Discovering Stillness
“It is inner stillness that will save and transform the world.”
-Eckhart Tolle
Once upon a time, I gathered this as a quote that spoke to me. This promise of stillness and what it could make possible, not only for me but for the world, was something I wanted, yet had not encountered in such a profound and transformational way. As I write these words on this page, from my heart to yours, I have now tasted deeply this level of stillness and believe as well that it will save and transform the world. For it is out of stillness that everything as we know it once began and it is in its very nature to return to this space of stillness.
Sit with these words from Lao Tzu in the Tao te Ching:
Empty your mind of all thoughts
Let your heart be at peace.
Watch the turmoil of beings,
but contemplate their return.
Each separate being in the universe
returns to the common source.
Returning to the source is serenity.
If you don’t realize the source,
you stumble in confusion and sorrow.
When you realize where you come from,
you naturally become tolerant disinterested, amused,
kindhearted as a grandmother, dignified as a king.
Immersed in the wonder of the Tao,
you can deal with whatever life brings you,
and when death comes, you are ready.
In the summer of 2019, I mindfully closed a business, sold my home, purged my simple belongings down to a few small boxes of meaningful items (mostly from my travels around the world) and moved to a tiny Japanese house in Kyoto, Japan. It was an intentional decision with one purpose in mind…to step out of the world for a brief year of pause and silence.
Stillness.
I moved to Japan to allow every last fragment of my “self” to break completely apart, to sit in stillness with that, and simply be, until I allowed to rise to the surface, only those things that were truly worth holding on to.
Absolutely nothing else.
The simplest and purest version of myself. I was seeking to cultivate a way of “being” within myself, my true home.
Stillness, however one’s journey takes them to reach this place, is the absolute and only way to truly begin. It is only from this place of complete stillness that one can begin to be silent and hear the whisper of the soul.
There is a principal in Japanese culture known as “ma”. It can be translated as “the pause or emptiness between.”
Silent. Empty space.
A good traveler has no fixed plans and is not intent upon arriving. A good artist lets his intuition lead him wherever it wants.
Zen and Ink Journals represents hundreds of hours of writing over the past decade, sometimes from a train in remote China or a coffee shop in Kyoto, a hammock in Costa Rica or a simple cabin on a mountain in Boquete, Panama.
Zen and Ink Journals is a simple offering of words in the hope of inspiring others to a simpler, more mindful way of life in these chaotic times. I invite you join me each month on the journey for a glimpse of the larger world, reflections on living more simply and quietly amidst the chaos of our modern world.
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For more information and ways to connect with me, visit my website at Zen and Ink
Zen and Ink was born over a decade ago out of my own personal journey to find peace and tranquility amidst the ever-increasing chaos of our modern world. In the last ten years, the pace of our modern world has only accelerated and we have moved further out of sync with nature and the rhythm of our souls. Zen and Ink offers a quiet space for anyone along their journey seeking more balance and Zen in their daily lives.
Zen and Ink provides an oasis for those who are drawn to a slower and simpler way of life; to provide a portal for awakening, tools and resources that many will find useful in their own quest to find the Zen which is already there and always within and around each of us.
