Escucharse a sí mismos

Le veía al Carmelita un tanto tenso, como inquieto por algo.
-¿Sabe que sucede?- preguntó de pronto.
-¿A que se refiere?
- A la falta de compromiso, a la rutina de ser siempre iguales. No puedo tener conformidad con una personalidad obsoleta.
Necesito el diálogo abierto, el olvido de actitudes rígidas Deseo escuchar buenas preguntas y participar en una discusión que cuestiona, que exige evidencia. Gracias al cielo, tenemos la oración que disminuye el ego, que invita a la comprensión, que busca respuestas diferentes a una misma pregunta. No son los estímulos los que condicionan la vida sino nuestra respuesta a ellos.
-¿Qué se puede hacer?
- Mire usted, no hay "recetas". ¿Siente usted, a veces, como un fuego interior que quema su apatía?
-A veces...
- ¡Siéntalo con mayor frecuencia! Permita que ese fuego queme sus pequeñeces, qué destruya su soberbia. ¿Qué es usted: águila o lombriz?
Venga- con su mano agarró mi brazo sin esperar mi respuesta- , vamos a pasear. Mire como cae el sol... Usted es grande, todos lo somos. ¿Lo sabemos, acaso? Vamos a orar en el silencio de la tarde, bajo ese pino centenario.- Pidamos por otras personas, por el mundo, por quienes amamos, por esas personas que necesitan saber lo grandes que pueden ser, si se escuchan a sí mismas.

¿Qué...? ¿Se anima a escuchar?
Foto: Montañas que miran el cielo-sergio.

Versión en Inglés de algunos textos del blog Yoga Contemplación en el Silencio

HOW GREAT AND MAGNIFICENT YOU ARE (lo grande y maravilloso que tú eres)
Open your eyes to Life which contemplates you, from your inner inside, as a little kid, a flower, a little bird do, with humility, eager for wisdom, avoiding disgression and mental fantasy.
Simply… open yourself!, contemplate!...
Percieve, feel, observe, listen ….. in deep silence everything that the Loved one without name has to tell you, and then you will know, without words or forced reasoning, how great and magnificent you are .

DEDICATION
For those who live and suffer in the silence…
For those who, in the silence, ask and wait…
For those who look, in the silence, for the inner Master.

INTRODUCTION
The contemplation in the silence has been practised for centuries by people who wish to get to their inner reality. The contemplative method has been and still is an effective path to get into the introspective silence, to get to our own truths, to our real life …
This blog wants to be a path for prayer on which one can experience the human principle of praying …
First, we will present the text of the book: CONTEMPLATION IN THE SILENCE, published by Ediciones Paulinas and sold out several years ago. It came up as a guide for the cassette of the same name. Both had a great reception and excellent diffusion.
Its methodology was and is simple: to calm down the mind, the emotions, and from the inner silence to connect with the Strenght of Life.
Let’s read what the book says in one of its sections:
“when the contemplative meditator camly observes from their inner inside and discovers, outside and inside, a space of forms, images, ideas, feelings, emotions … which mix causing noise and confussion. Getting to the inner silence and shifting apart from ignorance is to calm that mental racket to realize, which surprise, that we can be in a free, genuine state of peace. At least for a time, the indescribable silence manifests the knowledege, light and sound of the Reality. In that silence calm one really goes off discovering what one is and the real values of the existence. All the visible and invisible forms are simply expressions of the Silence, which transforms. To remove the wandering thoughts while being a witness of the space of silence and vastness is a way of receiving the Master’s teaching.
It is in the peace of the soul when the human being connects with their Creator, beyond the words or the forms.”
Let’s proceed to the reading and the study of this “technique” of mental prayer. For this purpose we have chosen the second edition of the book CONTEMPLATION IN THE SILENCE; part of the text has been reduced and a few corrections have been made in order to facilitate its reading.

WHAT IS THE INNER SILENCE?
When serene and relaxed the practioner attentively contemplates onto the deepness of his/ her introspection, he/she starts to find out inside him/herself a revealing dimension of images, ideas, feelings, emotions, memories and sounds which mix up creating a lively coexistence.
Getting to the inner silence and drifting apart from ignorance is to ease this mental racket so as to realize that it is posible to be in a pure, quiet, free state of peace. Intuition, knowledge, wordless wisdom, light, sound… manifest themselves in that indescribable silence.
In that silent calm you go off finding your real personality and the real values of your life.
All the external appearances are no other than expressions of the creative silence that transforms anyone who gets into it …
To remove, little by little, the incessant movement of your limitations and be a witness of the shapeless silence is to receive, in some sense, a way of teaching from your inner Master.
It is in the silence of our wishes where each person connects with their Light …
Thus, the silence is to be lived carefully, contemplating with love to Whom is beyond words or illusory forms.

