Spiritual Stillness
Question: It seems as though there is always some kind of struggle going on in me -- pulling me in one direction or another -- and I get completely caught up in trying to choose which of the tormentors is best! How can I find a stillness or peace that would bring lasting relief from the daily struggle and stress that run my life?
Answer: At this stage of soul development we are clearly caught in the up and down motion of life. So distracted are we by cycles of pleasure and pain that few of us are aware of the Perfectly Still Kingdom through which our lives and their events run their daily course.
As a direct effect of the unconscious forces presently at work in our nature, there is almost always a constant disturbance within us. We register this unsettled state of our self through a dim awareness of a kind of background "noise" in our minds and hearts. We "know" the presence of this invisible state of conflict because, in a word, we are incorporated within it.
We know the passive ache of this unconscious contest within us by the active pain of it, but we have little to no awareness of the Light of Good that dwells there in us at the same time, like quiet starlight over a field of battle. As a rule we are not conscious of the Peace that lives in us because in its presence there is no pain.
The true Peace we wish to know is not the opposite of our fight for a life free of strife, but is the fruit of a perfect balance, the absence (within us) of all that is conflicted.
The Peace of God's kingdom sits in plain sight in the midst of the chaos of our lives.
This full Peace, which we might also call Stillness, or perfect Silence, is what our heart of hearts longs to know. Within it there is neither stress nor sorrow. Yet, while most of us agree we seek a way to co-mingle in the Life of this deep quiet, its timeless realm remains all but imperceptible to us. And here is the reason why: It is a curious spiritual fact that we don't see stillness, even though it acts as the backdrop for all motion.
Of course, we can see things themselves, various creatures, even our own thoughts and feelings moving across and through this still backdrop of life. And yet the one condition we remain effectively blind to is this: If it weren't for the invisible backdrop of perfect Stillness, of pure Peace, we would not see any of these forms in the manner we do!
If we went to a cinema expecting to see a story unfold before us — complete with movie stars, scenery, action and interaction — but there was no screen there in the theatre to act as a backdrop for the projection, the showing of that movie as it unreeled would be meaningless, without context. We would see no more than a whirl of undistinguished light and phantom-like motions being projected onto the walls that guarded the way to the back of the stage.
Can we begin to see, in this instance, how the movie screen — that silent backdrop of white stillness that reflects the projected images — is more essential to the activity seen running upon it, and the understanding of its significance, than the activity itself? How without the former in place as a constant, the latter has virtually no consequence?
Now carry this idea over to see the following truth in parallel: Much in the same way as the screen in the theatre makes it possible for us to see the action-packed motions of the movie, it is an unseen Stillness that reveals what we experience as being the ceaseless movement of life.
With this insight in mind, can we recognize how unaware we are (at present) of this abiding Stillness in which we ourselves move and live? Further, can we see that it's not that this Stillness isn't there — for it is! The fact is . . . it is we, ourselves, who are not present to this unchanging Presence! This is a helpful discovery for us to make. Through it we are enabled to see that everything (as it concerns our relationship with Peace) depends upon where we place and hold our attention from moment to moment.
Come awake to the backdrop of stillness within you, and while being aware within it, watch your own thoughts and feelings trying to drag you into the noisy world of their worry and fear. Go silent before them and they have no choice but to enter into the Silence with you.
