Testimony Peter Bosmans

Why do I support The Silence Farm? An old, lonely Buddhist monk taught me the importance of silence.

Long, long time ago, a lonely monk lived in the mountains far away from civilization. Rarely did anyone visit him. He lived there in silence and meditated a lot. The mountains, nature and his little cabin were enough for him. One day he was visited by a group of hikers from the valley. They looked at him curiously and asked him about the usefulness of living in silence and meditation. The monk had just fetched a bucket of water from a deep well and asked the people to walk with him to the well. As they were curious, they followed the monk and stood around the well. "Look," said the monk. "Take a good look at the well and tell me what you see." "We can’t see anything at all,” the people said. They peered and peered but saw nothing special.

After a while, the monk repeated his question: "Look again in the well, what do you see now?" The people looked again and happily told the monk that they could see their own reflection. The monk looked at the group with satisfaction and said, "That is the power of silence, dear traveler. Because I got water from the well, the water was still restless. Now it has become quiet and you can see yourselves. If you take a break every now and then and sit quietly, perhaps with your eyes closed, it ensures that you can see yourself.“

The people looked at him in amazement and allowed his words to sink in for a while. "Let's do the exercise again," said the monk. "Look one last time in the source. What do you see now?" The people looked into the well again. This time they were able to see the stones at the bottom of the spring! The monk looked at the group again with a smile on his face and said, "*If you wait long enough and the silence within yourself gives space and meditates then you can see the deeper meaning of everything. *“ Smiles appeared on the faces of the people and in silence they continued their walk through the mountains.

BIOGRAPHY

Peter Bosmans:

• Director Febecoop (promoter of cooperatives and supporter of cooperative organizations)
• Advisor organizational development and strategic planning
• Founder, partner and/or director of various cooperative companies: Apache (investigative journalism) EnerGent (renewable energy), Trividend Province of Antwerp (financing) and Bistro De Borre (sustainable catering with target groups).

Contactinfo:

• Telephone: +32 02 500 5308
• LinkedIn: Peter Bosmans

Peter Bosmans