Love the Questions

"Be patient toward all that is unsolved in your heart and try to love the questions themselves, like locked rooms and like books that are now written in a very foreign tongue. Do not now seek the answers, which cannot be given you because you would not be able to live them. And the point is, to live everything. Live the questions now. Perhaps you will then gradually, without noticing it, live along some distant day into the answer. " 
Rainer Maria Rilke


Learning to love questions instead of just seeking contantly for answers is something we can all grow at.  One way to learn to live with the questions is to pick a question that is currently troubling you or one that has no clear answer.  Then find some time and space to sit quietly.  Begin by focusing on your breath.  After a few calming breaths begin to say the same question to yourself with each breath in.  With each breath out simply wait.  Do this at least 10 times, if not many more.  On the breath out do not expect an "answer" to the question (although some people do find an answer here), rather wait.....for prehaps a physical response (tension?), awareness, feeling, or calmness about the question.  Be open and curious to see what happens.  Wait....wait.

Ok, now I know you are about to go on and click on another post or website.  Stop for just 3 mintues and try this.  See if it might not help you to live the question now.  It may help you some distant day to live along into the answer.

Silence

Sound imposes a narrative on you...and it’s always someone else’s narrative...The pursuit of silence, likewise, is dissimilar from most other pursuits in that it generally begins with a surrender of the chase, the abandonment of efforts to impose our will and vision on the world. Not only is it about standing still; with rare exceptions, the pursuit of silence seems initially to involve a step backward from the tussle of life… [I]t’s as though, as a culture, we’ve learned to ‘mind the gaps’ so well that they’ve all but disappeared. We live in an age of incessancy, under the banner of the already heard and forgotten. - George Prochnik (from In Pursuit of Silence)

I encourage you to take a few moments of silence today.  As much as possible turn off the sounds (like the TV) around you.  For sounds you can't control, just notice and accept them.  Sit (or lie down).  Just notice your breath, yourself, and the world around you.  Perhaps you have only one minute to do this today.  Perhaps you have 20 minutes.  No matter how much time you have, be in the moment for that time.  If thoughts about the past or the future distract you, acknowledge them and let them go.  If you become critical of yourself (like ....  why am I so distracted?) or others (like.... why can't he be quiet for 5 minutes), notice these judgements as well and them let them go.  Pursue simply silence and peace....surrender the chase...step back from the tussle..breathe....  now .... enjoy life....