Be Still & Know - Everything Is Within

Join us to a thought-provoking discussion on finding inner peace and living in the present moment. Tiger explores what it means to "Be still and know everything is within" through stories and insights from his own experiences. This meditation may help you gain a fresh perspective on life's challenges and reconnect with your true self.

Transcript

Let's take a meditative journey.

We can allow ourselves to be present,

And I guess in a way,

Gently receive.

Receive an insight that allows us to come back to ourselves,

That allows us to connect with a deeper truth,

And ultimately and naturally,

This sort of connection or remembrance brings a deeper relaxation,

A deeper peace,

And a deeper wellness.

I've been contemplating recently what I might call the monumental importance of meditation,

And I guess very briefly I'd like to clarify or playfully define meditation in its most authentic sense,

Resting in what's real.

You know,

Because the human experience,

Innocently so,

Can be incredibly full of the unreal lost in our imagination,

While thinking what we imagine is real.

And in this,

Our humanness can become so noisy.

And in no way is this wrong,

It's definitely part of the human experience.

But meditation is the invitation to return to what's real and to rest there.

As a practice,

There's the invitation to discern,

To look and to notice the profound difference between what we imagine to be happening and what's actually happening.

And this discernment expands over time through our practice,

Where we see more and more of what's actually real,

And we see more and more of what is unreal.

This is a beautiful journey inward,

A deepening of our relationship with what's real.

The title of this exploration is Be Still and Know Everything is Within.

And once again,

You know,

I'm not saying anything new here.

This pointer has been pointed to since the beginning of spirituality.

And I love that.

I love that it's not new,

But it can be fresh,

Almost like a fresh remembrance.

And it seems like in every spiritual tradition,

There's some pointer that says,

Be still and know.

And I'd like to just explore this very gently and slowly,

No rush,

No hurry.

The human experience in its perceived chaos comes with the assumption that there is so much happening on the outside.

We think that we are experiencing and managing other people.

We think that we are experiencing and managing circumstances.

We think there's 10,

000 things out there.

And this very naturally can create somewhat of a discombobled human experience.

And the spiritual pointer,

The invitation,

In so many ways invites us to see that everything is actually within.

It speaks to a recognition that you're not experiencing something out there,

You're experiencing something inside.

A pointer to recognize that what you want isn't actually out there.

What you want is on the inside.

A pointer to recognize that the problem you think is out there is actually a problem created on the inside.

And whether you can see this or not,

We can become open to see it more deeply.

To whatever degree we can see it.

Because here's the magical part of it all.

The human experience in its suffering and in its chaos is running around as if it's trying to reach something on the outside.

Whether it's to get what we want,

To change another person,

To change parts of ourselves.

There's a lot of commotion.

And as you truly begin to see that it's on the inside,

Then we recognize that running around does absolutely nothing to bring a resolution.

Trying to change somebody doesn't bring the liberation we're looking for.

Anxiously running after what we want doesn't give us what we really want.

When you can have the awareness that it's on the inside,

There's this immediacy that invites a stillness.

Almost like an invitation to connect with what's already there.

It's a beautiful invitation to stop running.

I've been playing this sort of game with myself recently,

Where I can step outside on the patio here and look out at the nature.

And what I see is this field with some horses,

And I see the forest behind,

And I see these beautiful trees.

And it's amazing that if I'm filled with an anxiety or some sort of problem,

I can step out on the patio and be completely blinded from the beauty,

Where it's like I can't even see it.

And then in other moments when there's no anxiety,

There's no problem,

I step outside on the same patio,

Standing in the same spot,

Looking at the same thing,

And I see an immensity of beauty.

And yet nothing out there changed.

And even so,

Nothing in my life changed.

Something within changed.

And in the illusion of the anxiety or the degrees of suffering,

It's quite clear that there's a belief that the problem is out there somewhere.

There's this perception that something has gone wrong,

Or I'm not where I'm supposed to be,

Or I'm missing something.

And those assumptions completely cloud my vision,

Where I can't actually see life.

I can't see clearly.

And I find this really,

Really fascinating,

Where I can move from this place of anxiety to this place of wellness,

And yet nothing in my life changes.

