Let the silence of the moment speak

 Viktor Frankl discovered the freedom associated with choice when he observed:

“Between stimulus and response there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and freedom.”

 

Silence is. Silence is before the stimulus, after the stimulus, before the response and after the response. There is no choice and there is no growth since silence begets the stimulus and the response. Viktor Frankl describes a second-best world of damage control by responding rather than reacting and personal growth by breaking free from prior conditioning. In it, we become self-aware. In the first-best world Awareness is before thought, feeling and the experience.

 

The moment a thought pops up, a feeling arises and once we identify with a life occurrence, we have already stepped out of the Awareness dimension and have entered the choice Viktor Frankl envisions. Can we return to “silence is”? Choice-less awareness arises, a phrase coined by J. Krishnamurti. In that sense, we never really step out of the world of “silence is.” It’s always at our disposal. Spiritual living is showing up and letting the silence of the moment speak.