Do you insist on silence when you “sit in the silence”?  What a funny question.  This term, of course, is another way to speak of meditation.  Must the space in which you sit be free of distractions?  It is preferable, but at times challenging to achieve.  A dog barks.  A vehicle passes nearby.  A phone rings.  A person coughs.  Do you lose your peace?  Not at all.  With a gentle smile you give thanks for these opportunities to find the silence not in the space in which you sit, but in the space within you.

These distractions mirror what is going on in the mind.  There will always be noise, but you are sitting to expand the space and become aware of the vast spaciousness that is you.  There is room within for all that is, all that arises.  You find this space by allowing distractions and discovering that beyond the distractions, the space never changes.  Peace always lies in this changeless place.  Bark.  Clatter.  Cough.  Can you find the peace?