Is stillness just an absence of movement? Or could there be something like absolute stillness? A backdrop from which all movement arises?
Exploring through Advaita (non-duality), Tantra, Yoga, and Bioscience.
Use the image links next to the text below, to follow the logical sequence within the site from prologue through to epilogue.
Prologue
It would seem that Time is one of the things
that doesn’t allow Absolute Stillness.
Everything related to time moves along relentlessly.
Inspiration
What inspires us to look for stillness? Maybe a resonance, a response within, to a call from the
poet or the sage, or the vast calm of the sea,
or the timeless moment of falling in love.
Yoga Tantra Advaita
In Yoga, with physical postures (Asana) and breathing (Pranayama) we start to see the possibility of stillness developing out of movement. In Advaita, we see movement arising out of ever-present stillness.
Epilogue
Behind the cascading waters of a tumbling stream,
the essence of Water is in Stillness.
Behind the myriad sounds of that stream
the essence of Sound is Silence.
The Author, Tony Sugden, is a graduate in Microbiology. He worked as a Systems analyst before retraining in Chinese Medicine. For 20 years he practiced Musculoskeletal therapy using Acupuncture and Myofascial techniques. He is a qualified Yoga Teacher, using his experience in Bioscience to inform his teaching.
Movement into Stillness is dedicated to my Teacher, Swami Nishchalananda Saraswati. It would not have been possible without him imparting his knowledge of this ‘Pathless Path’ to me with such great clarity. Imparting, sometimes verbally, but most significantly, through the resonance that is possible when a Teacher is actually living his Truth.
Movement into Stillness 