Quietude

Photo by Ante Hamersmit

“So sitting quietly is a way of stopping our usual activity (all the talking and doing) and simply being present to the bare actuality of what is going on in this moment.

“We can call it meditation, but that word has so much baggage attached to it and means so many different things to different people, that I prefer to call it nothing at all. What I’m talking about is nothing more than a simplified space where there can be careful attention given to what we usually overlook, overlay, ignore or avoid.

“And as we explore the present moment in depth, we can discover firsthand for ourselves how suffering happens, how the mirage of separation is created, how decisions and choices actually unfold (as opposed to how we think they unfold), and we can see directly how the idea of “me” and the story of ‘my life’ are created by thought and imagination.

“We can discover that true joy, true happiness, true love, and true freedom are here in this simple presence that is right here, right now.”¹

“…Sitting quietly is a way of giving attention to what actually is.”²

— Joan Tollifson

Waves of the Ocean

[1] Joan Tollifson, Painting the Sidewalk with Water: Talks and Dialogs about Nonduality (New Sarum Press. Kindle Edition), p. 118 AX 7286

[2] Ibid., p. 119 AX 7286

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