Rumi, the famous poet and sufi mystic, once wrote the following verse, « Love said to me: there is nothing that is not me. Be silent. »
What did he mean by this? He points to a very simple and beautiful truth. But to realize it, a few things must be understood first.
Silence is not the absence of speech or the absence of noise. It is not even the absence of thoughts.
Certainly, if you can be in a place away from noise it will help in the beginning.
Certainly, if you are a yogi or if you have been practicing mindfulness-like meditation techniques, it will speed the process.
But many people each day are in silent places and never realize silence.
Many buddhist monks meditate all day for years, and what do they achieve? Their minds become disciplined, that is all.
And what is a disciplined mind but a dead mind? You will see it in their eyes. You will perceive it in their energy.
What is truly meant by silence is the recognition that all that exists arises in silence, in nothingness, in emptiness, without affecting it whatsoever. Just like clouds can never affect the sky.
Everything that appears, appears in silence. Even when the appearance is someone screaming at you, or some thought with a seemingly unbreakable momentum is seeking attention.
So, why did Rumi write that it is Love that said to him to be silent, and that there is nothing that is not Love?
Because when this primordial silence is recognized, the by-product of this is indiscriminate Love for all, causeless joy, bliss, ecstasy.
It is only if you want to get something from the world of forms that you discriminate between this experience and that experience, between thought and thoughtlessness.
If you remain silent, centered, aware of awareness, everything that appears is seen as it truly is: an emanation of Love. Therefore, the answer will be to radiate Love back.
And this answer will take many forms too, but internally, it will feel utterly blissful and selfless. Some great teachers have called this mirror consciousness because you become indeed just like a mirror.