Shut out, shut up and shut down.  What will we do to achieve a few minutes of silence? 
I suppose the real question is; ‘what will most of us do to avoid a few minutes of silence?’

We have all heard the litany of cell phones, radios, ipods, TVs … the list is long and most of us are searching yet for other ways to infiltrate the hinterlands of silence that haunt our periphery. 

Well I’m here to let you know there is another way; inexpensive and effective, and better yet you are probably using it in a number of ways in your life already.  What is it?  It’s drama, yes if we keep busy enough we don’t need any technological devices to block out that noisy inner silence. 
The greatest challenge most people have with meditation is listening to the noise.  Listening to the cacophony of thoughts that come rushing to the fore the moment their eyes are closed; or in some cases the moment the thought of sitting silently comes in.  Thoughts of every possible scenario of hurtful action and intention seem to surface from nowhere.  Stories we never knew we had playing come to light; about the intentions of the driver who cut us off, of our family members who have neglected to contact us for the last six weeks.  Our bosses, our colleagues, coworkers… again the chatter comes from nowhere and goes on forever.  For most people there is no such thing as silence. Any moment will bring on the chatter, it’s normal and because it reveals all our dark and petty thoughts and feelings it is supremely uncomfortable.  After all most of us would prefer to think of ourselves as good honest loving people; but these hidden thoughts tell a different story.

So what do we do?  We get busy, we create drama, and we seek thrills because when we are on the edge the voices go quiet.  And that silence, an easy imitation of bliss, is addicting.  Whether we get it from skydiving, cheating on our spouses, gambling or fighting wars it is the same, the silence of a little human being totally focused on survival for just a few minutes.  It is so very seductive. 

And typically that need to avoid the inner voices; that need for the edge, will drive the addictive personality further and further into the realm of the extreme.  Because it continually takes more to take us to the edge, whether we are using alcohol or parachuting.

And we are taught at such a young age.  We are taught to dislike and fear the silence. The modern society has adapted the ‘time out’ as the punishment, and doesn’t it just make sense.  If we don’t like to be alone with our guilty dark thoughts then it must follow in our twisted human logic that our children will be terrified.  Double programming, we give our children exactly what we seek most to avoid ourselves, giving ourselves and our children the subtle message that quiet is to be avoided.