What Silence Holds

In this dharma talk following Upaya's Winter Practice Period, Sensei Fushin explores silence not as absence but as presence itself—"our own true nature looking back at us." Through his work as a family law attorney and former Chaplain intern, he reveals three moments when silence showed its active power: In his conference room after a disappointing court ruling, twenty-five seconds of excruciating silence became an active force "doing something"—allowing his client to metabolize grief and find her own truth. At a child's deathbed in the PICU, standing wordlessly with grieving parents, he witnessed how silence becomes "the deepest care we can offer." And during his own 30-day silent retreat, he discovered that "silence holds the noise" rather than existing after we quiet our minds. Through stories from predawn New Mexico mornings and a Trappist monastery where monks' knees striking stone "arose from silence and returned to silence," Fushin illuminates how silence is not something we achieve but what we are—the awareness in which thoughts, breaths, and sounds appear and dissolve. Drawing on Roshi's recent winter solstice teaching, he distinguishes between mindfulness (cultivated attention) and awareness (the ever-present ground itself), inviting practitioners not to escape into silence but to become "the silence that engages the world completely." Echoing Mahakashyapa's wordless transmission at the flower sermon, he concludes: "What we need is silence that hears, allows truth to emerge, and embraces suffering without turning away. This is our practice and our vow." Please enjoy online practice and teachings from Upaya Zen Center. NEW! Join our zendo for daily practice on zoom: https://www.upaya.org/program/zazen/ If you wish to offer dana (generosity), please go here to donate: https://www.upaya.org/giving/dana-for... Upaya is a Buddhist residential contemplative community in Santa Fe, New Mexico. We offer daily Zen meditation, weekly Dharma Talks, and programs on Buddhist teachings, Buddhist art, contemplative science, and social engagement. Learn more at www.upaya.org Full Programs Schedule: https://www.upaya.org/live-programs/ Wisdom Library: https://www.upaya.org/wisdom-library/ Ways to Give: https://www.upaya.org/giving/ Become a Member of Upaya: https://www.upaya.org/membership-info/