In 1970 a small booklet circulated with the basic teachings of a man called “Silo”. A man in his thirties from Argentina who just had a public gathering on the border between Argentina and Chile, very close to a tiny village called “Punta de Vacas”. His talk was titled “The Healing of Suffering” and it was an extraordinary addressing of topics nobody was talking about in the 60’s.

In the booklet mentioned before there were some points worth talking about today because, in my humble opinion, they are revolutionary. Yes, revolutionary in SPIRITUAL terms.

Here is an excerpt:

“To achieve peace you have to start with yourself. Peace, tranquility and joy are brought to one's own conscience by complying with the Precepts*, meditating every day, and always looking for the good side of people and things.

Christ said - Forgive your enemies.

Silo now teaches that it is not enough to forgive but that it is necessary to look for the good in the enemy. If another person, despite everything, continues to be my enemy, it is not their fault but mine, because I have not discovered what is good in them.

The same thing happens with ugly things and adverse events. If I worry about looking for what is good and beautiful in things and in events, I am not in resignation but in optimism and joy.”

I was surprised by these reflections, especially when I read about "Peace in the Consciousness." Silo isn't talking about peace in general, but about peace within the consciousness of every human being, and it is precisely there that the work of spiritual growth begins. Interestingly, all of this is happening at a time when the entire planet is divided, and after two enormous wars, we have managed, with great difficulty, to maintain a rather fragile peace. At the root of all the smaller wars that have occurred are the major religions we know today. All these religions have their precepts or commandments very well written in countless sacred books, and all of them consider killing to be an abomination. However, all those words in sacred books are forgotten in practice, and in the name of religion, thousands of human beings continue to be killed. No matter the pretext—it always has to do with a piece of land—even though there is enough land for everyone. In the name of the gods of all religions, people go against the very precepts they preach, turning their teachings into boundless hypocrisy.

I believe there is no deeper error than hypocrisy, and it is an error of conscience. The worst thing is when it becomes something accepted and sometimes even justified, not to say sanctified.

Setting aside all this incredible hypocrisy and returning to the topic of achieving inner peace, it seems appropriate to maintain that it is the internal violence that must be transformed, and it is this violence, with its possessive roots, that produces suffering. This violence can only recede in the face of inner faith and inner meditation. Both terms are difficult to define precisely because they have been monopolized by religions, but here it is clarified that this faith is internal and that this meditation is internal.

Much is said about faith, but little is practiced. More is said about meditation these days, but little is practiced. Inner faith is something that is built, and the same is true of inner meditation. One discovers the inner world to the extent that one observes it without prejudice and with a deep desire to become a better person. Guilt or rationalization have no place in inner meditation.

For example, one can meditate on the difficulties encountered daily and how those difficulties contribute to personal growth. One doesn't dwell on explaining the difficulties or seeking reasons for their existence. The focus is simply on the fact that they are difficulties, and how to transform them into a source of inner growth. There is a whole world of inner meditation to explore and discover. One can ask oneself daily who we are and where we are going—of course, internally. One asks questions and answers them. That is meditation. One also meditates when reflecting on the fact that life has no meaning if everything ends in death, and therefore it is imperative to find meaning—direction—in life, not as something static, but as a process of inner growth, strengthening faith in the best aspects of oneself, of others, and of the society in which one lives. All of this is meditation, and it has little to do with opening or closing one's eyes, with specific postures, or with particular goals. By meditating in this way, one discovers inner peace and experiences inspiration.

September 2025

-------------

* Precepts: Do not lie. Do not kill. Do not steal. Be faithful. Achieve peace within yourself and with others. Think, feel, and act in harmony. Purify desire.