The following summary is my personal interpretation only; it is not an official summary of Silo’s thought. For the official literature, the reader is invited to consult the official website: http://silo.net

It is structured as a dialogue of questions and answers. These questions may well be precisely the ones that many people have.

Is there meaning to life if everything ends with death?

People feel differently about this, but many people, including myself, feel that there is no meaning to life if everything ends with death.

What about suffering?

It is a fact of life that people suffer. We suffer pain due to physical causes such as hunger and sickness, and mental suffering due to the lack of coherence and awareness of our minds.

Is spirituality the same as religion?

Not at all. Spirituality is for everyone: religious people and atheists alike. Established religions do not have a monopoly on spirituality, and people don’t need intermediaries to connect with the profound meaning of life.

Likewise, it is not necessary to believe in God in order to connect with spirituality. Each person is free to believe or not believe in God, and her/his particular belief will not hinder his/her spiritual development.

What must we do with our lives?

Each person may have different goals in terms of career, family, etc., but the one essential important thing common to us all is building up our internal unity, our spirit, and avoiding the opposite: internal contradiction. Therefore, the purpose of life is to overcome pain and suffering, caused by internal contradictions.

What is internal unity?

It is doing what we think and feel. It is harmony between our feelings, thoughts and actions. The opposite is internal contradiction: feeling one thing, thinking another, and doing yet another. Unitive actions not only feel good in the moment; they also accumulate in our being.

How do we recognise internal unity and contradiction?

By the feeling and experience of each. Doing something unitive gives us a feeling of peace and agreement with ourselves (“this is what I really want to do and I feel it’s the right thing”). On the other hand, internal contradiction is accompanied by suffering and a sense of betrayal towards oneself (“I hate doing this and I know it’s wrong but I do it anyway because I’m afraid of losing out”).

Are worldly pleasures opposed to spirituality?

Not at all, quite to the contrary. Enjoying worldly pleasures leads to a more joyful and fulfilling life, which in turn facilitates connection with transcendence, and vice-versa: spiritual growth makes one more alive and attuned to life’s daily pleasures. There is positive feedback between the two.

This stance is the opposite of many religions and schools of thought that for centuries have preached repressing worldly pleasures, treating them as “sinful”, and thus generating feelings of guilt.

It’s all very well to say that there is no meaning to life if everything ends with death, but how do we know that there is continuity after death?

Indeed, a priori we don’t know. Therefore, it is important to acquire, throughout our lives, evidence that supports the existence of a transcendental purpose to our lives.

This evidence can be of two types: 1) the evidence of experience, and 2) testimonies of people who have had near-death experiences. The first involves experiences of internal enlightenment that amplify our minds and perspectives on existence. It is difficult to describe these experiences in words; it is best that each person experiences them her/himself. With regard to the second, there are so many testimonies with similar descriptions that they constitute an important addition of evidence, which is in fact now being studied scientifically by some universities.

How must we relate to other people?

Follow the Golden Rule: “Treat others as we would like to be treated”. If we examine ourselves closely, we realise that this is unitive: when we treat our children, couple, family, friends, colleagues and neighbours the way we would like them to treat us, we experience inner joy, that “warm, fuzzy feeling”.

In fact, this rule, or principle, answers in part (or entirely for some) the question of what the purpose of life is. A valid answer is to simply apply this principle to everyone around us, from just our close circle to the whole of humankind. In a nutshell, the purpose of life is to overcome pain and suffering, in oneself, in fellow human beings and in all of society.

If you think about it, the Golden Rule is the root principle from which stem many of our values that most people share and agree with: honesty, sincerity, integrity, generosity, compassion, coherence, keeping promises, etc.

So, how do we put these ideas into practice?

These ideas are a lifestyle, to be practiced all the time, every second of our existence, not just once a week in a meditation session. Here are some tips to do this in practice.

  1. Practice self-observation. Learn to constantly be self-aware, i.e. be able to observe our emotions and feelings and understand their roots. When we do this, we gain in freedom and are not dominated so much by situations and our compulsions. As an analogy, one can watch a movie about sharks and become so engrossed in it that one ends up believing that one is really about to be eaten by a shark, or else have self-awareness and say, “I’m sitting on my sofa watching a scary movie about sharks”. This self-awareness is also known as “mindfulness” and has been practiced by Buddhists for centuries. A useful tool that helps to practice self-observation is breathing deeply with your stomach, feeling the air flow in, and thus become more aware of your body. This enables a certain detachment from the various elements of our existence: our body, sensations, emotions and thoughts and enables us to think more clearly.
  2. Lead a unitive existence. In everything we do, make sure that it is unitive, that we do what we feel and think. At the end of each day, revise our actions, and recognise the ones that were unitive and those that were contradictory. This provides an incentive to make the right decisions the next day.
  3. Treat others as we would like to be treated. In all our human relationships, stop a moment and think, “how would I like my child/couple/friend/colleague/neighbour, etc. to treat me?”, and then act accordingly. In a nutshell, give others what I would like to receive.
  4. Give thanks and ask when in need. Whenever we feel happiness, joy or peace, or things work out right for us, immediately give thanks internally. Each person according to her/his personal beliefs. Whenever we are in trouble, or feel anguish or despair, ask internally for what we really need, and our cumulative unitive actions will give us solace and help us find a way forward.
  5. Practice the experience of force. Imagine your head and entire body filled with light, warmth and love. With practice this becomes a physical sensation and not just a thought. More details on this can be found in the book “Silo’s Message”.

I sincerely hope that this personal interpretation of mine is useful for you on your own path of discovery, done in your way.

February 2022

Jerome Smith