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This does not mean the ability to think a thought has ended, but rather that the involuntary dialog has stopped. Any thoughts that occur in this state come directly from the oneness of pure being – – the unified field of universal intelligence. The quality of these thoughts is unsurpassed. They are deep, crystal clear, tremendously intelligent, profoundly loving, and uncannily accurate. They are undistorted by any mental noise or any emotional turbulence. And they are surrounded by a beautiful context of blissful silence.

Thoughts in the unenlightened state are like random voices and noise in a crowd of 100,000 people; whereas thoughts in the enlightened state are like a beautiful eagle flying through an all clear blue sky. Whole volumes have been transcribed from the talks of enlightened masters about the power and quality of thoughts in the enlightened state, but suffice it to say here, when the involuntary inner dialog has stopped and been replaced by an all-pervading silence that continues 24 hours a day, one can know that an important sign of the enlightened state has appeared.

A well-known trait of the unenlightened state is the existential ignorance of Who One Is. “Self” spelled with a capital “S” normally refers to the single oneness of divine identity present in all beings in creation. That is why the first stage of enlightenment has been called Self Realization. One begins to experientially Know that his or her identity was erroneously assigned to the body-mind and ego, and that that was an illusion.

The direct Knowing that awakens in the enlightened state is that there actually has never been any “self”. This means there has never been any separate or distinct entity or separate identity limited to a name and a form. The conflicts between people throughout history are all traced to this one mistake in self-identification.

So being, when this misidentification ends, it constitutes another triumphant sign that the enlightened state is dawning. That is why it is very common to hear newly enlightened people say “I no longer consider myself to be a person.” And that is why one of the maxims of the Oracle of Delphi is “Know Thyself”. 

But that is not true silence. That is only the temporary cessation of outer noise – – what could be called a dead silence. The inner mind goes on with its frantic and crazy firing of neurons.

As consciousness expands and evolves, though, people find quietness more and more appealing. They increasingly favor soft music, soft speech, quietness in the workplace, quietness at home, and solitude outdoors in nature. Their minds are quieter, and they find the pleasure of this to be far more enjoyable.

When the day comes that consciousness has awakened to the infinite pure being – – the unified field of enlightenment, there dawns a feeling of all-pervading inner silence whose bliss is unprecedented and unimaginable. This is the inner silence that continues even during dynamic activity and outer noise.

The subjective experience is universally one of tremendous silence – – a silence that some have called “loud” – – loud in the sense that the blissful feeling of the silence is so powerful that it dominates one’s moment to moment experience. Any sounds heard in the environment are secondary to this beautiful inner silence.

It is in this magnificent endless silence that one’s “third ear” comes alive. One begins to hear subtleties never before heard, such as the divine inner “still small voice”, and even the ecstatic hum of creation, symbolized for millennia by the syllable “Om” or “Aum”.

The reason for this beautiful ongoing state of experience is the awakening to what has always been and what will always be – – the infinite sea of pure bliss consciousness. This is the unified field, which in its transcendental nature, is endowed with stillness. It is a state of zero activity. It is the source of all consciousness in existence. It is above and beyond sound and visuals; it is beyond name and form; it is beyond time and space; and it is beyond thought and concept. Yet it is very real. In fact, everyone who has experienced it has considered it to be the ultimate reality, subject to which every other realm is a lesser reality.

In Sanskrit it is known as Satchitananda. “Sat” means “ultimate reality” or “truth”. “Chit” means pure awareness; and “Ananda” means bliss. Self Realization, the first stage of enlightenment, is characterized by a constant experiential feeling of this unboundedness of awareness, emanating out of silence . . . endowed with silence . . . and returning to silence. It is a smiling, superconscious, presence of living silence.