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When you are feeling lonely . . . The Silent Companion · Spiritual Sense: Practical wisdom to quiet an overthinking mind and recharge your soul

• 0:00
  Speaker A: Do you ever feel lonely and like you're looking for some deeper connection? Even though you have thousands of friends online and all these different, you know, followers or friends on these different social media platform people on your phone you could text or call up, but you still feel like you need something more than that? Well, if you do, then today's episode, we're diving into how to connect with the silent companion, the spiritual one, the highest of all beings, the. The one who is our real deeper friend who can help us even under any situation when. When no one else and nothing else is working. There's that deeper care and support. That's what we're getting into today. So welcome, welcome, welcome. Hello, Shereen. Blessings.
• 0:51
  Speaker B: Blessings to you too, Brother Michael. How are you?
• 0:55
  Speaker A: I'm doing good. I'm doing good. So what inspired this episode? Why is this so important?
• 1:03
  Speaker B: I've been thinking about this. I've been thinking about the. Someone was telling me that they. There are all these women who want to get back into the dating pool and they have trust issues and they have to learn to trust to date again and all of that, thinking, oh, my God, that's such a bad idea. The bad idea is not the dating or all of that. The bad idea is not healing before you really, you know, go out there to get knocked out again.
• 1:42
  Speaker A: And so doesn't have particularly high, high vision of this whole situation.
• 1:50
  Speaker B: I mean, you know what I was thinking? You know what I was thinking when she was talking to me? You know what I was thinking? I was thinking there's a vicious cycle going on. People scroll and get into bad relationships, get out of bad relationships and scroll some more. That's the life these days. Whatever else they're doing right. This is what defines life. Scroll relationships, scroll. Bad relationships. Scroll, get into relationship, scroll in relationships. That's what they do. And so why are they doing that? Why are they doing well?
• 2:26
  Speaker A: It's because there's a need, a need for connection in this.
• 2:29
  Speaker B: Yeah, need for connection. There is something deep inside that people are really struggling and that is what we are going to address in this episode.
• 2:39
  Speaker A: Yeah, it's because it's not like there's anything, any. Any behavior, strange as it might be, whether it's an addictive behavior or getting into bad relationships and getting out of them, whatever it is, or eating too much food or whatever it is, there's a need in the soul that's not being fulfilled. And. And then we're thinking, how can I get my needs met in various different ways? And I've been Thinking a lot about this recently. Everyone knows about the two wolves, right? There's the good wolf and the bad wolf. But what people don't normally think about is that both wolves are trying to solve the problem. It's just that the bad wolf has the quick and easy fixes for the problem that end up causing all kinds of trouble. And the good wolf has a real solution to the problem, you know, so, like, if I'm feeling, for example, lonely, I can get involved in all kinds of stuff to try and deal with that. Or I can distract myself and watch movies all day or something to try and overcome it. Or I can, like, be with myself and connect with the real The. The being who can really heal and soothe my heart, right? They're both solutions. And one wolf's going to get me to go in one direction and the other is going to get me to go in another direction. And I remember having an experience many years ago when I'd been. I think I've been doing meditation probably for about, I don't know, five years or something like that. And I was going through a very difficult time in my life because of various situations that I was struggling with. And I. And a lot of friends of mine were sort of moved away. And I felt like I was all alone, actually. So I kind of felt like my. The people in my life weren't there for me, so I. So I felt very lonely. And I remember lying on my bed feeling very disturbed, actually, like very sort of like outcast. And like. Like I was on my own. And I remember I was lying there. I had this strange experience where, you know, what's that game where you flick over? There's all these heads, all these people, and you say, is it the guy with the mustache or whatever it is, right? You know what I'm talking about. There's a game and you say, does he have. It's called. I can't remember the name. I'm sure people watching this know there's all these faces right? On this plastic thing, and you pull them all up and then you knock them down. And anyway, there's loads and loads of faces, but I basically saw in my mind this long line of people's faces, right? Like, if you can imagine all the people on your phone and if you were to go through the whole list, right? And so I kind of did that unconsciously in my mind, and I saw all the people I know right in my mind, and it's like one after the other, they all just fell down. It's like, because I was trying to get some sort of support from somebody and I. So I saw a face and I was like, it's not going to do anything for me. And it fell down. And then the next face, and it fell down, Next one, next one, next one. And it went on this really, really, really long line. And none of them felt comforting to me. And then when the final one dropped, at the very end of the line was this point of light that was actually nourishing. I. I was like, after this whole line, then came this loving being who could heal my heart. And that was. That was a very, very touching experience because. Because I realized, like, when it comes down to it, it comes back down to God remembering God.
