Train of Thought

At age 16, sitting cross-legged on a straw mat under a thatched roof on a brick terrace, I was initiated into a discussion with other friends. That discussion resulted in no heated arguments, or raised voices or fiery tempers. Instead, it was one question that opened a hornet's nest of other questions, and had no outcome, except for leaving one particular individual filled with thoughts. Thoughts that haven't left me to this very night, prompting me to address my confusion by penning more thoughts, before they just ebb away and lie unattended for another couple of years.

At age 25, Life has taken me all over the its litlle cross-roads and has finally brought me to a little in-law studio in Oakland, California, where I lie awake at 11.30PM, sleepless(because of a sugar-high possibly induced by Chocolate Gelato) trying to find answers to my 9 year old question.

What is Silence?
Is Silence the lack of noise? Is it a state of vacuum? Or is the answer something more profound? I truly believe the answer to this question will bring me peace. And I am troubled, I'll tell you that much. There's not a single moment, when my head isn't overflowing with a runaway train of thoughts threatening to derail itself. I've had a tough life, and that in turn, has made me a person who introspects very very often.

I believe, Silence is the state of mind when it is completely devoid of thought. Is that possible? Doesn't that put you in a vegetative state? How do you know comatose people have no thought process? Do you see what just happened? Rather, than thinking about silence, once I posed my question, it instead triggered a chain of thought processes that refuse to stay down, in turn, evoking and provoking a whole bunch of new thoughts. Where does it end? It never does. The great Indian Sages who stood on one leg on top of the mountains and meditaed for divine knowledge..do you think they ever experienced Silence in its true form? I dont think so, their minds may have been at peace, but at the same time, it was churning and boiling over in its quest for something it did not have, that it believed it could obtain from more mystic sources.

And I leave you here, abruptly, on your behind, thinking about the same Silence. If you ever find out, let me know. Or write a book, become a famous Yogi. But still, let me know.

"Pin drop Silence in the class, yeveryone!"