Speaking Guide Book
“In Chiang Mai
there are many shapeful chedis
in which nowhere can be seen.”
Is stillness something
or is it merely
what’s left over
when things
disappear?
How can things
which are ever-moving,
ever-changing,
not be?
Stillness is complete and perfect
when boundaries disappear.
Cattle
do not feel
the farmyard gate
pressing against
their outward-going faces.
The goat
does not feel
the rope tugging
like the endless past
at its throat.
The bird
does not break
its wing
against the window pane.
The butterfly
does not struggle
into immobility
in the tangles of the spider’s web.
The ear ceases to vibrate,
the skin to be the terminus
of an electric field.
The eye is not stabbed
by arrows of fire.
When the sea is a millpond,
a mirror to the sky above,
a darkened window
to hazy depths below,
and the air is palpable
in its stillness,
where have the waves gone?
poem by Brian Taylor
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Related quotes
November 28,2007 is the International Day of Stillness: A Poem for the day
'Stillness is my beloved teacher.
From her, I learn new things every day.'
I said to Stillness,
How can you teach me so well?
Stillness said,
By being with you always.
I said to Stillness,
How can you teach me so much?
Stillness said,
Because you have much within you;
I, but a mirror for your mind;
I, but a mirror for your heart.
I said to Stillness,
O my beloved teacher, will you
promise me you will never leave me?
Stillness said,
I cannot leave you;
though you can leave me..
but what is stillness without a companion?
I said to Stillness,
Is your work hard?
Stillness said,
I have the most wonderful task that I could wish for:
I sit with babies while they smile;
I sit with children in the classroom
as they delight to learn;
I sit with the angry and disturbed,
and watch them grow to peace;
I sit with the sad and lonely and bereaved
and watch them rediscover happiness and joy;
I sit with kings and queens and rulers
while they find wisdom and mercy;
I sit with governments and committees
while they find reason and justice;
I sit with artists and scientists,
and watch them find new things outside themselves,
and find new things within themselves;
I sit with those who pray or meditate,
as they find God in themselves;
I sit at the feet of saints
while they become perfection;
I walk in the gardens of the dawn,
I walk in the gardens of the dusk;
in the deep of the night, I watch;
I fly with birds, in the silence of the air;
I watch the animals as they explore the earth;
I listen to the growing of the trees and plants;
I listen to the opening of the flowers;
Said Stillness,
I am the friend and the companion of all;
who would not love to share my life with me?
I said to Stillness,
May I never leave you.
And Stillness looked me in the eye,
and Stillness smiled at me:
‘I am born with every creature born
to be their friend for life.’
poem by Michael Shepherd
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Silence
Silence-knows no boundaries
As stillness evokes a host of thoughts
A plethora of lovers and their main streets
'Neath the light poles of mistakes and loss;
Oh, how the depths of remembrance-swells
Cast in spirals of fallen loves, doom
Woe, to the silence that beckons in this grief
Woe, to the stillness that calls forth gloom;
Faces and footprints now haunt the unfathomed
My heart has gone pallid from sheer despair
Silence knows no boundaries-nor limits
While blame comes-from out of thin air;
What was it we were doing anyway?
Delving the depths, only to collide in our own mire
This stillness has evoked an absolute truth...
We are, in fact, nothing, without loves desire! ! ;
poem by Theodora Onken
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Stillness: a Poem for the International Day of Stillness, November 28
'Stillness is my beloved teacher.
From her, I learn new things every day.'
I said to Stillness,
how can you teach me so well?
Stillness said,
By being with you always.
I said to Stillness,
How can you teach me so much?
Stillness said,
Because you have much within you;
I, but a mirror for your mind;
I, but a mirror for your heart.
I said to Stillness,
O my beloved teacher, will you
promise me you will never leave me?
Stillness said,
I cannot leave you;
though you can leave me..
but what is stillness without a companion?
I said to Stillness,
Is your work hard?
Stillness said,
I have the most wonderful task that I could wish for:
I sit with babies while they smile;
I sit with children in the classroom
as they delight to learn;
I sit with the angry and disturbed,
And watch them grow to peace;
I sit with the sad and lonely and bereaved
and watch them rediscover happiness and joy;
I sit with kings and queens and rulers
while they find wisdom and mercy;
I sit with governments and committees
while they find reason and justice;
I sit with artists and scientists,
and watch them find new things outside themselves,
and find new things within themselves;
I sit with those who pray or meditate,
and watch them find God in themselves;
I sit at the feet of saints
while they become perfection;
I fly with birds, in the silence of the air;
I watch the animals as they explore the earth;
I hear the growing of the trees and plants;
I listen to the opening of the flowers;
I walk in the gardens of the dawn;
I walk in the gardens of the dusk;
in the deep of the night, I watch.
