15 of 18 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
"Be still, and know that I am God". Psalm 46:10., March 27, 2005
This review is from: Silence: How to Find Peace in a Busy World (Hardcover)
Meditation Master and Sage, Christina Feldman, has put together a beautiful and profound book on the art of silence. The many pictures within the book speak the silent language of the heart. Her heartfelt words point us in the direction that all great spiritual sages and mystics have pointed, to the inner room of our heart, the Holy of Holies. From generality to nuance Christina takes us by the heart and leads us into the way of silence. Silence is the universal language spoken by Lao-Tzu, the Buddha, Jesus, and all those other sages and mystics that have spoken to our hearts down through the centuries. Silence is the common denominator of the spiritual life, East and West. Lao-Tzu once said, "The Tao that can be described is not the eternal Tao". Silence was very important to the Master of Paradox, to the "Old Child". The "Buddha" didn't achieve Nirvana until he gave up on the noise of religion and sat down and quietly meditated. Jesus the "Christ" went into the desert for forty-days and forty-nights to meditate and pray in silent solitude. He then changed the history of the world. As Christina states, "Silence lies at the heart of all our great Spiritual traditions. The variety of forms of contemplation, prayer, and meditation meet in their reverence for silence". Silence is golden.
Silence is the sound of one hand clapping. The sound of nonduality. The sound of God. It is both personal and impersonal. Silence is tangible, the bed from which the universal source of being is aroused. There is an intimacy that can only be known and shared in silence. The intimacy of absolute love. It is in quiet solitude that we come to realize that we are never truly alone. Silence is a field where love grows.
"Awe" ('fear' is a poor translation) of the Source of our being is the beginning of wisdom". Proverbs 9:10. Christina quotes from a poem by the Zen Master, Basho, "Speechless before These budding green Spring leaves in blazing sunlight". Again, awe is the beginning of wisdom. Awe is an attraction, fear is a distraction. Zen poetry is a language of the heart. Zen Koans are irrational alarm clocks for waking us from our slumber, from our inattention. Silence is a refuge that offers sanctuary from the hustle and bustle of modern life. The still small voice of God is always near. Silence is a gift that we give ourselves so that we can give ourselves to others. In silence we strip down to our essence. There is a spark of Divinity within each of us. An essence that is a part of the essence of God. The Kingdom of God is a family. In silence we remember our permanent home address. We are part of God, and yet God is other, and in others. Pride would limit God to self. Humility knows otherwise. In silence there is the reconciliation of East and West, of self and other, of self and God.
Christina points out that there are many different paths or ways to silence that we can chose to take. That in the end each of us must learn to travel our own path. As no two snowflakes are exactly the same, no two paths are exactly the same. As they say in Hinduism, "Though truth is One, the Sages know it as Many". Others can give us guidance, but we must make the journey of self-discovery ourselves. The Wizard can't give us anything we don't already have. We must learn to see with the eyes of our heart and discover our own way to stillness if we are to live lives worth living, to live examined lives. "I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened..." Ephesians 1:18. This journey of self-discovery is available to each of us. One such way to enlightenment that Christina points out is to follow one's breath...
I have only scratched the surface of the depths of this book with this review. If I had to limit my library to 10 books, this would be one of them. It is spiritually universal in its scope. A good used hardcover copy can be had for less than $5, though it is well worth its new price.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Silence: How to find Inner Peace in a busy world, May 13, 2006
I found Silence to be a wonderful part of my meditation and self-calming efforts in this all too tense and busy world. It is a beautiful book in its writing and its wonderful pictures. I was instantly calmed when I read the first section, and looked forward to reading more each night before sleep. I am buying copies to gift to my tense friends and family. I plan to reread my copy often. I would highly recommend this peaceful and beautifully written book to anyone seeking calmness and peace in their lives.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A worthwhile keepsake, April 19, 2006
This review is from: Silence: How to Find Peace in a Busy World (Hardcover)
It took me several turns of heart before I bought this book, and all because this book costs SGD 60.27 at Kinokuniya Singapore. It was clinged wrapped at first and I had the service people opened it for me. The cover was a simple jacket of gold with the words "silence" in striking gold. The subtitle and the author's name appear in white. As silent as the subject of the book, the cover design is simple and freeing - full of space. I was struck (as with all coffee table book) by the quality of printing, the paper quality and the quality of the pictures. I discover at the point of writing this review that the book was printed and bound by a printer in Singapore. It was typeset and laid out in graphic style, not like the normal print of a book.
The author writes about silence as observed by different traditions and religions. I find, however, after reading the whole book, that the slant is somewhat towards Buddhism (not that this bothers me). Pictures of Buddhist monks featured in many instances in the book. What erks me is the deliberate large print of some of the words in each page of the book. I guess the author was trying to highlight words that are associated with silence, peace and love but where I first thought that the large print made the typesetting graphical, after a while I got distracted on occasions by the jarring big and bold words. I was also distracted by sentences and quotes that are set in landscape format and in faint font all over the book.
In all fairness, I did enjoy the book and I could resonate with some words of wisdom that the author wrote. For example, "Silence is what frees us to listen well, to live with authenticity and discover wholeness within ourselves." "The joy of silence teaches us to be more generous, caring and sensitive." Having myself experienced the rewards and joys of keeping silent moments in each day, I found myself nodding with approval and consensus with the author that indeed it is in silence that we learn about ourselves, and if we respond to change ourselves first, then love will be manifested through us and love will reach other people.
This book, costly no doubt, is one worthwhile keepsake and a beautiful one to line my bookshelf. Looking at the pictures in the book give me different perspectives of silence and how simple objects can be viewed creatively so one sees God alive in them.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
