The Still Point between Two Breaths: A Meditation with Eckhart Tolle

On solstice, the sun reaches its highest point and then reverses its course, so to speak, from our perspective, doesn't really. But from the perspective of down here on Earth. And from our perspective, it's a kind of still point between two movements. Solstice actually means soul, means sudden. And stis comes from Latin, which meaning standing still. So it appears that for a moment, the sun stands still, poised a little bit like throwing a ball into the air. You throw it up and it rises. And then there comes a moment, a very brief moment, when it stops rising and hasn't started falling yet. And that's the point of stillness. And perhaps that's the reason or the deeper reason why in many cultures, solstice is a spiritual event. The still point. It's a similar point that is there when you breathe in and you come to the end of the in breath. For a brief moment, there's that still point between the two breasts, between the in breast and the out breath. And again, at the end of the out breath, there's another brief still point before the in breath starts. And those are very powerful pints, if you'll become aware of them. They are wonderful portals into stillness. You can do it even now, as you listen to me, you breathe out. The end of the out breath is a sensation of movement. When you pay attention to it, it might become a little bit longer, but there's no need to force it in any way. When you pay attention to it, it naturally becomes a little bit long. So reaching that dimension within you, becoming aware of that stillness, the in breaths and out breaths can be helpful. They contain the whole movement of your life and the universe. The beginning of the inbrush that starts from the still point is the coming into form. Birth, growth, development, then reaching maturity, achievement. And then you reach that point of sensation, point of stillness, and then comes the reverse movement. You have to become aligned with that reverse movement in your life, for example, and surrender into it and recognize it for what it is. The natural movement, the return journey back into where it all started, stillness. If you are not aligned with it or resist it, it's very unpleasant because you realize that instead of growth and development and gaining and obtaining and multiplying and adding to experiencing the opposite, you may experience loss, or people around you begin to disappear. Things are shrinking instead of growing. Even your physical body, you might begin to notice, starts shrinking in some way. So if you become aligned with that movement, which traditionally might be called, you realize that you're beginning to grow old. That can be a wonderful thing. And As I said, if you're not surrendered to it, recognize that it is a universal movement and can be deeply spiritual if you are aligned with it. But if you're not, it's a painful process. If you're still stuck in your ego by the time you reach that reversal from development and growth to the opposite movement, then the opposite movement is experienced as very painful. In meditation, I'd say that the out breath is more important than the in breath. It's when you let go and in your life. Potentially, the state of dissolution has greater potential spiritually than the developmental stage. But no matter how old you are, you may be 20 years old, you can already experience in every in breath and out breath. You can already experience that universal movement outgoing and ingoing it.