Be Still

We need to sit without having any reason to sit. When there is no goal, no outcome in mind then there is nothing for the inner-expert to analyse or benchmark our experience against. For example, when you last sat down to drink a tea, did the inner-expert analyse your ability to relax? Probably not. I expect you just drank your tea without much thought involved. So why not do the same but without a tea in your hand? Sit to sit. In doing so, relaxation comes. Let go of outcomes and there is nothing for the do-er to do.

“There is no wisdom that is not still.” — Li Rong (?)

You cannot see clearly in turbulent water, and you cannot be wise in a turbulent mind.

Stillness is not just a condition for wisdom — it is the very medium in which wisdom exists. A restless mind can hold information, but wisdom — the deeper knowing of how things are and how to live rightly — only becomes accessible when the noise settles.

True wisdom cannot be accessed through a busy, restless, or reactive mind. Stillness — inner quiet, presence, the calming of mental noise — is the necessary ground from which genuine insight arises. You can accumulate information endlessly, but wisdom (the deeper understanding of how to live, what matters, and how things truly are) only surfaces when the mind settles.

• In contemplative Christianity, it echoes the practice of silent prayer and lectio divina

• In Buddhism, it reflects samatha (calm-abiding meditation) as the foundation of insight

• In Taoism, it mirrors wu wei — effortless action arising from inner stillness

• In Stoicism, it echoes the value of rational, undisturbed reflection