Course XVI - Teaching 13: Inner Solitude
A Son that desires peace and quietness finds a source of continuous sorrow in the atmosphere of a city. Then he looks at the sky in quest of the Divine Master, and finally confesses sorrowfully:
“Master of mine, take me out of this whirlpool where I am living. The noise of the world is deafening me. Continuously I look for a peaceful place and a moment of silence, but I find only disorder around.”
“Take me where I can be totally devoted to You, in silence and prayer. I yearn for solitude, so that I may turn all my being to God. Here, amid the turmoil of the world, everything is confusion. As soon as I get up, during my work and rest, the whole day, everything becomes a permanent run, a ceaseless shift outwards. I have to hear vain talks of men, to bear a surge of passions, and to keel vigil every moment not to be dragged by this passivity and these desires.”
“Do not see my soul drowned in this tremendous thickness? Take me to the solitude, to the open air and clear atmosphere of nature that man did not stain. There I can progress on the path. Far away from human noises and voices, I can find my Path; help me, beloved Master; I need this so much!”
The Divine Masters listens with loving understanding this request of the soul, and replies:
“Soul of Mine, I understand your sorrow and bless your holy yearnings. I know how awful is to live amid maddened by their ambition, and toys of their desires. But, My Son, know this, also you can go forward there.”
“Do not give ear to deceitful voices from outside; follow Me, retreated in your own heart, toward a true self-knowledge.”
“Do not feel you may find yourself and know your true vocation by staying on a distant wilderness, a deep valley, or a solitary place.”
“You shall be with Me not only by moving away from the world; also I dwell in your quiet conscience, in your calm mind, in your detached soul and in your senses wisely controlled: I am perfect solitude.”
“If you look for Me, you can find Me at home, at your job, and amid noises of the city and human turmoil.”
“Oh soul, you shall not find true solitude by escaping from men (as I told), but in your own heart. You are deafened not by noises of the world, but by lack of silence within. Sink yourself in your own being. So, at your intimate call, you shall hear the Divine Voice, and find true peace. You shall take this peace with you wherever you go; it shall be shed on men as a divine balsam. Because then, the God’s fullness shall not be tranquility of human silence but true peace.”
“My Son, ceaselessly look for the waters of your own heart, that is to say, the Source of Silence, where you shall find the Incarnate Word.”
And the Son listens quite attentively his Beloved Divine One’s Voice and starts discovering this wonderful spring that flows in the innermost hidden place of his being and has to lead him to the very Eternity.
