February/March 2006

Politics and the Web of Life
Lesley Adams

Another World Is Possible
Gar Alperovitz

The Cochabamba Water Revolt
Jim Schultz

In the Kingdom of the Half-Blind
Bill Moyers

The Man Who Sold the Iraq War
Amy Goodman interviews James Bamford

The Translucent Revolution
Arjuna Ardagh

Rescuing a Planet Under Stress and a Civilization in Trouble
Lester Brown

Is There a Friendlier Option for a Post-peak Future?
Bill McKibben

Awakening The Unique Potential in Each Child
Danella M. Shea

The Education of Jarvis Masters
Anna Smith

The Ashland Independent Film Festival

5th Annual Siskiyou Environmental Film Festival

Daily Life and Stillness
Christine Breese, DD, Ph.D

The Science of Spiritual Marketing
Andrea Adler

Books in Brief
Moksha Mokma

Necessity is the Mother of Invention
Asha Deliverance

Cosmic Calendar
Salina Rain

BACK TO TOP

Daily Life and Stillness

By Christine Breese, D.D., Ph.D.

When I first embraced stillness as a path to peace, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually, I couldn’t really figure out how to apply that to daily life. Just exactly how does one stay still in the midst of mundane tasks, balancing check-books, and handling conflict which is bound to appear, be it man vs. nature, man vs. man, or man vs. himself?

I discovered that it is possible to be still in the midst of all this simply by being focused on my present moment, even if it is unpleasant, and nothing else. Absolutely nothing else. No history creeping in with all the resulting programming and distrust of the present, no worrying about future survival which results in making fear based choices, and no projecting outward (blaming others) about present situations. When I truly examined the inability to be still in myself, there was a direct connection, conscious or unconscious, to the future, the past, or feeling that someone else was responsible for my present.

By removing all factors having to do with anything but the present moment, well, it was a quantum leap in my consciousness! If I let go of all past injustices and let go of worrying about future survival, there was nothing left but being in the moment and making choices based on that moment alone.

I began to pretend that each day was a lifetime unto itself. In each day, I was a different person than I was the day before. The things I attracted to myself were different, and even my vibration became a little different. The rules the day before (beliefs hiding as facts in my consciousness) did not necessarily apply to the person I became the next day. By removing the past and the future, I was free, undamaged, and not fearing damage, which was the motivating drive underneath every non-present thought I had.

As far as being still in the midst of mundane tasks and daily life, I found that if I focused on nothing but just that, doing dishes (which became a meditation), going through the checkout line at the supermarket (which became giving blessing, darshan, to others), or driving my car (which became an exciting adventure), there was some sort of divinity there. Some sort of magic could be brought to the moment that simply could not exist if my mind was spinning elsewhere. Everything became a divine act being done by God, even washing the dishes! I realized that life, mundane tasks and all, was my soul’s “lucid dream.”

It can only be experienced. It cannot be spoken. The closest I can come to speaking it is that I could find joy and peacefulness in that moment, instead of rushing through my tasks, thinking about all the things I had to do, worrying about the future, feeling angry about the past, or wondering about this person or that person. I discovered that I could be still inside myself even as I went about my day.

It takes discipline and vigilance at first to create the habit of being in the ever unfolding now, but after a while, it becomes second nature. Many people measure enlightenment by siddhis (spiritual powers), how “fixed up” the personality is, or how successful at manifestation on the physical plane a person is, but I have come to see that enlightenment is better measured by how still a person is inside, even as things happen on the outside.

Have you ever had a lucid dream (realized you were dreaming while still in the dream)? You may notice in lucid dreams that you are very alert and there is no past or future, just the dream itself. Now if you really want to play a trick on your consciousness, pretend you are in a lucid dream as you drive your car, wash the dishes, or talk to the checkout girl, and you will get the idea of how the stillness might feel inside. This isn’t quite it, for all forms, dreamed or physical, are still in the realm of experience, but it is closer to the real deal. You will notice some sort of consciousness behind the whole thing. I am not speaking about the observer and the observed. It is even deeper than that. It is not the observer part of yourself, for it is something that is not separate from the experience itself and it is not a part of you. It is what is behind all of you. Your life can be lived from this awareness.

Christine Breese, is the founder of University Of Metaphysical Sciences (www.umsonline.org), Universal Church Of Metaphysics, and Starlight Journal. She is an author, lecturer and teacher in the field of metaphysics. She is also a producer and director of film and audio projects.