Said Stillness,
I am the friend and the companion of all;
who would not love to share my life with me?
I said to Stillness,
may I never leave you.
And Stillness looked me in the eye,
and Stillness smiled at me:
‘I am born with every creature born
to be their friend for life.’
*
(With acknowledgements to Iain Trousdell of New Zealand, whose poem quoted from in the first two lines inspired this extension..)
poem by Michael Shepherd
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Stillness In Time (Radio Version)
There's a stillness in time
Which I cannot define
Does your heart bleed like mine (oh does your heart, yeah)
For a place we can go
Where the troubles of our time are far away (hey, they're so far away)
And I had all my life in front of me
Now my darkness days are trouble free
There are so many wonderous things for you to see (hey)
If you find that somethings going wrong
Look around at what your running from
You can wait a thousand years in line
For that stillness in time
(oh, yeah) I found love in that way
And I'm never sad, and I'm always glad
Anything you give me today
I will, will be thankful for (yeah, yeah, yeah)
People find it hard to be strong
Cos they don't know where they're coming from (oooh)
There was nothing left to do but hang on
For that stillness in time
(There's a stillness in time
Search the spaces of my mind)
If this world is turning too fast for your head
Just remember how bad times can roll instead
Yes I have to search the spaces in my mind
For that stillness in time.
(Hey) I feel love in that way
And I'm never sad, and I'm always glad
Ooo, Anything you give me today
I will, will be thankful for
People find it hard to be strong
Cause they don't know where they're coming from
Hey, there was nothing left to do but hang on
For that stillness in time.
Ooo, I know that this is the perfect for a sort of bliss
There is no me, for the love I have will stay the same
I have been wrong if I don't know where I'm coming from
If I proceed the things that are inside of me
All of me, in front of me
Oh, see it's all around me
Said I know, said I want to find that stillness in time
Stillness in time, hey
la, la, la, la, la, lo (repeat until end)
song performed by by Jamiroquai
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Inside me was the stillness
Woven, high between bare branches
rooks nests gather where new growth sprouts,
amidst the stillness inside me.
A tiny blue tit twittering,
flitters towards a coconut,
feeding the stillness inside me
The sky, open, glistening blue,
white clouds sailing, a seagull soaring,
through the stillness inside me.
A purple pansy perfect as the stillness inside me
until............
people came
knocking, ringing, wanting
Then the stillness was gone.
poem by Diana Rosser
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Stillness Of The Night
Midnight on the hill I heard the thunder fill
The stillness of the night
It hit me like a slap, youre never comin back
From the stillness of the night
It was never black or white, neither wrong or right
Like the shadow of a full moons light
I knew wed lost the track, when I heard the lightning crack
The stillness of the night
Chorus
In the stillness of the night
Thats when well make it right
We can stop the thunder till the light
In the stillness of the night
I know you think you hear, those voices in your ear
In the stillness of the night
But Ive tried to make it clear theres nothing left to fear
Just the stillness of the night
And if you listen hard you might find the reason for your fright
Just the wind is high tonight
And the danger we must face is the anger of this race
In the stillness of the night
Chorus
song performed by by Reo Speedwagon
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Stillness Of Heart
I'm out here on the street
There's no one left to meet
The things that were so sweet
No longer move my feet
But I keep trying
I keep on trying
All that I want is
Stillness of heart
So I can start
To find my way
Out of the dark
And into your heart
I got more than I can eat
A life that can't be beat
Yet still I feel this heat
I'm feeling incomplete
What am I buying?
My soul is crying
All that I want is
Stillness of heart
So I can start
To find my way
Out of the dark
And into your heart
Where's the love?
What is this world we live in?
Where's the love ?
We've got to keep on giving
Where's the love ?
What happened to forgiving ?
Anyone ?
All that I want is
Stillness of heart
So I can start
To find my way
Out of the dark
And into your heart
song performed by by Lenny Kravitz from Lenny
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Stillnes Of Heart
Thanks to Davide for these lyrics.
I'm out here on the street
There's no one left to meet
The things that were so sweet
No longer move my feet
But I keep trying
I keep on trying
All that I want is
Stillness of heart
So I can start
To find my way
Out of the dark
And into your heart
I got more than I can eat
A life that can't be beat
Yet still I feel this heat
I'm feeling incomplete
What am I buying?