• 6:19
  Speaker B: And, and God is available, actually. God being a silent companion that's available to us
• 6:29
  Speaker A: and available in a way that no one else can. Because there's people like you could talk to and people come cheer us up and people can, you know, it's not like there's no point talking to anyone. But even if you imagine this now, like, if you went through your whole list of all your contacts on your phone, on WhatsApp, on, you know, all the social media accounts, in the end, there's no one that's quite like the one.
• 6:54
  Speaker B: And the mistake we are making is we are looking for that one in a human being, right? And. Or connection in the next scroll or connecting with a human being, oh, they should cherish me. They should. This be one person, blah, blah, blah, right? Like the myth that we are fed. And what I've noticed is that to have that many expectations of a human being is really our, our mistake. Because human beings have ups and downs and they have their own thing going, right? They have their own stuff going on. And, you know, like, if I go to fire and my finger is burning and I go to fire and I put my hand in the fire and say, cool me. The fire is not going to cool me. Is it the fire's fault that I go put my hand in there and say, cool me? No. Right? So if I'm expecting. If I have all of these expectations of human beings and expecting them to behave like God, that's like my thing, my mistake. And so we need to really understand that no human being can really be there completely for us all the time. And we shouldn't have that kind of expectations out of human beings because they are going through their own stuff, right? Nothing to do with you. They're going through their own stuff. And I've noticed recently, right, the things I notice is like, People get more manipulative to make sure that they do exactly the way what you want them to do, right? And so then you think, but what about this relationship with God? What about this silent companion that's available to all of us? So we don't need to do all of these manipulative nonsense, right? We don't need to do all of the things that we are doing. We don't need to do that. That we actually can have our needs fulfilled.
• 9:03
  Speaker A: Sounds a bit easier than managing human beings. And it's a good point. Because people, they're busy or they're sick or they're tired or they're, you know, they have a job. I mean, like you can't even if even, let's say somebody is the best person ever and they are really are supportive and caring and everything, right? They're still not going to be available all the time. And even if they were, then it would become a serious attachment and a major problem. So, you know, we have to find our. Get our needs met from somewhere else that's a bit more reliable. So you want me to read the. The. So we have the book here, God Experiencing God. And this is one of many of these chapters. So we have the point of light, the incorporeal one, the one who's beyond birth and death. So the reason I'm reading this, I'm just going to read through them just to give you a sense of God's greatness and God's personality and character. God is the ocean of knowledge, the ever pure one, the ocean of love, the ocean of peace, the purifier, the quiet one, the most free, the humble giver, the comforter of hearts, the silent companion. And so many more. We're going to stop with this one here and I'll read it to you. Story time with Brother Michael today. Here we go. So this is a wonderful book that Shireen put together recently. The Silent Companion. God does not follow us noisily through life. He accompanies in silence, present the instant a heart remembers the sacred reality. Human companions often comfort by talking, advising or filling space. God comforts by presence. He does not intrude, persuade, or demand attention. God waits, unobtrusive, patient, until a soul turns inward and upward. Then his nearness is unmistakable. A settling of the mind, a softening of the breath, a strength does that does not announce itself. God's companionship does not crowd, it creates room. In truth, he does not remember as we do, holding on or worrying. The Companion remains free. And because he's free, he can be flawlessly faithful. This is a divine paradox. The one who never binds is the safest company. The one who never insists is the most constant support. God comes without footsteps and leaves without absence. The friend who stands beside you without standing in your way.