And there's so many times where I might have chased what I wanted,

Thinking that if I got what I wanted,

Then it would solve the anxiety,

As if the problem was because of something out there.

And this has always been a disaster.

It's never really solved the issue.

If anything,

Chasing what I want and getting it only helps me hide from the issue.

And so in examining this sort of human condition of seeking and chasing,

Trying to change,

I like to come back to the moment and ask myself,

What is really going on here?

And there's a playful nature to this inquiry,

Especially here with you right now,

Because I know that I can't really put words to it in such a way that the words I use might mean different things for your experience.

But yet I feel that underneath the words,

We can understand according to the sincerity of our human experience.

And I find that that question itself is quite interesting.

What is really going on here?

I imagine there's some resonance where you find yourself asking the same thing.

It might be a bit of a fundamental question in the human.

And I guess to summarize,

When I return to this place of stillness,

When I be still,

The answer in some way says,

I think that something's happening that's not actually happening.

And I'm trying to solve what I think is happening,

Which is funny because it's not really happening.

And so I'm just exhausting myself.

It's kind of like thinking about something that doesn't really need to be thought about,

Trying to fix something that's not actually broken.

And in my attempt to try and fix it,

I only perpetuate the illusion that it's broken.

Furthermore,

In answer to that question,

What is really going on here,

I see that there's nothing going on out there.

And you see,

This is the invitation to recognize how easy it is to become convinced that what we are thinking is actually happening.

And it's not.

And the belief in that thinking can create such an agitation.

Again,

This is the discernment,

The discernment between what I imagine and what is real.

And this does present quite a dilemma for the human being.

And the dilemma speaks to everything that I think I want.

We tend to hold what we want as being something sacred.

And the further you dive into the truth of what is,

You will see many,

If not all,

Of these wants are simply fantasies of the imagination that can never actually be real.

And so,

To truly discern the difference between the imagination and reality,

You'll lose what you want.

It's almost like really wanting somebody to change.

And you have a fantasy that says,

If they changed,

Then I could be happy.

If they changed,

Then I could be at peace.

So I want them to change.

If only they changed.

If only they were what I wanted them to be.

Can you see the intensity behind such a want,

Where you really want it?

And the invitation to discern the difference between the imagination and reality,

You'll notice that what you want isn't really the solution.

And in this is the invitation,

Or almost a requirement,

To let go of what you want.

And so difficult that can be when we spend a lifetime fighting for what we want.

And this isn't to say that wanting anything is bad,

Or that you shouldn't.

It's very important to understand that,

Because it's allowed.

You're allowed to want.

But the question here is,

What's really true?

And the exercise that I've pointed to a thousand times,

But I'm going to speak to it again,

Is looking at the fundamental nature of this want,

Where it appears that we want something on the outside,

Even if that wanting on the outside is a want for yourself.

I want to be like this,

Or I want to be like that.

I want to look like this,

I want to look like that.

Why do you want that?

And the more you sincerely investigate the why,

The realization that you'll come to is that you want to be at peace.

You want to feel whole.

You want to connect with a love that seems lost.

This is so obvious when I look at my own human experience about all the things that I think that I want.

Without any judgment for those wants,

But to really ask myself,

Well,

Why?

Why is that so important?

And there can be many layers of story that doesn't actually get to the root of the issue.

But the more you dive into it,

You'll see this sincerity that really just wants to connect with a wholeness,

Or a sincerity that's trying to avoid any threat to a wholeness.

And the fascinating thing is,

This wholeness that we crave,

What we're actually looking for,

Is already contained within us.

The deepest sincerity of your desire,

You already have it.

And this is what's pointed to in the know of be still and know.

It's like saying be still and know you're not missing anything.

Be still and know that you are complete.

Be still and know that you are whole.

You see,

There's a very compassionate understanding for the human experience that gets lost in its thinking,

Gets lost in its dream of who we think we are.

And in that compassion is a very gentle invitation,

Not a requirement,

Not a demand,

But an invitation to be still and see what's really true.

It speaks to such a profound intimacy with the heart of what you are,

Almost where you have to let go of everyone else.

You have to let go of everything else and all of the desperate wants in the world and come home.

And yes,

They understand it can be so incredibly terrifying.

