turbulent, overexcited state.
• Tamas: inertia, apathy, torpor, destructiveness, lethargy, laziness. When disturbed, tamas puts the mind in a dull, ignorant, idle state.

See how similar elevated rajas and tamas are to the meditation hindrances?

Extra rajas can directly lead to craving, ill-will, and restlessness. Likewise, extra tamas can directly lead to sloth, torpor, and doubt. To cultivate a consistent and deep meditation practice, Ayurveda encourages reducing excess rajas and tamas, while actively boosting sattva.

How to Enhance Your Meditation with Ayurveda

The meditation path is meant to help us awaken to our own true nature, recognize our interconnectedness, and see clearly into the true nature of reality. Unfortunately, the hindrances are real roadblocks to that awakening—especially when meditators get stuck in a rut repeatedly wrestling with the hindrances.

Although it’s tough to fully overcome the hindrances, it is beneficial to investigate and work with the hindrances when they arise, as that builds mindful awareness, self-regulation, and presence. 

When the doshas and gunas are harmonized, the body-mind tends to experience more ease, balance, and harmony.

So, by reducing the hindrances with appropriate diet, lifestyle practices, and Ayurvedic self-care techniques, meditators have a substantially better chance of sitting comfortably, relaxing, committing to the meditation technique of choice, and enhancing concentration—thereby boosting clarity, compassion, insight, and wisdom. 
This is an excerpt from Banyen Botanicals publishings.

Read more here

Kapha is principally a combination of Earth and Water and is the energy that forms the body’s structure, and provides the “glue” or cohesion that holds the cells together. Kapha supplies the water for all bodily parts and systems. It lubricates joints, moisturizes the skin and maintains immunity. In balance, kapha is expressed as love, calmness, and forgiveness. Out of balance, it leads to attachment, greed, possessiveness,
and congestive disorders.

Ayurveda teaching on Kapha

In recognizing the eternal unconditioned awareness that is our true self, we unlock the door to the infinite, the eternal, the divine, the very essence of timeless teachings…in doing so, we may just discover the boundless wisdom that is our own fundamental nature waiting to be unveiled.

Anandamayi Maa

Key Principles
1. Inquiry into the nature of the self
2. Embracing the totality of life
3. Awakening of subtle energies
4. Devotion and surrender
5. Living with simplicity and focus

Other quotes:
“This body has lived with father, mother, husband, and all. This body has served the husband, so you may call it a wife. It has prepared dishes for all, so you may call it a cook. It has done all sorts of scrubbing and menial work, so you can call it a servant, but if you look at the thing from another standpoint, you will realize that this body has served none but God, for when I served my father, mother, husband, others, I simply considered them as other manifestations of the eternal, and served them as such. When I sat down to prepare food, I did in spirit of divine service. Hence, I was not quite worldly, though always engaged in household affairs. I had but one ideal to serve all as Pure Awareness, to do everything for the sake of Pure Awareness..”

A history definitely worth watching, of profound awareness we are not normally exposed to (without seeking). Perhaps this is because of her gender and the fact her teachings can lead us to the ultimate freedom that already lies within each of us, under layers of self inflicted and misguided (no matter how well or ill intended) false distractions that lay over the true nature of the path of enlightened living. Consciousness REMAINS as a continuous entity. there is no transformation of consciousness. but only a manifestation of consciousness into several individual units that one calls life & universe. with rigor, one would get to the knowledge that “I am not this body” and “I am not in this world, but the world IS I “, for without my existence of “I”, the world ceases to exist. When one is pure consciousness, there is none to feel the bliss.

Silence is an expression of this universal truth.