*QUIET/*QUIETISM - also see SILENCE, STILL, CONTENT
Story of an aged seer that says: "Oh, by the way - whatever you do, when you start to meditate on the secret I've given you, be sure not to think about monkeys." Only after 15 years had the man learned to go beyond that and was able to think about the secret of Life unhindered. The point of the parable is to quiet the mind and then the secret of Life will explain itself to you. (Stillness, p83)
When driving down the highway the noise necessitate turning the radio up to hear it in general what is not distorted or drowned out, when we slow down and turn the radio down we can then find that many of the subtleties of the music become apparent. Similarily with thinking, at quieter levels of activity much of the subtlety of thought is revealed and thinking becomes far richer. (TM, p83)
The TM technique allows the mind to settle down to a less excited state. The person experiences quieter and quieter levels of thinking till they arrive at a state of complete mental stillness where they have gone beyond, or transcended, the every day levels of thought. (TM, p15)
The "awareness of one's own being" is also called by some mystics the "prayer of quiet," a state of prayer which leads the person beyond a simple attenuation of the activity of senses and mind to its full silencing. When the active powers of the mind and body have been quieted, one encounters a reality which is not the "I." This is frightening but at the same time fascinating. (Contemplation, p21)
Quietism consisted of making once and for all an act of love for God by which one gave oneself entirely to Him with the intention never to recall this surrender. As long as one never withdrew the intention to belong entirely to God, divine union was assured and no further need for effort was required. It was condemned in 1687 as a species of false mysticism. (Open Mind, p23)
If Divine Love is given a quiet rest, it will grow from a spark into a living flame of love. (Open Mind, p27)