You can learn a lot from reading old books. And in many cases the older the better. One book that I’ve been going through recently is the Bible in particular the Rotherham’s Emphasized Bible which has the various translations of the words in Hebrew and Greek which lends a lot more clarity to what the stories were trying to get across as well as well as debunks some things that make religious people look stupid for believing.
But anyways in reading these old stories (which by the way you don’t have the be Christian or even religious to get value from) something I’ve seen occur again and again is that the men that God used most for the greatest things all spent a whole lot of time deep in nature in the stillness and silence. And that this is where they talked with God and became close to his spirit and were able to get guidance from him.
It was in the wilds when they were alone and one with the stillness and silence that they were able to gather strength and get guidance to do the great things that they accomplished. This is a pattern that repeats itself time and time again. It’s so often people think that guidance comes from blinding flashes of light that blindside your life but this seems to rarely be the way that it works.
The Value Of The Stillness
It is in the stillness, solitude, and silence that we find deep things and that we grow our spirit. It’s a shame that something like meditation has been co-opted by one particular group of people and see as weird to everyone else when everyone who has ever spent time alone in nature has meditated. Meaning cowboys, warriors, wanderers, and plenty of others have meditated throughout the ages. It doesn’t mean sitting cross legged chanting om in some yuppie yoga studio and personally I think that’s a cheapened version of the real thing.
Our mind is constantly going back and forth with chatter, thoughts, and emotions. It’s by quieting it and listening to something greater that we can find strength and guidance beyond what we’d ever think in the first place. Not to mention that this is incredibly healing to the mind itself. For example when I started “meditating” after a couple of weeks I noticed during hard sparring it was much easier to keep my cool when the punches were flying fast and hard.
I’d get popped hard, feel a little wobbly, but finish the round fine. I’d be able to focus on the moment and counter so much better than before. Whereas before depending on what was happening I might clinch to give myself a second to breath now I stay focused and am able to do more. There is strength that comes from the stillness and solitude. Strength that comes from the silence there.
Take A Break From The Maddening Crowd
This doesn’t mean that we all should become monks. Like everything else things can be taken to unhealthy extremes (look at people who’s entire existence revolves around the gym or a particular sport) but I 100% think that this stillness, silence, and solitude should be a part of every man’s life just as much as say physical exercise or reading, like I mentioned before. Nature is best but I understand that this isn’t possible for everyone. So even a quiet room (or earplugs and maybe a sleep mask if needed) can substitute for getting deep in the woods or mountains.
Again the point is to have those three things solitude, silence, and stillness. Quiet the body, the mind, and the spirit and allow things to just be and flow. This isn’t about becoming detached from the world, we were put in this world for a reason. This is just about giving some space and allowing things to breath a little. It’s about finding a deep quiet strength that you’ll carry back to your day to day life and a guidance as well.
Now you can say that this guidance comes from your subconscious, comes from the universe, or comes from God, that’s not really my deal with all of this. The point is that the guidance will come as will the strength. So take time to have silence, stillness, and solitude and you’ll be richly rewarded for it physically, mentally, and spiritually.
