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The state of peace is always present. If you are not experiencing
it, it is because of the activity of the mind.
Transcript:
I often hear people say that after they’ve had an experience of the stillness, a Satori, an opening, for some time after they can sit, and feel that stillness again, be in that stillness again. And then it starts to fade. This is known as a fact. This is what happens for most people.
And then, what comes is a … a striving, trying to get it back again. And the striving chases it away.
What is not realized that when stillness happens … that’s a way of trying to say something that can’t be said. When you’re suddenly in the stillness, you are the stillness.
It’s not realized how that came about. It isn’t that stillness has happened. Stillness is always there. This state, that is not actually stillness ’cause it’s still moving, but this state is always there. Often when people say stillness, they think of something very boring and fixed. No, it’s not. This, that we’re calling ‘stillness’, is very alive. It’s very juicy. It’s flowing. It’s life. It’s living and it’s still and it’s peaceful. So, the word is ‘and’.
This stillness is always there. It’s … there … now … with you. So it’s not that you have to create anything. It’s that you have other things in the way: the activity of the mind that produces chemicals in the body, and movement in the emotions. So these things are on top of the stillness. It’s there now.
When we have a realization of this stillness, we don’t actually realize the process.
This is the process. Stillness is always there, things are on top. When you see the things clearly and just say, “Yes, they’re there.” they don’t have to go away. You say, “Yes, they’re there.” and then the next thing and the next thing. You are just excepting … unconditionally … the way things are … unconditionally. Krishnamurti, “unconditional awareness.”
And its course, it’s very tricky because you want the stillness back. And the wanting is in the way. And if you don’t want the stillness, then you don’t look for it. So it’s a loop.
So here’s what happens, you sit and be … with … what … is. So, if you’re not experiencing the stillness, that’s the way it is. And maybe, that’s the way it is supposed to be. That… maybe that’s your gift. Maybe it’s bringing things up for which… you to look at.
We’re coming back to being … with … what … is. Of course, you’d love the stillness back. But you see, the stillness is … acceptance … being … with … everything … just the way it is, which includes your wanting, but not doing anything about the wanting.
Just being with everything that is, everything that’s going on in the body, in the emotions, in the mind, in everything. “Yes, this is the way this moment is.” And then, you may find it just… there it is again. Yes, to what is.
Here’s another thing about stillness. Stillness is not about being still. What we’re talking about is stillness; can happen anytime, anywhere, in any circumstance. In fact, if you’re total in what you are doing….
Now, let’s talk about total. Total is lining up. Those thoughts line up. You are so engaged in what you are doing, you’re so total everything comes online. The classical example is masters who have said that when they’re praised for their wonderful painting, they say in affect, “I didn’t paint that. I wasn’t there at that time.” Now the ‘I’ that wasn’t there, was the conflicting thoughts. They were so total, so absorbed in what they were doing. Stillness.
And it doesn’t have to be in art. You can do it in anything. You can do it in gardening, in peeling potatoes, in washing up. Anything, in which you are aware … and then become total. In a way, the awareness disappears. You and the awareness become one … in anything … in which you’re unconditionally total. Anything!
And here’s what happens. Like the painter, it’s as though life starts living through you. You’ll sometimes get an intuition about something, “Oh, if I did this, or if I did that, this would happen.” It’s as though thoughts and ideas start coming through you like what happens with inventors.
Literally, life starts to live through you, and you are … an emptiness that’s full. You hear the words coming through you. You hear what you’re saying at the same time as you say them. Even your movements and what you decide to do is coming through you … when you are … unconditionally … total.