It presents so many unknowns that the conditioned mind can be terrified of.

And again,

It's not wrong.

And if anything,

I just invite a deep compassion.

It's almost like a deep compassion for myself that gets lost and a deep recognition that I only cut myself off from myself.

No one else is doing it.

You see,

I do it by thinking that what I crave is on the outside.

It's like wanting somebody else to change so that I can be at peace.

It's like giving my power for peace to someone else.

Do you see how that cuts me off from what I am?

And not only that,

But it withholds freedom from the other person,

Which is like withholding love for them.

It says,

Don't be what you are,

Be what I want you to be.

And you see,

We don't only do this with people,

But we can do this with things and places.

Don't be what you are,

Be what I want you to be so that I can have what I crave.

I really invite you to see the violence in that.

Again,

Not as a judgment,

But just as an observation.

And I'm sure,

Just like me,

There's a million examples of where this has played out in our lives,

Where we withheld love from somebody else because they weren't giving us what we wanted.

They weren't being how we wanted them to be.

And we completely cut ourselves off from our own inherent power that exists on the inside.

And again,

It's not wrong,

Just see it.

And maybe you recognize,

As I sure do in this moment,

In recognizing these things deeply,

There's such a profound return to this moment.

It's like remembering what's actually true points me home to the present moment,

To truly be here with what I am.

And you know,

It's not easy,

I understand that.

And even though there might be an effortlessness in how I speak about these things,

It's important to understand that I struggle with this just as much as anyone else.

And I don't think the point is to find a place where we no longer have the human struggle.

However,

We can discover a transformation in our relationship with the struggle.

We can find a place of honoring the struggle and see it as a teacher rather than an enemy.

You see,

The difficulty really speaks to the immensity of the truth.

And I wonder how to articulate that.

It's very much like the struggle of man.

As a way of illustrating through story,

It's like the struggle of man is constantly trying to be God rather than allowing God to be God.

And it's so profound,

This invitation to let go and allow God to be God.

And again,

I'm using words here to point to something so don't get hung up on the word itself.

It's like the struggle of allowing people to be people rather than trying to control and manipulate them to be how you want them to be.

Allowing life to be life rather than trying to control and manipulate it so that you can get what you only think you want.

And all the while as an invitation to just be present and love.

And this naturally becomes easier and easier when you see that everything is within you.

Do you see this?

My goodness,

This is so profound.

You see,

As we spoke about earlier,

Everything you imagine that you want,

It's an image created by the mind.

When you think about what you want,

The mind paints an image.

And that image represents wholeness.

It points toward completion.

It points towards what you actually want.

You see,

It's not the image that you want,

It's what it points to that you want.

And this can be discerned between the difference of desire and wanting.

Within the human being,

We all have the experience of desire,

But the mind turns it into an image and then we want the image.

But really what you're trying to do is satisfy the desire.

And the desire,

Fundamentally,

Is the same for all human beings.

And again,

Using words,

That desire is ultimately to see the truth of what you are.

And in other traditions we might say that desire is to connect with God.

That desire is to be at peace.

You see,

The words can't actually capture it,

But we understand.

We're longing to connect with wholeness.

In this wholeness is already the truth of what you are.

Once again,

Be still and know.

Be still and know the truth.

It's not be still and go create the truth.

It's not be still and then go become whole.

It's not be still and then go and fix yourself.

It's be still and know what's already true.

And you see,

That's when the desire becomes fulfilled.

This is the fundamental pull in the human spirit.

This is the desire.

We are all pulled toward the truth of what is,

But it becomes massively confused in our believing of the images,

Which is also to say our worshipping of images,

Which is also like saying worshipping what we want.

How many spiritual traditions talk about worshipping images and the inevitable peril that comes with it?

And this is also like saying worshipping the mind,

Confusing the imagination for reality,

Chasing the future rather than being present.

You see,

Because the truth is presence,

The truth is here and now.

The truth is what's real.

What is real is here and now.

And naturally the mind goes,

But what about,

But what about,

But what about?

And I don't have an answer for all of the but what abouts other than let's be present and find out.

You can almost look at it this way.

Do you want to deal with the everyday issues of being human from a place of anxiety that's afraid of not getting what you want in the future?

