Do thought-free states feel
better than good feeling thoughts? More generally, is peace preferable to positive emotion?
Yes, significantly better. Firstly, the state of just being is much lighter, not dependent on the memory and understanding of the world it takes to be cognitively happy; it is child-like. Secondly, this silent state is aware that it is self-contained, free from external circumstances, and revels in it; it is not wrong to say it is full of energy and power from self-sufficiency. Thirdly, there is awareness that there is no effort involved in being silent and happy, that no work needs to be done, and that brings a 2nd-order joy, too.
I'm new to this state, though; I just entered into silence for the first time around 6 months ago. It immediately makes me a bit excited when all thought subsides and the silence descends onto me, and that just results in the thoughts coming back :-)
It should be easy and effortless once you get the knack of it; you should be able to suspend all thought and enter silence on-demand. "Observe your breath", etc; are things that naturally occur AFTER one becomes silent (the intensity of the silence causes you to be attentive to each little movement in the here and now with new eyes). It seems to me that common meditation practice has this in the reverse order and unfortunately, I am not sure that mere imitation is going to help. Instead, abandon all postures and practices except one: the question "Who am I?". Please let me know if you have any further questions.
1. Self Inquiry Practice - Ramana Maharshi - Audiobook - Spoken by lomakayu: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ymvj01q44o0
2. I AM THAT excerpts pages 236 to 250: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-VxOFa0GE9Y
3. I am only the Self: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uzd0txiRN2E