chapter 1
silence and stillness
when you lose touch with inner stillness, you lose touch with yourself.when you lose touch with
yourself,you lose yourself in the world.
your innermost sense of self,of who you are, is inseparable from stillness.this is the "I AM"that
is deeper than name and form.
stilness is your essential nature.what is stillness? the inner space or awareness in which the words
on this page are being perceived and become thoughts.without that awareness,there would be no
perception,no thoughts,no world.
you are that awareness, disguised as a person.
the equivalent of external noise is the inner noise of thinking.the equivalent of external silence
is inner stillness.
whenever there is some silence around you-listen to it.that means just notice it.pay attention to it
listening to silence awakens the dimension of stillness within yourself,because it is only through
stillness that you can be aware of silence.
see that in the moment of noticing the silence around you, you are not thinking.
you are aware, but not thinking.
when you become aware of silence,immediately there is that state of inner still alertness.
you are present. you have stepped out of thousands of years of collective human conditioning.
look at a tree, a flower,a plant. let your awareness rest upon it.how still they are,how deeply
rooted in being.allow nature to teach you stillness.
when you look at a tree and perceive its stillness,you become still yourself.you connect with it
at a very deep level.you feel