Not All Silence is Sacred

The peace many speak of is relative—peace versus turmoil in their outer expression.But peace isn't always peaceful.

Today I was listening to Childhood’s End, a hauntingly beautiful novel by Arthur C. Clarke. In it, an alien race arrives—not to conquer, but to uplift humanity into a new era. They come in peace, and they mean it. But as I listened, I began to wonder: Is peace still peace when it is imposed from the outside?

Sometimes, peace looks like order, but order isn’t always life-affirming.

Sometimes, peace sounds like silence, but not all silence is sacred.

Clarke’s story stirred something in me. It challenged the comforting idea that peace is always the goal. It made me think about what happens when peace comes at the expense of something deeper—our spirit, our creativity, our freedom to choose, to struggle, to grow.

In spiritual teachings across traditions, peace is not always gentle.

Krishna delivers his teachings on a battlefield.

Christ speaks of a sword that divides illusion from truth.¹

The Buddha teaches peace of mind through discipline and inner awareness.

The Dalai Lama reminds us:

“True peace with oneself and with the world around us can only be achieved through the development of mental peace.”²

And Alice Bailey reminds us that real peace cannot be built on ideology, separation, or self-interest.³

So again I ask:

What kind of peace do we really want?

Is it the kind that keeps us comfortable? Or the kind that calls us deeper—into wholeness, into honesty, into our shared becoming?

Real peace—living peace—begins here. In this breath. In this body.In the willingness to release what isn’t yours and return to the truth of who you are.

🕊️ A Peace Meditation: Grounded, Clear, and Radiant

Close your eyes and take three slow, cleansing breaths.

Inhale…

Exhale…

Feel the body begin to soften.

Again…

Exhale… releasing what isn’t needed.

One more…

And exhale into presence.

🌍 Now, imagine grounding yourself to the center of the Earth.

From the base of your spine, your first chakra, see a wide grounding cord extending downward. This cord is strong—snug around your hips—anchoring you deeply into the Earth. Watch it travel all the way down… to the very center… where it locks in and holds.

Now, tell your grounding cord:

“Set for release.”This tells your body it’s safe to let go.

Let anything that doesn’t belong to you—old energy, stress, thoughts, tension—drain gently down your grounding tube.

The Earth knows what to do with it. It recycles energy for a better purpose.

Holding on helps no one.

Releasing… helps everyone.

🕯 Now bring your awareness to the center of your head—right near your pineal gland.

This is your place of inner vision… your sacred space of neutrality.

At the bottom of this space, there’s a small trap door.

Open it.

And let anything that’s not yours fall effortlessly down your grounding cord.

Feel how still it becomes here…This is the home of “I”—your essence of being.

And here, in neutrality, you remember who you are.

☀️ Now, above your head, see a radiant golden sun—big, bright, and filled with spiritual light.

Inside it, place your affirmation:

“I am the way. I am the light. I am peaceful in being.”

Bring that golden sun down… into your head, your chest, your whole body.

Let it fill every cell with light…With peace…With radiant presence.

Breathe it in.

Exhale gently.

And rest in this space that belongs only to you.

✨ Epilogue

“You find peace not by rearranging the circumstances of your life, but by realizing who you are at the deepest level.”— Eckhart Tolle⁴

Let this be the peace we seek—not one that sedates or silences, but one that heals, integrates, and invites us into the deeper stillness of being.

Footnotes

¹ Matthew 10:34–36 — In this passage, Christ speaks of bringing “not peace but a sword,” symbolizing the inner and outer disruptions that can arise when one follows truth. It is a call to spiritual clarity, not conflict.

² From the Dalai Lama’s Nobel Peace Prize Lecture, 1989 — This quote emphasizes that cultivating inner peace is essential to bringing about peace in the external world.

³ From The Externalisation of the Hierarchy by Alice A. Bailey — She writes that true peace must be rooted in the will-to-good, the dissolution of separateness, and the recognition of the soul in all beings. It is not found in nationalism, ideology, or control, but in right human relations.

⁴ This quote encapsulates the core message of Eckhart Tolle's teachings on inner peace and self-realization, themes prominently featured in his book Stillness Speaks.