Stillness cannot be achieved by simply doing nothing because movement is deeply embedded into our body cells and into our subconsciousness. Stillness lies at the center of all movement. It is the source of our vitality and intelligence. The science of meditation gives us the tools to discover the passageway to the hidden chamber of silence within. Ignoring the science of meditation is like choosing to swim across a swiftly flowing river when there’s a boat right there for us to use. But once we arrive at the distant shore of peace, we can happily disembark!

Thus while Ananda classes teach prayer, chanting, breath control and non-control, affirmation, mantra, and visualization, these techniques are steps designed to lead us to the stillness that is the doorway to superconsciousness. If you were to practice eight different meditation techniques in rapid-fire succession in hopes of launching yourself into perfect stillness, there’s a very good chance you’d be disappointed! The secret to success in using meditation techniques is to discover the stillness that lies at the heart of each technique.


Think of stillness as coming to you like the dawn. At first, in the pre-dawn hour, it is very dark. But imperceptibly the horizon, and then the sky, begins to lighten and long before you actually see the sun, daylight has arrived! Practice each technique (stretching, energizing, prayer, chanting, and breath awareness) with calmness and depth so that you can feel this stillness between breaths, between words, between notes, and at the resting point between movements. Then, at last, when you come to rest in the silence (letting go of all “doing” to enter “Being”), the stillness is waiting to embrace you as an old friend!

Don’t make the mistake of skipping the preliminary techniques in order to go immediately to your core practice (Hong Sau, or Kriya, for example). Instead, even when your time is limited, calmly practice some portion of the preliminary techniques and see for yourself if your meditation isn’t deeper as a result. “Banat, banat, ban jai.” “Doing, doing, soon done,” as Lahiri Mahasaya counseled us!

Is stillness, then, the goal of meditation? “When motion ceases, God begins,” Yogananda wrote. Perfect stillness is the price of admission to the ample-theatre of Infinity. Stillness develops the muscle of intuition which is needed to explore the inner space of conscious Bliss. Stillness lacks nothing and yet cannot be said to be everything. Yet it, too, is thrilling, dynamic, and expansive. Be nonattached even to the results of meditation, for it is not ours to know or control the scenery, distance, or time of the journey. “Be still, and know that I AM GOD.”