Still Waters
I always find that after driving up two busy main
roads (busy even at this hour), that as soon as I turn into the lane here at
Sullington there is a very real sense of entering something else – of leaving a
hurried world and entering stillness.
Everything inside me gives way instantly and willingly to the beauty and
stillness of the landscape and an internal stillness gives rise to a relaxing
sigh and a warm smile.
So this is a
time to be still, to put everything else aside, let the thoughts that occupy
our minds fall away as we continue the inward journey that each of us is
making. Let’s also be aware that we are part of the Divine nature of all that
is and by whichever word or name is meaningful to each of us.
~~~
A
good many years ago (30 or more) a little book came on to the market that
caused quite a stir in both the religious and secular worlds. It was called ‘Mr God this is Anna’ by Sydney
Hopkins who writes under the pseudonym ‘Fynn.’ Once read, it’s the sort of book
you go back to from time to time, which is what I did recently. If you’ve read
this little gem you will know that at the start Anna is a 4/5 year old urchin
who had run away from an abusive home life and was found and befriended by teenager
Fynn late one foggy night on the streets of East London
in the 1930s.
At
5years Anna knew the purpose of being, the meaning of love and was a personal
friend and helper of Mr God. At 6 and 7years
she was her own theologian, mathematician, philosopher, poet and gardener. She
didn’t reach the age of 8 because she died in an accident but with a grin on
her face saying: ‘I bet Mr God lets me go to heaven for this.’
It
seems that people have always asked was whether it’s a true story or not for
that’s how it reads. Even today with the aid of the internet, people are still
unsure, but if it isn’t true then it should be.
The
book opens with one of Anna’s many theological insights when she announces – “The diffrence from a person and an angel
is easy. Most of an angel is in the inside and most of a person is on the
outside.”
Most
of an angel is in the inside and most of a person is on the outside.
The
simplicity of this statement reminded me that this is what many people in
various ways and through a variety of different mediums are trying to achieve –
to be ‘mainly on the inside’; to discover the Divine within: to discover who we
truly are; that we are more than the ‘on the outside’ characters we are playing
out on the world’s stage.
This
is the journey inwards. It doesn’t involve strenuous effort or mental
gymnastics for it is not about ‘doing’ or ‘achieving’, it’s about ‘letting go.’ In the same way we give ourselves up to sleep
each night, so we give ourselves up to the stillness of meditation and the
Divine within.
And
I thought again about stillness. We turn
off a busy road and enter the stillness of the lane. . . and from the lane we
enter into the stillness of this church. . . and then we come to the stillness
of meditation. In this setting we might
hope this comes easily but that’s not always the case because all too often
this is when the ego mind begins it’s ‘mainly on the outside’ chatter. In eastern religions this thought-chatter is
called ‘monkey mind’ because the mind chatters away like a troop of monkeys. Meister Eckhart calls it ‘a storm of inward thoughts which afflict us.’
There
are several ways which help to still this mind-chatter. I rather like the one the
modern day mystic Andrew Harvey tells of in a conversation he had years ago with
the Tibetan mystic Thuksey Rinpoche. Rinpoche tells him:
“Meditation is not gymnastics, it is the
art of peace, and for it to be practiced with true success you must feel as
serene and secure as possible.” Then after a pause he smiled and said “But
there is one thing I want you always to remember… when you begin to meditate
imagine that all your thoughts, worries and fears are like a large slab of
butter left out in the summer sun and let everything melt slowly away.”
So
helping us towards being ‘mainly on the inside’ involves letting outside interference
melt away as we still the mind.
During
a time of meditation, it is helpful to make sure you are sitting comfortably
and that your body is relaxed – check face and shoulders in particular, it’s
surprising how much tension is there . . . . . and then focus your attention on
your breathing. . . as it enters your body. . . and as it leaves going out into
the air in front of you. Notice it on
your nostrils and on the area between nose and lip, breathing in and out like
waves drawing back and forth on the seashore yet remaining as calm as a mill
pond. Breathe naturally. If the ego-mind starts to set up a running commentary
let it melt away like a slab of butter in the sun.
Eckhart
Tolle tells us “When you are still, you
are who you were before you temporarily assumed this physical and mental form
called person. You are also who you will
be when the form dissolves. When you are still, you are who you are beyond your
temporal existence: consciousness – unconditioned, formless, eternal.”
Anna
tells us “Most of an angel is in the
inside and most of a person is on the outside.”
Let
us give thanks for this place
For
the journeys we are making that brought us together.
For
the silence that unites us
For
the stillness that enfolds us
For
the steps we have taken
And
those we still have to take.
Thanks
for the love and inspiration of the Divine
Which
calls to us and shapes our lives
Thanks
for those we love
And
those we find difficult.
And
so, as we go from this place,
May
we take that love with us
To
hold and to give.
So
be it.
Meg
Johnson
