Stillness
The lead in the homeland
of water is just one flavour.
(Golden Flower)
What
is stillness?
Stillness is the sense of inner calm that helps you to relax and just be.
Rather than rush around, you feel alert yet rested.
In order to become still, you learn how to slow down and eventually how to stop.
Expansive
Your gaze will soften and become expansive when you find quiet inside.
Rather than be troubled by everyday matters, you will feel at one with
everything around you.
Things won't seem so bad.
All your worries will fade gradually and you will feel centred and under
control.
You will not have any compulsion to be active and busy.
Slow down
Tai chi is an antidote to stressful living.
When you take things a little slower, you begin to notice the world.
Darkness & shadows
A traditional Japanese tea house balanced darkness and light to produce an
atmosphere of ease and calm.
Shadows and dimness serve to settle the mind.
In modern houses it is possible to modulate the amount of light allowed into
a room.
Voiles and curtains can be adjusted to adjust the mood.
Bright lighting and flickering screens are not relaxing.
Avoid the hypnotic dance of light.
Embrace darkness and shadow.
Rise early
Monks around the world get up in the early hours of the day and gain clarity
from the stillness of the unawakened world.
We share this habit and have risen early for decades now.
Our preference is 4 AM but we typically rise at 5 because it offers a more
practical bed time.
When you walk alongside a river or beneath trees at the start of the day,
there is a magic in the air.
Such quiet.
Yes, there are birds and the occasional person or car, but the mood is one
of tranquillity.
The streets are empty of commerce; the shops shuttered and closed.
There are no consumers, no hustle and bustle, no showmanship and
competition.
It is like being backstage. Before the day begins.
Page created 25 January 1994