Crystalheads- Being Still

In recent times, the value of being still has begun to make more sense to me.
I've had a tendency to run around 'completing' this project or that, studying this school of thought or that, but all the while I was running from something within. Messengers such as Buddha and later, Yashua (also known as Jesus) have emphasized that peace, heaven or nirvana if you will, is within.
I believe that's true.





We can run around working towards this goal, or that, but isn't the only true satisfaction we can achieve, in the peace of inaction, or 'beingness'? The Peace of observing... Living and letting live? There are plenty of folks who would like to tell us how to live and interpret the words of the sages, gurus, messengers and prophets we've been blessed to have the teachings of, but isn't it more important what your interpretation is? And in order to know what your interpretation of anything is, don't you need silence, and time to contemplate, and commune with your own heart so you can heed the truth in your heart?
I'm of the school that believes the heart never lies.

It's not some fluffy 'girly' place to be regarded a mushy zone of experience (that kind of regard has caused many a man to distance himself from the heart which can result in disorders like depression, alcoholism and also heart disease...). The heart is less about gender roles and more about truth and what truly sparks an individual's passion.
It's the center of our true identity. It fuels our courage (hence the 'cor' of Corazon meaning heart, in latin, at the root of the word). It pumps our lifeforce throughout the body. When our heart is experiencing imbalance we are cold, frightened and confused. When the heart is balanced we celebrate life, love, and act without unnecessary fears. We cannot be controlled when we listen to our hearts. That would be why we live in a society that continually pushes images of fear onto us through the media, and 'socially-engineers' us with their expertise in symbolism and mass hypnosis. When we hesitate, experience doubt and 'cave' under pressure we aren't acting from our hearts.

On the flip side, when we're too open and passionate, we can work our hearts overtime and unnecessarily. Enablers are famous for this as they extend themselves wherever they see a need, while neglecting themselves. I don't think we need to neglect ourselves to sacrifice something of ourselves for the greater good, but again that is a matter between I & I or You and you. We can't know what we really want if we don't take time from the constant movement cycle we are conditioned to partake of in most societies, and just be still so we can listen.

Listening, I'm realizing, is one of the areas I need to work on the most.

In addition to listening there's the importance of trusting the interpretation of what you 'hear'. Ultimately our lifepaths have been given to us and much of our identity is based on our beliefs, goals and philosophies. When we define ourselves, the world doesn't have to do it for us and we can experience the beauty of the unique identities we've been given, and earned.

We don't need to powerstruggle for energy or attention (see: The Celestine Prophecy), we can just
be. Being and letting go are related. When we let go we accept the state of receptivity. We succumb to the death-rebirth cycle of change without struggle, and have faith that the next moment is meant to happen. When we can do this we can actually accept the next lesson, and most likely learn it without having to repeat it.

I think that's where I am now. Previously I was running to and fro dutifully at work on some big project and so determined to be on top of things, to be precise, and 'together' or what have you.
But I've realized, it's not about striving for perfection so much as its about being willing to experience the perfection that is already existent in nature, and being humble enough to learn from it. Everything indeed has it's purpose or it wouldn't be here.

Some call this Wu Wei or Daoism.
Others see Buddhism in it.
There will be yet more who would have another name.

I just call it being still.
All we need is already within.
We just have to lend enough trust
to be intimate with the inner peace
that waits.

Most of our actions are fueled by angers we've forgotten,
and in the end, as I've experienced it, the need to validate anger by 'proving' oneself
is truly a cycle that continues to demand more of you, but never satisfies. There's something dishonest about anger as well. While it can be positive in terms of defense, it can also allow a powerstruggle with another person or issue to consume your energy and take you off of your course. We're not victims. We're humans who are balancing our own selfishness with our communal instincts, in a society that would have us forget community altogether by constantly meddling with the definitions and interpretations of humanity we're subjected to in media designed to perpetuate panic and fear (which is at the seed of hate) that becomes word of mouth.
After this word becomes action, action becomes deed, and deed becomes reputation...Reputation can become a ball and chain...

When we're not trying to impress anyone though, and we don't have anything to prove, we can actually be intimate with ourselves, and connect with our human siblings for different more positive reasons. We can be in the 'now' because the past isn't distracting us with the next 'Act' in our self-perpetuated 'now-becoming-future' dramas.

In these days and times when sleep doesn't even seem to satisfy (according to the folks I've come across experiencing discontent), learning to find peace being still, without need for external gratification may be arduous at first, but is nonetheless vital to sanity and spiritual health no matter what you call your school of spirituality.