Hymn to Silence and Surrender - 1

There are not many truths, there is one truth, and that truth is Silence. All truths come from Silence. All truths exist as Silence. All truths return to Silence. So there is only one truth, and it is Silence. Silence is behind every holy thought, behind every holy word, behind every holy act. All holiness is Silent.

Enter Silence, and you will see the world that God created. Enter Silence, and you will see that you are that God, the creator. Enter Silence, and you will see that you are that world, the created. God, the world, and you are one and the same in Silence.

This is what all sages know and say: enter Silence, and leave yourself behind in the rubble of thoughts, time and death. Enter Silence, and become the creator and the created. Enter Silence, and life is suddenly real — beautiful and perfect in each curve and angle.

This is called awakening, awakening into truth.

How does one awaken into truth and Silence? Surrender. And how does one surrender? By giving everything away. Everything.

Giving everything away, we enter the world of Silence, the temple of truth, and know that the creator and the created are one, and we are that one. But we must give everything away, everything must be given away. We have to give away our huge inventory of unreleased thoughts and beliefs, our undigested experiences, our past and our future — even our present must be given away. We give away our disappointments and sorrows. We give away our joys. Yes, even our joys. Nothing can remain. Everything must be given away. We must empty our storehouses and warehouses of past, present, and future, of self and no-self, of cherished beliefs, of fears and anxieties — and then burn them down so nothing can ever accumulate again.

By giving everything away, by letting everything go as soon as they occur, we return to clarity, to freedom, to eternal openness. This is called living in Silence. We give everything away that can be given away, and then we give more.

Give away meaning and purpose, give away happiness. Give away morality, ethics, commandments… dog ma, rhetoric, churches and temples, give everything back to Silence. Give all to Silence. For it is in Silence that God is working, in Silence God is playing, in Silence God is loving. In Silence, it is we who become that God, working, playing, loving. This is called awakening to truth.