Stillness
by Jared McFarland

     Being still allows one to see with great detail, but stagnates the soul. The details are too voluminous and by them one is consumed. Yet a deeper understanding and purer realization of what is, can only be obtained in stillness. Humans are, by nature, nomadic and restless creatures. Much can be learned from one thing held representative of its many different forms, intricacies and idiosyncrasies otherwise invisible to the wandering eye become visible and apparent, and relative to their surroundings. But then to expand the thoughts and philosophies thus obtained, extrapolation is necessary, and human extrapolation is inexact. However, all life does exist in each life. Listen to everyone, understand everyone, and learn from everyone. Always listen but remain conscious of your observatory status, do not let yourself be deceived or controlled. Resolution is often wispy and may lack immediate profundity, but all resolution is always equally valuable. In one lifetime a man can come to know only a few things to be undeniably true, it is these great truths that are the things he must stand for, they should be utterly rigid. All else must be without form and accepting of all else. “The way” is unclear and unlike anything of the world, but it is the way. Preconceptions can exist but can carry no real weight and must be readily dismissed to see things perfectly clear and without distortion. One must be careful in the way, not to live entirely within the mind. Brief voyages into the mind’s depth are certainly necessary, but extended internal existence will mislead one and adversely affect perception. There is the intangible and there is the tangible. One must be well aware of both. That which the mind reveals to us has little value without the grounds of the world to exist upon.