• 13:10
  Speaker B: You know the feeling I get. First feeling I get is. I did write that, for sure. The second feeling I get is this. The uniqueness of the silent companion, the presence. Because I'm thinking of my own life and the experiences of my own life and how so much of what was said in those words is my experience, right? This is not something, you know, like a borrowed from a book. It's like, that is my experience. That is my experience of God is so available, but so gentle, right? Not crowding, not, you know, not. It's just wisdom waiting for me to turn to him. And it happens so many times. The gentle presence that waits for me to turn to him. The, you know, there's no spectacle. There's no, you know, like, people think, right? Like, the more important the person is, there's so much spectacle around them. And here God is so quiet, so silent and so patient and so willing to be with me. So willing to be with me. And I think that's his love. Whenever I feel that, right? Like, he's always willing to be with me. And I feel that's his love, right? Like, for me, that is the definition of love. He's willing to be with me, and he never turns away.
• 14:53
  Speaker A: That's beautiful. Yeah. And not demanding anything and. But truly benevolent and altruistic. You know,
• 15:06
  Speaker B: there is.
• 15:07
  Speaker A: It just goes to show how. How powerful. Maya is like the counter force. Because when there's a being, they're so loving and so caring that doesn't want anything, and yet the mind still goes in other directions. It goes to show how. How. How titillating the whole world is in a way, you know, that's because it's the silent companion. Because there's so much noise, and the mind gets attracted to noise. But really what we need is silence and peace.
• 15:38
  Speaker B: And the other thing is, people say, oh, you know, but he wants me to do this and this and this. I said no. For the mind to really connect with God, you need to be in silence. You need to be quiet. You need to be following certain things so that you can be quiet enough to feel that presence. It's not that, you know, God is requiring that, but your mind is requiring it. Because, like you're saying, Maya is so powerful that if you're not doing some things, then it's not going. You're not going to feel that presence.
• 16:14
  Speaker A: Yeah, it's like if I'm constantly distracted and running around and there's huge amounts of stimulation, then it's difficult to hear the silence, the silent presence, because it's very, very subtle. I had a dream recently. Did I tell you about this dream? I had a very vivid dream that all I remember of it was a fascinating dream is that I ended up seeing this big, like a big lat. It wasn't really a ladder, but it was like a ladder and it was like representing what the most important things are in life. And you had these like the, the top whole, top half with this whole big chunk was silence. And then, yeah, it was about communication. The most powerful communication is silence. And then underneath that there's another kind of communication. And it went down, down, down. And at the very bottom is like what we normally consider as communication in life was like this tiny little sliver down here and silence was this big chunk at the top. And I remember just, just like. So I woke up with that awareness. And that silence is, is. You know, we heard silence is golden. But silence is everything really. It's the most important thing. And God is, is only experienced in that silence. We can't experience that, that. Because silence is not just nothing. It's a. It's spaciousness and it's infinity and eternity and it's huge power.
• 17:46
  Speaker B: Your mind is not going right, it's not turning all the time. But there is a quietness. The mind is very quiet and there's a presence. Because what happens is in that quiet presence of the mind, right. You're not filling the mind. That's another experience of mine that is about God is. We tend to fill the emptiness with so much noise and you know, more scrolling, more scrolling, more bad relationships, more whatever. And so we, we are filling it with so much noise and silence and God as a silent companion is that instead of filling the emptiness with all of this noise, right? You fill it with God's presence. And to be able to fill it with God's presence, you need a signal. And you can't have a lot of static and think you'll get a signal, right? It has to be a very quiet, quiet tuning, very quiet tuning. And in that quiet tuning you feel this presence. This presence is so sweet, so loving and so always there, always there, waiting for me to turn inward in, inward and upward.
• 19:26
  Speaker A: That's lovely expression. Silence really is golden. I've been recently getting that. I've got all these devices. I'VE told you about to measure my brain waves and my, like, heartbeat. Right. So it's actually been extremely useful and I highly recommend it to everyone's extreme. So I don't need any of that stuff. But.
• 19:47
  Speaker B: Offensive. You sound offensive. I didn't say anything.
