The noisy person cannot be blissful — one needs the music of silence. And our minds are too noisy. We are carrying almost a whole marketplace in our heads, all kinds of rubbish. We are not one, we are a crowd inside, many people, and they are constantly quarreling, fighting with each other, trying to dominate. Each fragment of our mind wants to become the most powerful one. There is constant inner politics.
Bliss is possible only if this continuous war ceases. And it can cease; it is not very difficult to get beyond it. All that is needed is awareness. We are not aware of this whole phenomenon that goes on. It goes on inside like an undercurrent. We are almost oblivious of it. It is always there, day in, day out, but we are not conscious of it.
Bring consciousness to it. Slowly, watch the subtle layers of noisiness, and slowly, slowly, you will become aware of so much chattering, as if a madhouse is inside the head. And we are living in this nightmare!
Through watching, a miracle happens: whatsoever you can watch starts evaporating. And the moment it evaporates you are left with a deep silence. In the beginning there are only intervals, small gaps when thoughts cease, when you can look through small windows into reality. But slowly those gaps become bigger; they start coming more often, then they start staying longer.
It has been calculated by the ancient mystics, and I totally agree with them, that if a person can remain totally silent for forty-eight minutes he attains enlightenment, he becomes absolutely blissful. And then there is no going back. You have gone into the beyond; you have reached beyond time and its constant shifting sands. You have reached the rock of eternity.
