The Experience of Stillness by Constance Kellough
Except from The HOW to Inner Peace by Constance Kellough p.40
The shift in consciousness we need requires that we discover and live from the stillness within us. When we come from inner stillness, which, as already stated, is paradoxically a highly active, alert state, it opens us to experience aspects of our true Self and continues to pave the way to felt Self-realization.
Noise is the language of the world and to quote Rumi, “Silence is the language God speaks, all else is a poor translation.” Silence, however beautifully caressing, is not stillness. Stillness is a deep inner state. As mentioned earlier, when we are aware of silence, we are in the present moment, and silence is also an invitation to enter into stillness, especially during the early stages of practicing meditation.
To sit in stillness is to allow everything to be as it is. Exclude nothing from your awareness. This includes the whirring of the fan, the ticking of the clock, the noise of the traffic outside, the “ding” from your iPhone signaling you have a new message. It also includes any thoughts that come to you or emotions that arise. If you try to exclude anything from stillness, you are in resistance. It’s impossible to be still and to be in resistance at the same time.
While you are abiding in inner stillness, you are aware of and accept everything that is taking place on the inner plane as well as in the outer world around you. Your intent is to become so anchored in stillness that you approach everything you do from this state of stillness, regardless of where you are or who you are with. It is in stillness that the greatest authentic power is released. I often refer to stillness as, for some, the newly discovered and only authentic “Super Power”. That which cannot be mentally grasped, only experienced, is at work nourishing your soul and therefore positively influencing all of your thoughts, words, and actions.
It has been said, “Be still and know that I am God.” 1 We find God in the stillness within us. Many equate God as being the essence of love. Aren’t we all searching for love? But aren’t most of us searching for it from others outside of ourselves. If we change our understanding of this quote to mean within stillness we will know that we are love, then why don’t we try to find the love that we already are by entering the stillness within us?
Because we feel so “at home” and complete in a state of stillness, the more often we enter inner stillness, the less likely we will want to be in noisy environments and surrounded by people who chatter of mundane, superficial things and often in an agitated manner. We may not listen to the car radio as much and our interest in watching TV may decline. We will likely become more comfortable with non-verbal yet deep communication in our relationships, since we are now able to relate to others from a deeper place than surface thoughts and emotions. We will also experience an increasing delight in just sitting with ourselves in stillness. Indeed, we will find that in stillness we feel least alone because then we are in touch with our One Self.
It is in stillness that we can hear the inner voice of our higher awareness that speaks to us in “words” without sound or form, of things we cannot become aware of in any other way.
When we enter into stillness, we cultivate an alert attention. As we listen to the stillness by putting attention on our ears, especially our inner ear canals, it creates a kind of vacuum, so to speak, into which we invite the wisdom of higher consciousness. And as we continue in the practice of listening to the “still small voice” within us, it increasingly guides our thoughts, perceptions, actions, and words, until there comes a time when if we need to know or do something, we automatically go inward and listen. When we pray, we often use words to make requests. When we listen in stillness, we receive what the consciousness within us wants to share with us, wants us to become aware of.
Constance has had an extensive work career – from teacher at Vancouver Community College, to founder of Kellough & Company, a Management Consulting firm, to publishing in the areas of Mind/Body/Spirit for the last twenty years. While continuing to oversee Namaste Publishing, Constance also teaches Innerbody Meditation www.innerbodymeditation.com. Eckhart Tolle was her root teacher for this profound form of meditation which quickly raises the consciousness of the practitioners. She is also a supporter and client of Meditate Vancouver whose vision is to make Vancouver a model for igniting Meditation throughout North America and beyond.
