We spend an awful lot of time being busy. And – although it’s not entirely a modern thing – our minds are arguably busier now than at any time in our histories. More distractions, more work, more gadgets, more things to do, more things pinging and twanging us with notifications…
One of the huge benefits of having a mindful meditation practice is that it clears a space every day which you dedicate to a single thing. You put aside all your other distractions, your work, your worries, and bring your awareness to what is happening in this moment, just as it is.
What you’ll probably start to find as you get into a practice routine is a sort of inner stillness, a centre to your practice. As you get more and more used to this period of time, and better at just noticing your thoughts and your inner emotions, this stillness will begin to stretch and grow. Not just in your practice but it will begin to seep into life outside the formal practice itself.
Stillness is something we often shy away from – people describe the horror of being left alone, or of being in a situation when they’re bored and have nothing to do. Try and think of this in a different way – instead, seek out quiet and stillness – actively try to nurture those moments when you have nothing to do. With time you will begin to see that settling into stillness and non-doing gives rise to a whole host of deeper, less conditional joys; of peace and contentment, and a deeper connection to life as it you live it.
Notice what “nothing” is. Here’s Eckhart Tolle:
“Pay attention to the gap – the gap between two thoughts, the brief, silent space between words in a conversation, between the notes of a piano or flute, or the gap between the in-breath and the out-breath. When you pay attention to those gaps, awareness of ‘something’ becomes – just awareness. The formless dimension of pure consciousness arises from within you and replaces identification with form.”
Eckhart Tolle
And another rather beautiful quote from T.S. Eliot, which although religious in nature, still pulls rather effectively at the idea I’m trying to tease out here:
The endless cycle of idea and action,
From T.S Eliot’s The Rock
Endless invention, endless experiment,
Brings knowledge of motion, but not of stillness;
Knowledge of speech, but not of silence;
Knowledge of words, and ignorance of the Word.
All our knowledge brings us nearer to our ignorance,
All our ignorance brings us nearer to death,
But nearness to death no nearer to God.
Where is the Life we have lost in living?
Where is the wisdom we have lost in knowledge?
Where is the knowledge we have lost in information?
The cycles of Heaven in twenty centuries
Bring us farther from God and nearer to the Dust.
