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meditation
November 2009 
Stillness and Change
Posted on Nov 20th, 2007
by 
Jim
Jim
Stillness is a force of change, although it is sometimes confused with inactivity. Inactivity changes nothing, our minds tell us. So to be still to many people is to be wasting time, to be avoiding life, and to be non-influences in change.
But stillness is not procrastination, nor is it inactivity. Inner stillness is a quietude. It's a place where you can listen more actively to the flow of life and to see more clearly what needs to happen in your life. From this space, you can become a stronger influence in change in your life and in the world.
Not too many people seek stillness. For one thing, it seems like a waste of time as I'd mentioned before. How will I get anything done just sitting around? For another, it can seem intensely hard to attain with all the racket being created by the mind. So, how do you get to stillness?
Once again, most spiritual things can't be goals. If you're trying to achieve or attain something, you'll be perpetually frustrated. It won't happen. You'll feel stymied, and the more you try, the harder it'll be. Why? Because you already have stillness. It's there, underneath all the noise. In fact, it is your natural state of being. The mind is like being at home with the tv on, the washer going, the radio blaring, your roommate chattering at you while you're on the phone, and a Boeing 747 flying over head on final approach. Meditation and prayer help to turn off all that noise. They help you find your way back to your natural state of stillness.
I know that I just implied that meditation and prayer can get you closer to stillness, but they're just one set of tools. They've been used for thousands of years, so there must be something to them as spiritual practices. I know that I use them. But they're not the only ways. You must find the way that works for you if you desire stillness.
When you're still, you no longer need to seek things, but the things that you do want to do become clearer. You find it much easier to be in tune with your heart and with others. A still mind and soul can mean that you're doing things actively during the day, and you can enact that change at a much higher level because you're no longer running into your own internal barriers (or are doing so much less). Stillness is a space from which we can create amazing change and withstand the challenges of life with much greater love and compassion because we cannot be deceived or it is much harder to do so because we are less actively involved in our own illusions. It's a powerful space. Once you touch it, you'll never quite be the same again.
But stillness is not procrastination, nor is it inactivity. Inner stillness is a quietude. It's a place where you can listen more actively to the flow of life and to see more clearly what needs to happen in your life. From this space, you can become a stronger influence in change in your life and in the world.
Not too many people seek stillness. For one thing, it seems like a waste of time as I'd mentioned before. How will I get anything done just sitting around? For another, it can seem intensely hard to attain with all the racket being created by the mind. So, how do you get to stillness?
Once again, most spiritual things can't be goals. If you're trying to achieve or attain something, you'll be perpetually frustrated. It won't happen. You'll feel stymied, and the more you try, the harder it'll be. Why? Because you already have stillness. It's there, underneath all the noise. In fact, it is your natural state of being. The mind is like being at home with the tv on, the washer going, the radio blaring, your roommate chattering at you while you're on the phone, and a Boeing 747 flying over head on final approach. Meditation and prayer help to turn off all that noise. They help you find your way back to your natural state of stillness.
I know that I just implied that meditation and prayer can get you closer to stillness, but they're just one set of tools. They've been used for thousands of years, so there must be something to them as spiritual practices. I know that I use them. But they're not the only ways. You must find the way that works for you if you desire stillness.
When you're still, you no longer need to seek things, but the things that you do want to do become clearer. You find it much easier to be in tune with your heart and with others. A still mind and soul can mean that you're doing things actively during the day, and you can enact that change at a much higher level because you're no longer running into your own internal barriers (or are doing so much less). Stillness is a space from which we can create amazing change and withstand the challenges of life with much greater love and compassion because we cannot be deceived or it is much harder to do so because we are less actively involved in our own illusions. It's a powerful space. Once you touch it, you'll never quite be the same again.
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Well said, dear Jim. It's funny because I was just working with a client on a very similar subject tonight. When people get stuck, they think they have to DO something. It is often one of the hardest things for me to get my clients to open up to–the concept of quietly listening for their next step. Once they do, walls fall down and blessings flow. Thanks for sharing.
The stillness is who we truly are and everything else is based on our history and our perception. I read somewhere (I think this was Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche) that its like a cloudy sky. Our thoughts and perceptions are the clouds that sometimes cover the sky, although like that stillness within us, the sky is always there. Sometimes we just lose sight of it because the clouds are in the way. There is no searching out just sitting and working with the mind to let it know its ok to be quiet. I think that experience can be pretty scary sometimes because it requires us to completely let go of everything we ever thought we are and leaves us with no reference point….. brave work, this enlightenment stuff.