• 19:52
  Speaker A: No, it's. It's been extremely helpful. And what I've noticed using these tools is that it's. Anytime I resist, anytime I'm thinking about things or resisting things, then all the brave brain waves get disordered and the heartbeat goes out of coherence and into stress, which I. I was. Because, I mean, I'm sure I noticed these things will be. You can see it on the numbers. So even, like, if I'm looking at the numbers, there's like theta waves, you know, alpha waves, delta waves, and all these different waves. I'm not going to get into details, but, like, as soon as I even look at it, it all just drops down because the attention is going to these things. But if. But if I'm not thinking anything and I'm just sitting there in silence and having remembrance of the silent companion. So there's really nothing much going on. And in some ways, then everything, all the brain waves straighten out and everything goes into these very beautiful states and you can see the number. So it really has been fascinating to me to realize that doing nothing, in a way and stepping back is the most powerful thing. And you can see the proof of it. You know, it's absolutely fascinating because I wasn't aware of how powerful silence actually is until. Until I started measuring these things. I knew, I knew it was, but I couldn't see it clearly. So it's backed by science. It's proven. You know, I could probably do a test on this reading and we could prove it.
• 21:29
  Speaker B: I believe you. Without. Without the proof.
• 21:34
  Speaker A: Yeah. But it's very interesting. So, yeah, the silence. We normally think of space as nothing, and silence is nothing. But it isn't. There's huge power in that silence and space.
• 21:49
  Speaker B: Should we read the rest of that?
• 21:51
  Speaker A: Let's read the. The next part. This is called In My Heart. In my heart, when I walk into uncertainty, I remember him and feel the ground under my feet. Fear loosens its grip. I do not need signs or. Or voices. His companionship arrives as clarity and calm courage. In the small pauses of the day, I find him waiting. A quiet moment before sleep. The first breath upon awaking. His companionship teaches me that presence matters more than words, that listening creates more space than talking. When loneliness visits that hollow ache that no amount of comfort seems to fill. I turn to the silent companion, and I discover I was never truly alone. He doesn't crowd the emptiness with noise or distraction. Instead, he feels it with a presence so real that solitude transforms from punishment into sanctuary. In his quiet company, I learned that being alone and being lonely are entirely different countries. In God's quiet company, my steps become steady and my heart unafraid. Yay. Experiencing God. Highly recommend. It's. It's. I've had this for a while now, and I pick it up now and again, and there's always like, one line in here that's like any of these pieces, there's often just. Just one thing that really stands out that hits the mark and which is. Most books don't actually do that. Most books is just same old, you know, but this. This. It penetrates through into the. Into the soul.
• 24:27
  Speaker B: What penetrated just now?
• 24:30
  Speaker A: That. That when there's the pause in those quiet moments, the. The. The company is always there in. In, like, behind the sound, behind everything. Underneath it is that beautiful presence. And I can just take a moment instead of reaching for some thing to try and get something that I haven't got, just to come into that. It's like dropping down deeper into that infinite silence and that beautiful presence in the little moments. And there's so many little moments like that in our day, in between things. Yay. So what did you like about this?
• 25:25
  Speaker B: The sentence that I really liked was about being alone and being lonely are two different countries. And that's so true, right? I mean, we all go through our journey, and I did go through a time when, even after, you know, starting connecting with God and stuff in a very active way where I would feel lonely and stuff. And now really, solitude is a sanctuary for me. It's not the punishment I have to endure. It is such a sanctuary. And I really feel like I can be alone and be happy and be connected and, you know, and just be with me and be with God, right? So that I really enjoy my moments now with Baba's presence, with God's presence. And so it doesn't feel like punishment. It doesn't feel like, oh, I have to fill it with something or.
• 26:45
  Speaker A: No, yeah, it's totally different. I. I live, you know, in a situation where I'm not with people all the time, Right. And sometimes I do feel lonely, but a lot of the time, most I just feel actually very content. I'm. I'm a bit. Maybe a bit extreme, but there's plenty of opportunity where I could potentially feel lonely. And if I wasn't connected, actually. And. And I'm in the desert as well, and it's very quiet here. So it's like being in the desert in total silence with no one around is the extreme end of physical isolation in. In a sense. And. But I actually really like silence. And it's. It's extremely powerful. I'm beginning to realize that more and more and more that just allowing things to arise and letting them go, giving them to God. Because God is the purifier, right? There's. This is. So we've written in these podcasts, we've mentioned a few things. Right? There's another one here. God is the purifier and the purifier. If there's any negative feelings, God pulls it out. Right? So normally the reason there's a desire for distraction, you know, or to want to talk to someone, want to do something, is because there's a negative feeling. And we don't like negative feelings. And so we try and do something to avoid feeling our feelings. But if we're just willing to sit there and let it arise and surrender it to God, the. The purifier, the companion, then it comes up and it gets pulled out, and then it gets replaced with infinite peace. And this is actually something that I really like nowadays. But it's taken a long time for me to be all right with sitting there, feeling whatever I'm feeling, because sometimes I don't like it, you know, but the pure of the God is actually wanting to. Wanting us to sit in silence, allow whatever's coming up to come up if it isn't the highest, if it's like unconscious past stuff, and then give it up. And that's. It's in that silence that the soul is healed. And that's not being lonely, that's being us, being deeply connected, really, in a very silent way. Ah, yes. There's so many things to learn. So many things to learn. The comforter of hearts is another one. Comforter of heart.
