How do you get to Inner Stillness?

Laura Basha

“No one can see their reflection in running water. It is only in still water that we can see.”

– Taoist Proverb

A friend asked me this week, “How do you get to inner stillness?” I thought it was an interesting question, since stillness isn’t actually a place to get to, but rather a whole eternal internal infinite dimension out of which our life experience and the third dimension arises.

Taking our attention off of the cacophony of the external world, taking our attention off of the noise of the daily routine, taking our attention off of the drama of everyday life and the incessant inner monologue of the intellect, returns us to stillness.

So many of us love to be in nature. Being in nature elicits stillness from us, because nature reverberates Stillness. And, like a tuning fork, if we stop and listen to the quietness of nature, whether in our backyard or, taking in the beauty and quietness of a vista view, the reverberation of nature catalyzes that Stillness realm within, through the tuning fork of its own Stillness. Stillness is not static, it is alive and pulsing with the music of beauty and joy.

“The great saint Muktananda was asked by a disciple, “Master, there are so many books that teach ways to meditate! Which way is the best?” Muktananda replied, “Close your eyes.”

Take time to be awed. Take in the perfection of beauty – it is everywhere – in the hummingbird hovering in front of you and then disappearing like a bullet of rainbow, or in the common daisy flower or in the countenance of your dear friend or in the timber of the voice of your beloved.”