Monday, May 4, 2015

Practice Silence . . . Or Stillness

Last week I wrote about changing the wording of something -- talking about self-employment instead of (extremely) early retirement --  to make it more palatable.

I think a similar change might be in order for "go into the silence."   I think I prefer "practice silence," or, even better, "practice stillness."  First of all I am often wary of "the" formulations.  They seem big and official.  Secondly, I like "practice" because it is expresses our capacity to improve -- most people aren't going to be very good at silence/stillness at first.  Thirdly, "silence" is simply not making noise yourself.  "Stillness" more readily has connotations of working both the inside and outside.

I believe that the good life requires the removal of unnecessarily movement, both physical and mental.  This is more fundamental than just a tool for more accomplishments.  This is the best way to live.

So my last problem with the phrase "go into the silence" is that in the formulation by Howard E. Hill treats silence only as a tool.  Silence leads to creativity, creativity leads to money.  That is a path.  But practicing silence stillness can mean much more than that.