Sometimes there would be a rush of noisy visitors and the Silence of the monastery would be shattered. This would upset the monks; not the master, however, who seemed just as content with the noise as with the Silence. To those protesting he said one day:
"Silence is not the absence of sound, but the absence of self."
When I started the practice of
"no preference," a special
quality of mind began to grow—
a unique understanding and
affirmation of the way things
are— and I discovered something
extraordinary: the heart of
stillness sits perfectly balanced in
the middle of chaos. This is the
true dwelling place of the soul.
~ from ENDURING THE SACRED MOUNTAIN by David A. Cooper
