The quieter you become the more you can hear. --Ram Dass

As I write this essay, I am in the middle of making an important decision regarding an opportunity that has surfaced. The time for finalizing my decision is drawing close, yet at this point in time, I am still unclear as to what the best decision is. I have been trying a myriad of decision-making approaches: letting go of attachment to outcome, discussing it with my partner, journaling about it, and so forth. Yet I know in my heart (and from past experience), that the only true method for making a decision that supports the greatest good of everyone involved--is to ask for inner guidance. The answer that my soul seeks will not come from anyone or anything outside myself, but from deep within, and that requires becoming still. Elizabeth Kubler-Ross once wisely penned the following words of wisdom, “Learn to get in touch with the silence within yourself, and know that everything in life has purpose. There are no mistakes, no coincidences, all events are blessings given to us to learn from.”  

Being still entails quieting the senses enough so that we may hear our soul. The soul speaks quietly, so we must enter our inner sanctuary, close the door, and be still where no one can see us. When we are alone, the guidance may reveal itself, something that will never happen in public. Why? Because when we’re around others our ego is on display, even in the presence of loved ones. Thus it’s not necessary for us to try and access our deepest truth within, our only focus needs to be on settling into an atmosphere of faith and hope, trusting that the highest answer will surface when we are perfectly still.

The same thing is true for meditation; since Love’s Presence is within us, everywhere, at all times, we need only be willing to still our senses and patiently wait for the contact to occur. We are not trying to reach anything, but to achieve a state of such stillness that the awareness of Love permeates us. Only in the sacredness of inward silence does the soul truly reveal the answers we long to hear.

For most of us, being still is not an easy thing to achieve. The amount of stimuli in our society is staggering, not to mention all of the noise from our own thoughts! There are so many diversions to becoming still, that it must be a priority for it even to occur. In his book Practicing the Presence, spiritual mystic Joel Goldsmith writes, “It takes constant turning within to tear away the veil of illusion, the middle-wall partition which seems to separate us. How speedily we pierce the veil has no relationship to our human goodness...t has relationship only to the depth of our desire to make contact.” The middle-wall partition represents all of the distractions we experience which prevent us from connecting with our soul. It’s the need to keep busy--so busy, that we never become still. But with persistence and practice, it will occur. There are walls of resistance that must be broken down and circles of fear to overcome. Yet nothing truly meaningful in our lives ever happens without desire and diligence...

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© Copyright Laura Grace. This article was originally published at our website, SoulfulLiving.com, in Oct.-Dec. 2005, as part of Soulful Living's "Being Still" Issue.

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