Or do you want to deal with your everyday humanness from a space of presence and love?

And when you realize that you don't actually want anything in the future,

It's so much easier to be present and loving,

And then we can simply tend to the issue at hand.

But do you see,

Adorably so,

To truly be present and loving,

You have to let go of what you want.

You see,

You can't be present and hold on to the future.

It doesn't work that way.

This is the foundation of anxiety,

Is it not?

I can't be present because I might not get what I want in the future,

Or I might lose what I'm holding on to.

And so be gentle with yourself here.

This isn't a space of creating new demands for yourself.

This is simply just a gentle inquiry into what's actually happening,

And we can rest in this moment.

We can honor the truth behind all the noise.

And then what will be is what will be,

Honestly.

Which is an interesting point because we can mistake our spiritual practice as a means of getting what we want in the future.

Which is to mistake the point.

I find this to be kind of funny about spirituality,

Because for many as we get into it we think it's a means for getting what we want in the world,

When actually it's the complete opposite.

It's letting go of what we want in the world and connecting with what is actually true.

And that's not always fun,

But again,

It's an issue of what is true.

In fact,

We can understand that the fundamental draw into spirituality is oftentimes what is actually true,

What is real.

Now this question can be somewhat filtered through an agenda that says,

What is true so that I can get what I want?

But the more deeply you go into what is true,

You lose what you want,

Which simply turns into a life of being present.

And you know,

Honestly,

As I sit here and talk with you about these things,

And I recognize these things for myself in this moment,

I can sense the slight irritation with the truth.

It's like it's so obvious for me right now,

And in that obviousness I see the invitation to give up what I want.

And that irritates the ego.

But it's the truth.

How silly it is to fight the truth,

Especially to survive what is not true.

It's like we're fighting the truth to preserve a lie.

How's that going?

Thus is the beautiful invitation of surrender,

Surrendering to the truth of life.

Thanks for showing up,

And it's an honor to be on this journey with you.

I guess until next time,

Huh?

Cheers,

Lovelies.

Reviews

Thank you, Tiger. It is so hard to see the illusions of what we want as illusions. My heart was so sad this morning, having to see reality as an enemy my of my heart. Thank you for showing a way to get back home.

Mmm loved it, but it definitely irritated my ego 😅
I will be listening again.
Thank you for bringing me back to truth 🙏🫶

Amazing. Your presentation was perfect. Thank you 😊

“Fighting truth, to preserve a lie”

How incredibly profound this talk was.

I have genuinely understood so much, and it has brought so much discovery through self inquiry - out of the dark, into the beauty of light.

This is such an amazing truth that you shared.

Thankyou so very much for your teachings.
I thoroughly appreciate you 🙏🏾🌱🌱

Enormously powerful, wow. I have been semi-consciously denying the truth to preserve a lie, this set me straight💖 thank you!

Such a marvelous talk, thank you 🙏 I felt such a release, like just landing on the earth and let her hold me, fully, without resistance. Like finally saying yes to life as it is! 🌻✨

Calming and gentle guidance on equanimity. In gratitude

Thank you

Thank you.

You summarized years of insight into 48 digestible minutes. I am so grateful for you. I can almost laugh effortlessly at the wanting of the end of the annoyance of the ego... Now I am annoyed with the "almost". As if it doesn't belong or is somehow wrong that I chose that word. It's such a violent word though... what other words could we strike from our vocabulary to be more peaceful?

This really was powerful & resonated with me. My solutions & answers are within. Thank you.

Excellent explanation! A masterpiece! Thank you so much for this, a gift to the world. 💫

That was so awesome. After more than 20 years of Eastern Spiritual Studies I can say you hit every nail on the head.

More of a talk but listed as a meditation but still a lovely listen

Listen to the truth of this if you dare!

I was really struck by the beauty of your patio being "visible" depending on your mental presence. That is an eye-opening point of view!

How profoundly beautiful and challenging! I am both laughing and crying at the paradox of human existence. I will be working with this for quite a while to let it sink in and absorb. Thank you 🙏

Sooo profound! Thank you so much. A hard truth to my ego, but such an enlightened message!

Superb reminders bringing me back home. Thank you! 🙏

This was amazing. I love your long format meditations very much.