Stillness and Silence
In the book, Stillness Speaks, Eckhart Tolle presents some incredible gems of insights delivered in a "sutra" like fashion, so reminiscent of ancient yogic and Hindu texts:
"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 a oneness with whatever
you perceive in and through stillness.
Feeling the oneness of yourself
with all things is true love."
"Silence is helpful, but you don't need it in order to find stillness.
Even when there is noise, you can be aware of the stillness
underneath the noise, of the space in which the noise arises.
That is the inner space of pure awareness, consciousness itself."
I pondered the depths of these insights and juxtaposed them with some of Rumi's verses, taken from the book, The Spiritual Practices of Rumi: Radical Techniques for Beholding the Divine, by Will Johnson.
This book explores both the silence and stillness that is implied and necessary when one is gazing at the Beloved:
"Friend sits by Friend,
and the tablets appear.
They read the mysteries
off each other's forehead."
In order to know the Divine - we must be willing to dive deep into stillness and silence...
"Come to the sea of charm and beauty.
Arrive at the mind of Union.
Gaze into the drunken eyes of that real beauty...
Dive into that sea which is full of glory.
Plunge into these languid eyes..."
"Thousand of times I ran away from you
Like an arrow is thrown by the bow,
And thousands of times I was caught again
As prey by your hunting eyes."
"The beauty of Love is the merger
Of the lover with the Beloved.
Come on now! Mix each other
Like butter and flour,
Just like thick soup
Which can't be separated."
This merger of lover and Beloved transpires most perfectly in stillness and silence. But tomorrow I will explore Rumi's specific teachings on silence as it is more amply treated in Will Johnson's chapter on "Language of the Heart" from the Spiritual Practices of Rumi.
"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 a oneness with whatever
you perceive in and through stillness.
Feeling the oneness of yourself
with all things is true love."
"Silence is helpful, but you don't need it in order to find stillness.
Even when there is noise, you can be aware of the stillness
underneath the noise, of the space in which the noise arises.
That is the inner space of pure awareness, consciousness itself."
I pondered the depths of these insights and juxtaposed them with some of Rumi's verses, taken from the book, The Spiritual Practices of Rumi: Radical Techniques for Beholding the Divine, by Will Johnson.
This book explores both the silence and stillness that is implied and necessary when one is gazing at the Beloved:
"Friend sits by Friend,
and the tablets appear.
They read the mysteries
off each other's forehead."
In order to know the Divine - we must be willing to dive deep into stillness and silence...
"Come to the sea of charm and beauty.
Arrive at the mind of Union.
Gaze into the drunken eyes of that real beauty...
Dive into that sea which is full of glory.
Plunge into these languid eyes..."
"Thousand of times I ran away from you
Like an arrow is thrown by the bow,
And thousands of times I was caught again
As prey by your hunting eyes."
"The beauty of Love is the merger
Of the lover with the Beloved.
Come on now! Mix each other
Like butter and flour,
Just like thick soup
Which can't be separated."
This merger of lover and Beloved transpires most perfectly in stillness and silence. But tomorrow I will explore Rumi's specific teachings on silence as it is more amply treated in Will Johnson's chapter on "Language of the Heart" from the Spiritual Practices of Rumi.
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