• 29:27
  Speaker B: What was the most on the sign?
• 29:30
  Speaker A: I recommend the book, everyone, if you're interested in. In this book. Is it on Amazon, Shereen?
• 29:35
  Speaker B: Yeah, it's on Amazon.
• 29:36
  Speaker A: Very good.
• 29:38
  Speaker B: You know, someone made a comment saying, oh, I don't buy on Amazon. You know, I don't go on Amazon.
• 29:46
  Speaker A: That's just because you're going to change the world by not using.
• 29:49
  Speaker B: It's fine. Whatever people can do, whatever they need to do, it's good. But for me, that's the easiest way to deal with it. Yeah, put the book On Amazon so people can get it from there.
• 30:03
  Speaker A: Yeah. Otherwise what are you going to do? So Amazon is the biggest bookseller in the world, so. Yeah.
• 30:10
  Speaker B: What was the last sentence in the Silent Companion?
• 30:14
  Speaker A: In God's quiet company, my steps become steady and my heart unafraid.
• 30:21
  Speaker B: We need a lot of courage to be with ourselves. People are so afraid to be with themselves.
• 30:34
  Speaker A: It's not pleasant because of all the. All. Everything that's gone in. It all has to come out in the silence. That, that's, that's what happens. We consume, consume, consume and it all gets pushed down. But then when the silence happens, then it all comes back up again. And we did a session on this recently where the 92nd rule where if you're willing just to sit with whatever's coming up, it tends to become lighter and, and more manageable after about 90 seconds. So it's, it's actually one of my favorite things nowadays is just to sit there and just allow whatever it is to be whatever it is. Because it's actually not that bad. It's just a certain amount of discomfort and then it feels good afterwards. So all these things connecting with God does require us to be with ourselves first of all and get past that threshold of. I want to avoid something.
• 31:40
  Speaker B: What are your final thoughts on this? Share some final thoughts on this.
• 31:44
  Speaker A: Final thoughts are to. To connect with the silent companion in the silence in the moments in between things. Because the silent companion is much more apparent in the silence and when you're not doing something else. So it's very helpful to create some space. So like if you're working on something and then you have a little pause between you, do something else. Then just sit there in the silence and invoke the silent companion and realize silence is something, it's actually very powerful. And be willing to sit with it long enough to experience the silence and the silent companions presence. And then when you feel ready, move on to whatever else with that feeling and then do it again, again and again and again. So imagine replacing checking the phone with the silent companion. What a profound upgrade that would be.
• 33:00
  Speaker B: I know, right?
• 33:02
  Speaker A: Yeah. So next time you reach. Let me just get this thing. Let me just sit here with the silent companion and feel the space.
• 33:09
  Speaker B: You want to pick one?
• 33:11
  Speaker A: 27.
• 33:13
  Speaker B: This is God's blessing for you. Detachment. Seated on the lotus throne of detachment, you embody a remarkable equilibrium between loving and beautifully unattached. This unique stance of loving deeply while holding everything lightly endears you to God and the world around you.
• 33:42
  Speaker A: Detachment is the space. So thank you everyone for your lovely presence. Hope you enjoyed this episode and we have lots of free meditations and courses, etc etc. All this great stuff we spent years producing just for you that you can get for free in the links below the video or podcast. Have a beautiful day, beautiful week and lots of love. Talk to you soon. Yay.