My soul is crying
All that I want is
Stillness of heart
So I can start
To find my way
Out of the dark
And into your heart
Where's the love?
What is this world we live in?
Where's the love ?
We've got to keep on giving
Where's the love ?
What happened to forgiving ?
Anyone ?
All that I want is
Stillness of heart
So I can start
To find my way
Out of the dark
And into your heart
song performed by by Lenny Kravitz
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Window
I was staring out the window
The whole time he was talking to me
It was a filthy pane of glass
I couldn't get a clear view
As he went on and on
It wasn't the outside world I could see
Just the filthy pane that I was looking through
So I had to break the window
It just had to be
Better that I break the window
Than him or her or me
I was never focused on just one thing
My eyes got fixed when my mind got soft
It may looked like I'm concentrated on a very clear view
But I'm as good as asleep
I bet you didn't know
It takes a lot of it away if you do
So I had to break the window
It just had to be
Better that I break the window
Than him or her or me
So I had to break the window
It just had to be
Better that I break the window
Than him or her or me
Because the fact in fact
Whatevers in front of me is covering my view
So I can't see what I'm seeing in fact
I only see what I'm looking through
I had to break the window
It just had to be it was in my way
Better that I break the window
Then forget what I had to say
So again I've done the right thing
I was never worried about that
The answer's always been in clear view
But even when the window's clean
I still can't see for the fact
That when it's clean it's so clear
I cant tell what I'm looking through
So I had to break the window
It just had to be
Better that I break the window
Than him or her or me
I had to break the window
It just had to be it was in my way
Better that I break the window
Then forget what I had to say
I had to break the window
It was in my way
Better that I break a window
Then forget what I had to say
Or miss what I should see
Or breaking him or her or me
song performed by by Fiona Apple
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Rain Keeps Fallin
I remember the night so well.
The rain was fallin but I just couldnt tell,
If it was you that was callin to my love-sick brain.
But the rain kept fallin on my window pane.
Out of the night the thunder rang in my ear.
I cant fight the feelin, lord, that brings forth my fears.
I wish it was over, lord, please stop the rain.
The rain thats fallin on my window pane.
The rain thats fallin on my window pane.
Every night the rains on time, I can feel it in this heart of mine.
But I dont know what to do.
Well, I guess I could go back home, cause you know back home is where I belong.
But it just aint home without you.
And I dont know what to do, baby.
Well, I guess Im a looser but it just dont seem fair.
I lost all my life so tell me, why should I care?
The night that you left me is the night that it came.
And the rains still fallin on my window pane.
The rain keeps fallin on my window pane.
The rain keeps fallin on my window pane.
You know the rain.
The rain keeps fallin on my window pane.
I said the rain.
The rain keeps fallin on my window pane.
You know the rain.
The rain keeps fallin on my window pane.
I said the rain.
The rain keeps fallin on my window pane.
You know the rain ...
The rain keeps fallin on my window pane.
... keeps right on fallin.
The rain keeps fallin on my window pane.
I said, the rain keeps fallin ...
song performed by by Grand Funk Railroad
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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In The Stillness Of The Night
In the stillness of the night,
A faint cry for love is heard.
Echoing far into the distance,
Soaring higher than any bird.
In the stillness of the night,
Under the moonlight shining.
She hears his painful cry,
While alone she is dining.
She starts on a journey,
To seek out his heartfelt cry.
For if she ignores his plea,
He may slowly but surly die.
In the stillness of the night,
As she wanders on her way.
She must find this lost soul,
She can not turn away.
For she is lost as well,
Deep inside she also weeps.
Though she may not know it,
He wanders himself, her soul he seeks.
His cry for love gets louder,
Her cry as well echos out.
In the stillness of the night,
Together they wander about.
As they draw closer,
Their loneliness begins to fade.
For their journey is coming to an end,
From this love that has conveyed.
They come together at last,
Under the midnight sun.
