This is The Nooner, a (very short) daily newsletter slash podcast that has its very own section within Dispatches from Inner Space.
To see the first post, which doubles as an explainer, click here.
Also a quick reminder that you can listen to the podcast version of each post wherever you listen to podcasts.
Sitting still is the hardest and the easiest thing to do.
The hardest because it’s the thing we avoid most stridently, and because we are surrounded with excuses not to, and with infinite means of distraction.
The easiest because, well, I mean it’s just sitting still.
But it is so vital I can think of nothing that is more important. More important than food and water.
And free, for everyone.
Anyone, at almost any time, can sit still, and observe.
Sam Harris thinks that there is no observer. I respect Sam a lot, but this is ludicrous. Just because we haven’t been able to identify, deconstruct, and diagram the core consciousness, doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist.
Most meditators, most people who make a practice of stillness, agree that there is some elemental self that is deeper than ego. You are not your feelings, they say. You are not your thoughts. You are not your actions.
So what are you?
You are the one who is aware of all these things. You are the one who observes.
Why is this important? Why is the discovery of this true self, or whatever you want to call the thing that remains stubbornly defiant of language and categorization -- why is it more important than anything, than everything?
Because after everything, only it remains.
Everything passes away. You may not be able to pay the bills. You may go hungry. You may get sick. You will certainly die. And so will all of the people you love. All the things you own will turn to dust, all of your triumphs and failures will be forgotten, all the cares you have will succumb to the relentless march of time.
Suffering is primarily the result of believing that all of these things are somehow stitched into our identity. If my body is hurt, *I* am hurt. If my things are taken away, *I* am diminished. If my deeds are forgotten, *I* am forgotten.
If my thoughts are dark and loathsome, *I* am dark and loathsome.
But if I am none of these things, if I am something deeper, something persistent, something rooted to the very foundations of infinity... then I can be at peace.
And from that place of peace, I can build joy in this world, in this life. From that place of peace, I can comfort those who need comfort. And only from that place of peace can my body and mind be filled to overflowing from the fountain of pure love.
Everyone can find this out. Even me. Even you.
But first, we have to sit still.
I dare you to sit still and do nothing