Still / Can't meditate

‘Be still’ is the frequent

advice:



‘still’ as in:

coming to rest,

ceasing from

thrashing/dancing/striding/

stumbling like a drunk

monkey…

no listed actions, no escape route, no outwitting, no remembering?



‘Still’ as in:

quieting,

ceasing from

mumbling/quipping/gasping

crying at some current show?



Hard to be still or even slow

while living as a droplet

in a skewed torrent,

in adverse weather conditions;

hard to centre down in

the source and

the storm and

the unseen sea.


[Work in progress. An earlier version was written in iChurch, as part of a project where members did 'something creative' on the theme of 'Be still'. Mainly my piece is being out of frustration that meditation (and other contemplative forms) seem to be frequently offered as the gold standard of spiritual practice. It's become a non-negotiable orthdoxy and is offered as the ultimate way, whatever the starting point. For instance, even a book titled 'Fuck It - the ultimate spiriual way' has as its punchline... meditation!

All of this is fine, and I suppose every era will have some kind of hegemonic, cock-of-the-walk of spirituality...but as I can't meditate, this makes me feel like a one-legged man at an ass-kicking contest...

Health warning: meditation is actually great and I'm just some random git ranting away in my non-meditative state.

But don't get me started about the Enneagram...]