Meditation

So meditation, which leads to inner quiet, may be a direct aid to those who follow a particular religion, but it has equal value for those who have no particular belief and no particular philosophy of life. Equally it can help those whose main interest is in outer activity, for the direction of meditation is twofold. There is the turn within, to which end the technique takes the meditator to a place of stillness, resting at the centre of being. The other direction is the turn out, when the meditator moves about activities. To use the analogy of the bow and arrow again: although one needs to pull back and pull back, the purpose of pulling back is to let go, so that the arrow may fly to the target carrying all the potential gained by pulling back. In the same way, the stillness of meditation is carried into activity; indeed, it is in activity that the greater discovery may be made. The Taoist teacher Ts’ai-ken t’an says:

“The stillness in stillness is not the real stillness. Only when there is stillness in  movement can the spiritual rhythm appear which pervades heaven and earth.”