“Stillness is the language God speaks and everything else is a bad translation.” -Eckhart Tolle
Stillness. It lies at the heart of all meditation practices. Even moving meditation practices, like Tai Chi, lead you into a profound space of inner stillness.
After meditating consistently for over 20 years, I'm still dazzled by what I discover each time I allow myself to stop moving and be still. The moment I stop engaging with the inner and outer chaos of life, it's like another world begins to unfold within and without.
And perhaps now, more than ever, we all need more stillness. So here's a short homage to stillness. These are just a few of my favorite things about this radical act.
Be Still
Be still and you'll discover a trove of inner secrets than you could never imagine.
Be still and uncover an invisible slipstream hiding in plain sight that no one else can see and now find yourself whispering through to the other side.
Be still and you'll find the gift you've been missing all this time—that you can surrender your constant movement and agitation of body and mind and fly free.
Be still and you'll have to weather the storm of all the momentum of inner and outer motion, like a plane rising through turbulent storm-struck skies.
And then, when you least expect it, you'll lift up into the clear atmosphere above the cyclone. There you'll fly clear under the sun, moon, and stars…frictionless and free.
“Be still and know that I am God” -Psalm 46:10
Be still and discover your inner vision is no longer obscured by all the noise and commotion. You'll find yourself looking at the ordinary world through a mystical lens. It's not what you supposed or could see before.
Be still and rest for a moment in yourself, free from the constant tug of the world and know that you are perfectly whole, alone, sovereign in yourself and free.
Be still and discover that your five senses are a magic carpet flying you like a child into an enchanted world.
Your senses are not static. They exist on a spectrum and stillness is a powerful amplifier, allowing them to bring you knew intelligence, new insights, new meaning, and new ways of seeing utterly transformed from your dim daily apprehension.
“God speaks in the silence of the heart. Listening is the beginning of prayer.” -Mother Theresa
Be still and begin to know the power of your choice to withdraw and enter the palace of being. Here you are sovereign over a territory that has neither boundaries nor limits.
Be still and understand that your true nature drinks at a spring of silence that never runs dry. It's the source and the wellspring for everything.
Be still and be yourself just for this time. Let everything else fall away until there's just you, needing nothing more and perfectly poised in the middle of this pulsing universe.
Be still and resist the snares of this world. You don't have to go anywhere, do anything, please anyone, or perform. You just have to stop.
Be still and you'll light upon a love for something that demands every ounce of your attention. It depends on nothing from this world but your solitary and undivided presence.
Be still and you'll uncover an intimacy with life that is both ordinary and extraordinary.
Be still and you'll know that the music of the spheres plays within and without you.
Be still and know all of these things.
Be still, be still, be still…
Image credit: Gordon Ogden
