top of page
Search

What it is and what it is not

Sep 17
1 min read

I have been trying to define stillness. Every definition I reached for has felt incomplete, as if naming it pushed it slightly further away.So I tried the other direction. What is stillness not?


Not chaos. Not noise. Not the absence of movement, because a stone is still and that is not what I mean. Not numbness. Not detachment. Not waiting.


Painters know this method. Some paint the object directly. Others paint everything around it - the shadow, the background, the negative space -and let what they haven't painted become visible.


The Advaita Vedanta tradition holds both methods.Neti Neti - not this, not this, from the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad, approaching Brahman by negating everything it is not.Tat Tvam Asi- that thou art, the affirmative Mahavakya from the Chandogya Upanishad.


Negation and affirmation. Each gives a different picture. Together they give a more complete one.


What you are trying to understand - about yourself, about leadership, about what matters - may sometimes resist the direct approach. The question worth trying: what is it not?

Recent Posts

See All
The scarcity that isn't

Every leader has the same number of hours. The ones who feel most stretched are not always the ones with the most to do. The question worth asking: what am I spending time on that is not worth the tim

 
 
Listening is demonstrated by how you respond

Nodding, eye contact and not interrupting signal attention. For the person on the other side, listening is shown in how you respond: did it show that what was said was received?

 
 
Why follow-ups don't disappear

The volume of follow-ups shows how well you delegate. Handing over the work is one thing. Handing over ownership of the outcome needs a container: clear expectations, shared boundaries, and room to de

 
 
bottom of page