“One may say that the entire being becomes like the surface of calm water, reflecting the immense presence of the starry sky and its indescribable harmony. And the waters are deep, they are so deep! And the silence grows, ever increasing. . what silence! Its growth takes place through regular waves which pass, one after the other, through your being: one wave of silence followed by another wave of more profound silence, then again a wave of still more profound silence. . . Have you ever drunk silence?” ~Valentin Tomberg
If we could flip a switch and turn off all the noise, chaos and stimulation, both inside and outside of us, what would that be like?
As Tomberg suggests, it might be something like looking up at the sky on a clear night, perhaps after a power outage has extinguished every last source of terrestrial light.
We would become present to the vast mystery of being in the cosmos. We would see countless stars, like limitless possibilities, strewn across a celestial panorama.
The modern world has its many brilliant inventions and fascinations (a “revolving magic lantern show”) whose alluring lights increasingly mute the calling of our distant stars. This is the literal sense of disaster; to be disconnected from the stars (aster); from the great possibilities in the outer limits, the furthest depths, of our being.
Unfortunately, there is no such switch within us. We are teeming with thoughts, feelings, images and sensations, even when our surroundings are not adding to the chaos.
Stillness must be developed with intention.
Cultivate inner peace. Tend to the disturbances. Create space. Be present. Listen, more and more deeply.
Be still.
The Philosophy of Psychology 