Be Quiet

Our minds are running, running, running, talking, talking, talking all day long. Even in our dreams, we’re talking to ourselves. So right now, try to talk to yourself about one thing: You’re going to stay with the breath. And if you want to have a discussion inside, discuss how the breath feels.

Does it feel good? Try long breathing for a while. See how that feels. And then short breathing. Which feels better? Fast or slow. Which feels better? Heavy or light. Which feels better? Deep or shallow? When you find a rhythm that feels good, stick with it. Then do your best to maintain it. As for any other topics of conversation that may come in, just let them go.

No matter how interesting they may seem, or entertaining, you’ve got to train the mind so that it’s not talking all the time. When you’re talking all the time, it’s as if you’re creating a lot of noise inside. If you want to see anything subtle in the mind, the noise is going to blanket whatever you’re trying to find, whatever you’re trying to hear.

So try to get as quiet as you can, because there’s so much going on in our minds that we don’t see. When greed starts, when anger starts, when delusion starts, we’re off someplace else. Either that or we’re talking about something else. That’s what allows these things to grow. Then when they’ve grown—they’ve gotten really big, they’ve put down roots—they’re hard to uproot. You want to be able to see these things when they’re still young, when they’re still tender. And you can say No to them.

So. To see things in your own mind, to get to know your own mind, try to be quiet. We think that the more we talk, the more we know about ourselves. But a lot of times, if you want to really know what’s going on inside, you’ve got to get very quiet. Then you can see all the different levels of conversations going on, some of them that have subterranean influences on what you’re going to do and say, and you can catch them before they have an influence. This way you’re more in control.

So the more quiet you are, the more you can control. Again, we think that if we tell people what they should think then we’re in control of them. But often it’s when you’re quiet that you can see what they’re about to do and figure out what’s worth encouraging and what’s worth discouraging. You pick up a lot more by being quiet.

So put aside some time every day for just practicing being quiet inside. As I said, if you want to talk about something, talk to yourself about the breath. Then when the breath gets good, you can just stay with it. Think of that comfort spreading through the body. Try to maintain that.

As you get the mind quiet, you’ll be surprised to see all the other conversations that have been going on that you didn’t notice before because you had the volume of your conscious thoughts turned up way loud so that the other ones could sneak in without your knowing it. So to know yourself, you’ve got to be quiet. To be in control, you’ve got to be quiet. See that as a virtue.

All too often we think that “The more I can talk, the more I can say, the smarter I’ll seem.” Well, not necessarily. Sometimes you open your mouth and you reveal your stupidity that other people wouldn’t have seen otherwise. So see the virtue of being quiet. It’s got a lot to offer.