The practice of silence is giving your full attention and feeling and thoroughly enjoying each natural (uncontrolled) breath in and breathe out. You do not need to intervene with your breath because it moves. It is enough for you to pay attention to the natural breath with your mind. If you pay attention to the breath, you will be able to feel the breath. When you can feel it, you can enjoy it. And, those who can enjoy their breath means they are fully aware of it. Realize that in the breath, there is pure love, the Almighty God, the Most Powerful God, who bestows His life energy in every breath. You are being enlivened as a human being and receiving blessings constantly through that breath.
Practicing silence means being aware of the pure love of God in every inhalation and exhalation of breath, which encourages us to always be grateful and express our gratitude throughout each breath. Silence means keeping our thoughts in the present moment, recognizing the real blessings, and not letting our minds wander to the past or the future. Focusing on the present moment does not mean forced concentration, as focus will naturally arise after we go through the process of enjoying our breath.
Silence is a way of realizing that at the end of natural breath, in the depths of our hearts, there is the source of the purest love, and there the throne of the Highest Self resides. This is God, who becomes the essence of each being.
In simple terms, “Where do we seek God?” The answer is in your heart. This is what it means. Find the real God in every breath you inhale and exhale.
If you inhale and exhale naturally, at the end of each breath you will surely be able to find vibrations of happiness, peace, and a deep sense of compassion. This is an indication that there is a Divine presence within you. And this is how your thoughts, which are based in the brain, can connect with an instrument of Divine consciousness and intelligence within you, called the Divine Sense. The bridge is our breath, specifically our awareness of our breath. If we can feel our breath, we will be able to feel that which is subtler than the breath. The instrument that can feel the subtler is the Divine Sense. It provides information to the brain so that we, with our physical consciousness, can understand what is happening and at the same time understand the existence of the Highest Self.
In silence, the Highest Self is authentic, not just a concept. So, it is ridiculous when people say that the Highest Self is just a concept; it means that they have never experienced silence because everything I have said is an authentic experience.
Silence means to be fully aware of body, soul, mind, the Divine Sense, the Highest Self, and God, who encompasses all existence. Silence does not mean quiet; you have to cover your ears. Silence is about being aware of all so that silence can be practiced anywhere, even in a crowded market. When I am in a hotel, enjoying the restaurant atmosphere, and on the roof of the hotel with loud music, I can be in silence because I can appreciate that moment as a moment of beauty and majesty. I stay connected to the Highest Self, who is enthroned in the depths of the heart. I enjoy the real happiness that rises from the depths of my heart. This is what I teach.
Formal and Informal Silence
Silence is practiced through formal meditation. Meditation is the act of being fully aware. Traditional meditation means you do nothing else except the meditation itself, either sitting or lying down. We are only fully aware of the breath, aware of the connection with the Highest Self, not doing anything else. We can sit still or lie down. This is an exercise that must be undertaken so that we are trained to be in silence, able to relax deeply; our brain waves are getting softer, to enter experiencing the reality within ourselves.
The following practice is informal meditation or what is known as mindfulness. When walking, working in the office, in the market, or wherever you are, you are enjoying all those moments, enjoying your breath, and you are still connected to your Highest Self.
If you practice silence in formal and informal meditation diligently, with good quality, do a profound silence that will allow you to access the purifying power that originates from the depths of your hearts, the Highest Self. That power will make you experience soul purification.
While learning, I diligently trained myself in formal and informal meditation. Then, because I realized I needed to purify myself, I did everything that made it happen. In a day, I did formal meditation many times. I practice silence as much as possible, anytime and anywhere.
The fact is, those who have learned to meditate with me have been unable to be silent. Many have closed their eyes, some can even take half an hour, but it is not silence. This is because their minds are tense. They want to concentrate on something (called: spaneng), or their minds wander here and there (wild mind). If we measure the quality of silence, it is shallow. Therefore, we use a scale on silence quality, with the range such as 1%, 2%, 5%, 10%, and so on, to simplify the learning process in the Fraternity of Pure Light. If you are tense, it means that you are not calm yet, indicated by the range of 1%, or even as low as 0.5%. Most people, in general, are at around 0.1%, because they are busy with their wild thoughts. With such a low score, how can you access the Divine Sense within? You cannot. If the silence quality is only at 1%, you cannot experience total purification.
First, you need to raise the quality of silence to purify yourself. Learn to enjoy the breath until you relax. Relaxing is just the gate. Relax is indicated by a silence quality of 5%, meaning it starts from good but is not optimal. If you want to go deeper, keep enjoying the breath. And the minimum standard of silence is 10%, meaning that the brain waves go to the Alpha point. Deep relaxation allows you to feel the living energy flowing within you, feeling connected to your Highest Self. This opens the energy access as broadly as possible for the divine power within to surface and purify your soul and body. If you can only reach this point, the self-purification process will run much more optimally. And the quality of silence becomes progressively higher by 15%, 20%, 30%, and so on. That is the point where the purification process will run optimally.
You must pass this course to progress. Even if you have lots of theories, and your head is full of data or knowledge, your soul is not purified, and you are not transformed. So, firstly, you have to complete the most fundamental course on silence.
Understand silence, and then practice it correctly. Therefore, mentors and leaders are provided in the Fraternity of Pure Light to guide you intensively so you can truly be silent. Those who have truly achieved silence will undergo purification. Those who initially had deep emotional wounds will be healed, and those who were once angry with their parents will be able to forgive with the divine power within them.
Those who have greedy and selfish tendencies will become humble and selfless, fully surrendering themselves and filled with love. The way to do this is by connecting to the Source of Life so that the quality of the Highest Self fills our minds and underlies every word and action.
How can we free ourselves from the grip of darkness?
Not by pretending to be silent and saying, “We will defeat the power of darkness.” That’s not the way.
We need to completely surrender and realize, “Lord, with Your Power, everything is aligned. Let the existence that hinders the growth of the soul be returned to its original state. And harmonized–brought to a higher dimension of consciousness with love.”
Total surrender that will purify our body and souls.
How can we be free from sin?
Through the love of the Lord that manifests as the sacred divine fire that arises through silence. If you do not complete this course, you will not level up.
Setyo Hajar Dewantoro
Special Webinar Series
The Teaching of the Fraternity of Pure Light for the Perfection of the Soul Series 1
August 14th, 2022