HOW TO OPEN OURSELVES TO THE INNER SILENCE (¿cómo abrirnos al silencio interior?)
As the contemplation in the silence is practised, attention turns receptive and balanced. One can feel sensations and feelings without needing to think.
Dualism disappears, neither the observer nor the observed one exists. That calm is Unity …, Light …, Strenght …
We open up to the inner silence when we allow everything to quieten in our inner inside …, being and staying
Witness of what is taking place…
Mind and heart opened, the silence simply comes…

QUESTIONING
That morning the Descalced Carmelite was in a special attitude. He looked vibrant, full of energy, his hazel eyes bright.
-“Listen”- he said in a low voice, “asking oneself, looking for the sincere dialogue, is an obligation for the person implicated in the prayer .Nobody owns the definitive reason. Being aware of this fact diminishes the injustice, the arrogance which is always senseless. What is the point or our prayer if there is no existencial harmony? What is the use of it? For this reason the person who asks oneself invites the others to be better, to create their own judgement.
Our mother (Santa Teresa) was this kind of person. She asked herself and acted according to the dictates of her conscience, to her convictions, being consistent with what she believed. Even when you are praying, you must question, because praying in the silence is looking for a path, a truth that gives meaning to our life on the earth”

THE ART OF THE MENTAL PRAYER (el arte de la oración mental)
Las Batuecas is a natural spot that invites the contemplation and silence. I had already arrived at Las Mestas (Las Hurdes) and the coach on which I had come drove further away quickly, following its route. From there and after a required light snack, I decided to do the kilometres to get to the Monastery and to my admired Descalced Carmelite. It had been raining and the multicolour countryside filled the air with its scents. The road at that time was a track and walking was somewhat hard, but knowing that your were sorrounded by total solitude produced a strong, as well as wonderful feeling. The birds’ song, the huge sun hiding behind the hills, the strong smells and the feeling of being really on my own invited the contemplation. I knew that the Descalced Carmelite was expecting me and I didn’t want to worry him being late for looking at such beautiful, unique landscape.
Finally I arrived at the Monastery and after knocking the door the doorman brother, as nice and affable as usual, opened the entrance to the Monastery.
I was going to be instructed, for a few days, in the art of the mental prayer.

TO LOVE IS TO OVERCOME THE LIMITATIONS
“You put your own limitations” –said the Descalced Carmelite on one occasion
I had deplored to the Carmelite my constant discouragement of certain aspects of the life which I disliked.
He indicated me, as an answer, to get out of the monastery and visit the ruins of the old chapels (many of them very well restored nowadays) in search for the wisdom of the great prayers.
That same afternoon I decided to contemplate to the full the Beauty of Las Batuecas and do as I have been suggested. When I left by the back gate the sun was setting and the silence was so deep. The earth exuded strenght and the sound of the stream calmed down my mind. During my walk in the forest I found a rural track where a flower shone in front of a protector, unconcerned about the beauty of it.
The words that the Carmelite had repeated me time and time again in the morning came into my mind. “Don’t confine yourself by others’ insensitivity, do put beauty, love, tolerance … Be an example, not a critic. You are not superior to that person who is continuously mistaken. Therefore, try to love, from your heart. Behave according to your convictions. You won’t settle the world, neither will I. Therefore let’s try our best to do what we can, asking Providence to help us at all times and to make us sincere with what we think as the honest truth”.
I don’t know if it was the still of the evening or the invisible company of the old hermits, the fact is in that momento I understood what the Carmelite had wanted to give me to understand. To love is to overcome the limitations.

CONVERSATIONS WITH THE DESCALCED CARMELITE
In the cold Sunday afternoons, the descalced carmelite and his pupil walked along the long path that leads to the exit of the monastery. The topics were always the same ones: the mental prayer as a way of inner transformation-“we must not think so much about the things but to fulfill ourselves in love for our neighbour instead. Well in order to contémplate from the silence, you must find a suitable place where you can let calm get through your body and mind. Look!- he added- if you can interrelate with your daily life from your heart, you will be as “our parents” (Juan de la Cruz and Teresa de Àvila) who found with the simplicity of their hearts and the use of the prayer a way to fulfill themselves as persons and in their religious lives . Don’t analise your present life too much, forget the unimportant things, follow the example of those good, honourable people who preceded us, and in some ways redeemed us.”
Listening to the Descalced Carmelite was a total introspection and mental prayer exercise.

THE DESCALCED CARMELITE
The Descalced Carmelite used to say that in order to pray and to contemplate in the silence it was necessary to lift up your mind and feelings with images and words of edifying content, of He insisted that we must not attach importance to thoughts and distractions but focus mind and heart on the present spiritual strenght … He was an example of these words. On some occacions, while praying, he could be seen standing, with his arms opened and lifted, absolutely absorbed in the mental prayer he so much loved...