Many people find the absence of activity quite debilitating. There is a need to be ‘doing’ something all the time and even for those who don’t mind a bit of inactivity in most cases they wouldn’t describe this as an inner stillness. As leaders, people who step up and take responsibility, as parents and caring citizens…all of us are battling the heavy non-stop demands of the ‘modern’ world as we seek to make it a better place.
Living in the culture we’ve created of non-stop activity is a bit like a drug – it can become if not addictive, then certainly something we acclimatise to without realising that we aren’t in contact with our true thoughts; that we’ve lost contact with who we are and what we really think and feel.
Coming into true inner stillness is a precious gift to ourselves and to the world. A gift because when we can locate that place and sustain it, it pays us back personally in greater peace, confidence and serenity. It gives more clarity to our thoughts; it rewards us with insights that feel creative and uplifting and true. Inner stillness allows us to connect – with our own knowing and to a wider field of wisdom and insight.
We locate this place of stillness in the silence – the space where we have quietened down the inner chatter and the outer noise and demands and found that kernel of inner contact which may at first feel fleeting or imperceptible. In the silence, which in itself takes practise to create and sustain, we open ourselves to the possibility of new levels of hearing and understanding which can only come if we are open to listening. We come into connection with the stillness, which we might also call our higher wisdom or our soul.
This precious contact, whilst located in the inner stillness, pays dividends in the busyness of everyday life as it slowly, gently, sometimes almost imperceptibly, expands within us to the extent that we can maintain contact even when the outer world is pressing in. And it goes further than that even…it goes beyond an inner and outer life – in time the inner stillness helps us integrate the inner and outer life bringing a greater sense of calm, confidence and resourcefulness. It also helps us to engage with the outer life in new and creative ways.
As we survey our world today we can say for sure that more than any other thing we all need to be able to access new resources that inspire new creative thinking as we seek to make the world a better place for all. Perhaps accessing our inner stillness is the place to start.