Learn to be still

Lyric girl comin' at ya today, with a meditation on stillness... and the peace it provides...

The Eagles:
Though the world is torn and shaken
Even if your heart is breakin',
It's waiting for you to awaken
And someday you will-learn to be still

Probably the deepest, most sustained stillness I've engaged in was back in 2005 in the mountains of Tennessee. I was at a week long Stop at Nothing retreat, held at Barry and Su's "farm." Each participant pitched his own tent at least a half mile from anyone else's and much of the meditation during the week took place sitting outside the front flap. In the early light. In the dark. On a mountain. With the trees. Opening up to only the sound of my heartbeat, no movement, no thoughts, just being.

Wind stirs the bambo,
But once the wind passes,
the bamboo is silent.
Geese land in the chill pond,
But once the geese fly away,
there are no reflections.

In the same way,
Once the red dust passes,
The mind is still.

When the mind is still, it can't shriek quite as loudly that it is in control. Breath, heartbeats, sensations, come to the foreground, and it is sometimes possible to recognize that much of the time the mind is exerting a level of control it shouldn't have. In the woods on the mountain, putting myself in that place allowed me to see and feel energy around me that I would have been oblivious to on a normal day. I connected to it.

And while one or two experiences during that week counted as profound, the benefits of quieting the mind and focusing on the breath don't need to be profound in order to make a big difference in your life. Detachment from the noise, scattering, and frenzy swirling around us most of the time is reward enough - especially since that benefit lasts and can help us seal out the anxiety and shallowness that are everywhere.

Best of all, it takes no effort. You don't need to do anything, just be.

Moon above water.
Sit in solitude.

If waters are placid, the moon will be mirrored perfectly. If we still ourselves, we can mirror the divine perfectly. Neither the water nor the moon make any effort to achieve a reflection.