Paul F. Wilson - Finding the Quiet
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Finding the Quiet: summary, description and annotation
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A powerful book to help you move from chaos into tranquillity, from hecticness into peace, and from stress into joy-written by the man known as the guru of calm. The Quiet is a place where you cant be touched by the noise and tensions of the modern world. A place where, no matter whats happening around you, you have time and space to breathe. Some people spend a lifetime of meditation practice and spiritual studies searching for it. The practices in Finding the Quiet are based on four simple steps that transform the way you feel and what you get out of life. Following these techniques can lead to: * peace of mind * clarity of thought * emotional stability * physical well-being We are also including A Piece of the Quiet, which provides fast and easy highlights for when you need a quick moment of calm. Whether you are a novice at meditation or a lifetime practitioner, the strategies presented in Finding the Quiet are powerful tools to take you where you want to be.
Paul F. Wilson: author's other books
Who wrote Finding the Quiet? Find out the surname, the name of the author of the book and a list of all author's works by series.
Paul F. Wilson
David Dillard-Wright
Lama Yeshe Losal Rinpoche
Thich Nhat Hanh
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Table of Contents
FINDING THE QUIET
BOOK A
SOMETHING ELSE
After a decade of touring, writing, and speaking as the Guru of Calm, it was time to step out of the limelight. What I had in mind was a few years at home, combined with some small-scale teaching and some large-scale surfing.
This would have worked well had I not been invited to India in 2002. Youd think a small conference of unrelated writers, teachers, and assorted others would be fairly harmless. Exactly what I thought. I was totally unprepared for the following exchange.
Guruji wants to know what you are writing these days, Mr. Wilson. I said I was taking it easy. A bit of teaching, and a lot more surfing. Silence.
Not wishing to appear too underoccupied compared with the industrious people who had invited me, I quickly added that I was conducting the occasional meditation retreat, where I taught a streamlined approach to meditation.
More silence.
In the politest possible way it was suggested that, in light of my talents and reputation, perhaps my work wasnt finished yet. Later that evening it was further suggested that my future work might not be surfing, but to spread joy and remove sorrow.
Spreading joy didnt seem like a bad sort of role to take on, although removing sorrow (or removing suffering, as it was later retranslated) wasnt something Id had much experience in.
I didnt give much thought to either of these messages until the flight home. I wondered if there might be some sort of link between them and another comment that had been made on that visit.
In Mumbai, a journalist wondered why the people of that city were buying my books. Id wondered the same thing myself. With so many indigenous gurus and meditation schools for them to choose from, surely my offerings would be seen as more or less of the same.
Its the noise, she suggested. When you live in a city of 15 million people thats teeming with life 24 hours a day, there is very little relief from the noise. Your books offer a way to escape it.
Providing relief from noise? I hadnt thought of noise that way before. We take for granted the racket we live withnot only physical noise, but emotional and intellectual noise as well. Its become so dense and unremitting that when a gap does occasionally appear, it suggests that somethings wrong. Theres a spacebut what does that mean? Does space equal quiet? Or does it mean that something is missing? There are so few gaps or spaces to be found that its almost as if weve become detuned to their restorative power. Weve become detuned to the subtlety and beauty of silence. Detuned to the joy of just being.
Spreading joy, removing sorrow, and providing relief from noise... I had plenty to think about on that flight back home.
Now that youre thinking about it as well, you can probably see the appeal of having more space in your life. And more quiet. And more joy and peace. Perhaps thats why youve picked up this book in the first place.
When you were in your teens, you would never have guessed it could turn out like this. Then you were looking forward to all the freedom youd have when you grew up. Not to mention the joy and happiness.
What happened?
Today, instead of doing the things youd always wanted to, your days taken up by things that others want you to do, or you have to do, or you think you have to do. Instead of being the one who calls the shots, youre the one being dictated to by bosses, mortgages, school lunches, politicians, and even terrorists on the other side of the world. Instead of being in charge of your own time, time is in charge of you. As for a light at the end of the tunnel, you cant even see the tunnel.
When you were in your teens you probably thought that the material side of life would provide the satisfaction you were looking for. Back then you had no doubt that the more you acquired, the happier youd be: more possessions, more friends, more adventures, more accomplishments. Whod have thought you would arrive at the conclusion that it was going to take less for you to feel happy? Less work, less clutter, less complication, less responsibility. More or lessboth were illusions, and neither was the key.
So whats it going to take? What makes life worthwhile? What brings happiness and satisfaction?
Like all of us, youve already discovered how fleeting happiness is. It ebbs and flows according to whatever happens on the day. You fall in love, and everything is light and exciting. A sharp exchange with your partner and youre angry and depressed. Have a new baby, and the world is infused with purpose and hope. A bad news day in the media and youre heavy with despair. Take a new job, win a prize, get out on the right side of the bed, and you find it hard to remember ever feeling down. But you know its coming. Even at the peak of your delight, something inside warns that it cant last. And it cant.
There must be something else.
Look around and youll see that certain people seem to have discovered this something else. On the surface theyre not all that different from you and me: they live everyday lives, work just as hard, have just as many pressures and responsibilities, and face the same ups and downs as we all do. But then theres that something else. They seem to have space in their lives. They seem happy and fulfilled. They exude an unmistakable air of peace and equanimity. They give you the impression that whatever is going on is okay and in orderas if it has some deeper meaning, but may be fun nevertheless. Sometimes theres even a childlike sense of adventure that goes with it all.
What do they know that most of the world doesnt? Why do they always seem so content, when almost everyone you know is under some sort of pressure? How do they avoid the fears and insecurities that seem to mark life for the rest of us? Why are they the only ones not complaining about long work hours, or lack of values, or the pace of modern life? What is the something else that theyve found, but were still looking for?
In so many instances, its meditation.
Meditation is one of the few sustainable ways of ensuring peace and happiness in life. It is a methodical way of relieving disquiet and mental suffering. It is a reliable way of adding space to your day and your environment. And it is the only predictable way of realizing direct spiritual fulfillment and enlightenment.
There are hundreds of different roads to peace, happiness, and enlightenment. Thousands. Ancient and contemporary. Ranging from traditions that date back thousands of years to lifestyle movements that were thought up a few days ago.
If you were to choose one of these paths, do you have the commitment to see it through? With so much on your plate already, you might wonder how you could possibly accommodate one more thing.
Then again, you might wonder whether its too early to start yet. Its tempting to leave it until youre older and have fewer things on your mind. Maybe you think its too late to start. Maybe you believe you are too much of this worldtoo focused on your job, home, relationships, or ambitionsto even consider things that sound more spiritual in nature.
Maybe you did what hundreds of thousands of others have done, and learned to meditate, attended a retreat or two, then let it lapse, or didnt quite get it, or didnt have the patience for the packaging that came with it.
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