Since the passing of my beloved grandmother this past fall, I've had many opportunities to re-explore the vast nature of Stillness. Subtle and mysterious, unfolding and enfolding, centering and spacious, encircling and spiraling away. . .choosing to dance with the presence of Stillness offers us passage through the many gates of inner and outer awareness.
On a superficial level, we've come to understand stillness as simply a place or state of quiet. Which in and of itself has been proven to provide many benefits to our physical, mental, and emotional well-being. However, limiting Stillness to this most basic definition, limits the power or potential that this presence (or spirit) can unleash within you. Stillness is one of the greatest allies a spiritual aspirant can have. It's no wonder that all esoteric teachings in the world consider stillness to be key to spiritual development.
In order to explore these distinctions, let us consider the nature of Stillness in a bit more detail:
Subtle and Mysterious
It is easy to confuse silence or a state of quiet with Stillness because Stillness also exists at many other subtle experiential levels and is not something we can physically touch or scientifically quantify. In considering Stillness as an active presence we have to move beyond the initial state or experience of quiet and let ourselves sink more deeply down into the greater experience and mystery of Stillness. It is here, at this deeper level of awareness, that one begins to sense Stillness as an active, even collaborative subtle presence.
Once acknowledged and consciously worked with, this presence can begin to open the way, expand your inner field of vision, and allow doors and worlds that were previously closed off to you to become accessible. Stillness then becomes the vehicle, the container, as well as the network of subtle circuitry that your awareness travels on and within.
