Witnessing in Silence
Dear All,
I share these words with you in love, in the hope that they may serve as a loving and gentle reminder to remember what is truly important in life, in your life.
One morning, on what felt like a Spring day in disguise, which had been making its appearance during the Winter, I was walking towards home until my attention was beckoned by a majestic tree. A tree that I have passed by several times a day for years during my daily walks. Suddenly I was beckoned because this tree was brightly illuminated by the warm light of the morning sun and therefore stood out in contrast against the clear blue sky. I stood still, looked at this tree and realized that this tree has been firmly rooted here for decades. This tree has been here in this place for much longer than I have been living in its environment, in fact, there is a good chance that this tree has been here for longer than I have been in this form in the world at all. I realised that during my life, in which I was introduced to the world, in which I took my first steps as a child, in which I was allowed to grow up with my parents, went to school and tried to find my way in this enchanting world , this tree has stood here all this time…steady and silent. That while the world has seen all kinds of twists and turns, of large-scale changes, of disasters and wars, of beauty and joy, this tree has stood here…steady and silent. That while there were people all over the world celebrating life, singing for it, crying for it, dancing for it, fighting for it, running from it, laughing about it, this tree has stood here…steady and silent.
In the encounter with this realisation I found such enormous beauty, that no matter what happened in the world, this tree has stood solid and silent here, this tree has been a silent witness to life. I realised that being silent is not the same as being passive, but is actually about participating in the world because silence requires that you become so receptive that you can fully allow the world to come into that silence. Silence does not actually have to do with just the absence of sound, but is an inner place that you can touch when you open yourself up to the way the world speaks to you. To me, a tree does not feel passive but like an animated being that truly views the world like no other and embraces it without judgment.
“Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and right-doing there is a field. I’ll meet you there.”
We often think, with emphasis on thinking, that we know “how the world works” simply because we are aware of all kinds of current events, but the reality is that we are rarely actually in contact with this world. Receiving information is not the same as actually encountering what the information speaks about. Yet, we tend to form opinions on issues that we have not actually encountered other than consuming the information. In an encounter there is always the opportunity to find something, you discover something that wishes to be found, you might say. This requires us to have an open attitude of “not knowing” because we do not actually know what or where the encounter is leading us. But, often, the moment that we form our opinion in advance about 'something' is not the moment when we actually "encounter" the thing we are judging about, but actually the moment when we "lose" the opportunity for a true encounter. Understand, you cannot meet everything, but that is precisely one of the bigger issues of our time. Because we receive information about everything, we are (often unconsciously) inclined to form our opinion about everything without actually being able to live through a situation or issue from our own experience. This can leave us with a sense of hopelessness where we are powerless to actually “do” or “change” anything. Never before in the history of human experience have we been better informed about everything that is going on anywhere in the world, and I dare say that never before have so many people experienced the feeling that they are powerless to respond to this same world where so much happens.
What we can learn from trees is the power of being a silent witness. A tree teaches us that it is enormously reassuring to give yourself permission to become a silent witness and consciously try to welcome the world with an open attitude, to have fewer opinions about other people, current affairs or certain issues but just simply meet the world. We don't have to 'judge' half of what we think, but we can try to encounter the world as openly as possible. A tree is an excellent teacher for us in how to encounter the world, because a tree does not look away, a tree always bears witness in life to everything that happens, but does this in the silence, does this in an open encounter with the world.
This tree, which I walk past daily, reminded me of the power of being a silent witness, not isolating yourself or being passive, but rather having an active and receptive attitude to encounter the world without judgment.
In love and reverence, sven
