Concentration in the silence without effort is the state of consciousness of perfect calm, accompanied by the complete relaxation of the nerves and muscles of the body. One may say that the entire being becomes like the surface of calm water, reflecting the immense presence of the starry sky and its indescribable harmony.
And the waters are deep, so deep! And the silence grows, ever increasing. . . What silence! . . . One wave of silence followed by another wave of more profound silence, then again a wave of still more profound silence.
Have you ever DRUNK SILENCE? If so, you know what meditation without effort is.
God answers us in the flesh of our experiences -- physical, emotional, intellectual, imaginative, spiritual. Prayers change us when we are answered by an expansion of self, by more self made more accessible to us. The words with which we pray to God lead us into ourselves, to hear that primary speech so actively discoursing within ourselves. New thoughts come to mind; we see new communications between things we were thinking. New ideas of what we should be doing spring up; a new willingness to do what we are doing arises. Old duties, as regular and onerous as daily housekeeping or office tasks, seem to fall into place and become less weighty and preoccupying. Energy to improvise and imagine different courses of action and ways of seeing things comes to us.