In the stillness of the night,
Two young lovers have begun.
poem by Adam McKim
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Stillness In Time
Written by jay kay and toby smith
Theres a stillness in time
Which I cannot define
Does your heart bleed like mine
For a place we can go
Where the troubles of our time are far away
And I had all my life in front of me
And my darkest days are trouble free
There are so many wondrous things for you to see
If you find that something is going wrong
Look around at what youre running from
You can wait a thousand years in line for that stillness in time
Oh yeah
I felt love in that way
And Im never sad and Im always glad
Anything you give me today
I will be thankful for
People find it hard to be strong
Cos they dont know where theyre coming from
There was nothing left to do but hang for a stillness in time
song performed by by Jamiroquai
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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The Wetness....
when the shells are spent,
and the bodies lay quiet.
when the ravens full,
lumber in stillness.
when the spider's web is full,
the felled tree rotted.
when ants stagger in drunken delirium.
when the cat's claw is broken,
the window painted over.
and the name of the logs
forgotten by fire...
all that's left, all that remains,
the trail and the scent of the wetness
poem by Eric Cockrell
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I Pray For Darkness...
i pray for darkness...
wrapping splintered lights
in perfected stillness...
stillness that heals
without questioning
why or who!
stillness that sings,
with every pulse of blood
through bodies worn...
stillness that redeems,
bringing the searcher
to his final destination...
stillness that removes,
the cross, , the crown of thorns,
lays down the shield of honor...
stillness that fills,
the empty cup, the box forgotten,
bringing the lover
to the lips of longing...
spilling his passion
on the fertile earth!
i pray for darkness,
removing all graven images,
the power of the formless
to form again and again...
i pray for darkness,
the moonlit touch forbidden,
the lover's cry, the wolfen howl,
the mystic taste of that which
cannot be seen... but felt!
poem by Eric Cockrell
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A thanks for visiting
When stillness
walked into the room
there was no need
to greet you
and when you left
and stillness stayed
there was no need
to say goodbye.
poem by Michael Shepherd
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Into the Stillness
Stillness,
fades from an
awakening memory,
sounds return
wheels humming
waving quietly
into the nights air
into the cool September air
amidst the darkness
tears began to fall
like rain
Looking into the
fading stillness
the border quickly
fades,
into the darkness,
into the stillness,
into September's chill
Before drifting off
to sleep
at the September crossing
I said, 'good-bye'
stillness now gone
as the memory returns
poem by M. Rene Riel
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Breakaway
Opened my eyes this mornin' with a smile on my face
My arms wrapped around you took me away
And it got me to thinkin' that we need to do
Is take a Sunday drive and drive on through
Monday, Tuesday, Friday and Saturday too
Let's disappear, gotta get out of here
Feel the wind across our face
We'll have some fun, gonna dance on the run
It's a perfect day to break away
We'll hit Tulsa by Tuesday follow the stars above
Spend the weekend in Vegas and gamble on sweet, sweet love
It don't matter what we do as long as I'm with you
Let's disappear, gotta get out of here
Feel the wind across our face
We'll have some fun, gonna dance on the run
It's a perfect day to break away
Yeah, yeah
Break away
Yeah, yeah
Let's disappear, gotta get out of here
Feel the wind across our face
We'll have some fun, gonna dance on the run
It's a perfect day to break away
Let's disappear, gotta get out of here
Feel the wind across of face
song performed by by Rascal Flatts
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Turn To Rust
turn down the wick!
there's a time for fighting,
a time for prayer, and
a time for just being...
in stillness.
you and i have felt things,
known things, seen things,
that most people never notice
in their mad rush to the grave!
feel the wind blowing through
the alleys, tugging at the doors
of vacant buildings... you know
its name... it has been
your lover, and your companion!
watch the sunlight dancing through
the shadows, lapping up darkness
like a thirsty dog... i am that dog!
the whispering moan of the grass
turning brown in the heat....
as our lives, and our loving
turn to rust!
poem by Eric Cockrell
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Voices
Blames of my existence are just increasing
Being blamed for something which I never did do
Never did I commit a sin knowingly, although sins are really never known while committing
Everyone just passes out while being alive
The senses just fade, while living
Nothing is present, it is complete stillness
Voices I cannot hear
Complete silence from now, life is going to have
The stillness is going to take a course which will forever be
In this life where everything is temporary, quietness is the only thing eternal
Living in a cage, nobody does like
Sometimes, the heart just desires to break the shackles in every way possible
Nobody can restrain my views
My real thoughts, no longer will be held
I am free, voices are going to be unheard.
poem by Rohit Sapra
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The Evening Stillness
A lonely evening on a lakeside
I stole a chunk of stillness.
Carried it through a clinking city
Stored it in the heart’s corner
Where no noise could touch it!
The stillness has grown a goliath -
Endures night’s coolness and day’s warmth
Camouflages the thunder inside….
No more the evening stillness on a lakeside!
poem by Pradip Chattopadhyay
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