Stillness is the Key

Stillness is the Key, the book that completes the trilogy that began with "The Obstacle is The Way" and "Ego is the Enemy", Ryan Holiday argues that stillness is the key to being better at anything you do. The book is divided into three parts Mind, Spirit and Body, a trinity in which each part depends on the other.

Ryan puts stillness to be steady while the world spins around you. To act without frenzy. To hear only what needs to be heard. To possess quietude—exterior and interior—on command. Talking about the ideas similar to stillness, Holiday looks at Buddhism, Stoicism, Epicureanism, Christianity, Hinduism, and countless other philosophical schools and religions and shows that it’s all but impossible to find one that doesn’t mention this inner peace—this stillness—as the highest good and as the key to a thriving, meaningful life.

“What do we want more of in life? That’s the question. It’s not accomplishments. It’s not popularity. It’s moments when we feel like we are enough. More presence. More clarity. More insight. More truth. More stillness.”

Part 1 Mind –

It begins with the story of John F Kennedy and how he handled the Cuban missile crisis with stillness and calm mind. Ryan mentions a lot of examples and quotes to show the correlation between stillness and mind. Fundamental approach to adopt to live in the present is to turn off all current distractions. Ryan recommends avoiding gossiping with your friends, removing the drama from your daily life  and try to settle with the present. Empty the mind and slow down to think.

From explaining the domain of mind to stating the importance of present and cultivating silence, seeking wisdom and finding confidence, Ryan give ideas and objectives to master the domain of mind to get to the state of stillness. Some major ideas include -

Start Journaling- Draw down all major happenings of life. Watch them in silence.
Seek Wisdom - Question yourself, explore and read. Its humbling to learn our fallibility. Find confidence, avoid ego –Don’t feed insecurity, don’t feed grandeur. Both are obstacles to stillness.

“Work done for a reward is much lower than work done in the Yoga of wisdom. Set thy heart upon thy work, but never on its reward. Work not for the reward; but never cease to do thy work.” —The Bhagavad Gita

 “The mind is restless, Krishna, impetuous, self-willed, hard to train: to master the mind seems as difficult as to master the mighty winds.”— The Bhagavad Gita

Part 2 Spirit –

It starts with the rise and fall of Tiger Woods, from the best gold player in the world to having a horrendous personal life. A man who lost everything as he could not keep his soul in check. Cheating and lying, infidelity and vices, which ultimately lead to his downfall.

The domain of soul is to be virtuous, ability to judge what is right and wrong based on common principles, to be contended. Ryan takes up the spiritual aspect of stillness and knits this part around a few objective points. Some of them include –

Heal the Inner child – “We are demand reparation for our early wounds to our narcissism.” The inner child acts on the instincts, glides you towards the vices and is difficult to tame. To give more, to get what you didn’t get, drop the old story.

Desires lose their power if the apply the principle of stillness. Real pleasure lies in having a soul true and stable.

Bathe in Beauty – Go outside. Take a walk. Look around. Pay attention. Be curious. Marvel. Wonder. Let the beauty around calm you cleanse you.

“In the face of the Sublime, we feel a shiver . . . something too large for our minds to encompass. And for a moment, it shakes us of our smugness and releases us from the deathlike grip of habit and banality.” — Robert Greene

Enter Relationships – A good relationship requires us to be virtuous, faithful, present, empathetic, generous, and willing to be part of larger whole. Even attempting to rise to this challenge can lead to stillness.

Conquer your Anger - We must choose to drive out anger and replace it will love and gratitude—and purpose. Our stillness depends on our ability to slow down and choose not to be angry, to run on different fuel. Fuel that helps us win and build, and doesn’t hurt other people, our cause, or our chance at peace.

Moreover, this part which depicts the spiritual side of stillness and is more on poetic and optimistic side. Ryan goes beyond skepticism and rationality and lays down the importance of belief. The stillness which comes from the spirit, is brought into action using mind and body. It is the spirit which knits them together to inculcate stillness.

“Personal is universal and universal is personal.”

“If we miss contentment, then that is often our own fault—and the fault not of our bodies but of our souls.” — Plutarch

Part 3 Body –

Using the story of Winston Churchill and his routine, Ryan explains the fragility of life. All our powers can be rendered impotent in a moment. He suggested to love the discipline you know to withstand such whiplash. Churchill pursued writing and reading, spending time with family and farm and accepting those afternoons of exile, which, retrospectively prepared him for upcoming responsibilities.

This part shows the physical aspect of stillness. What we do with our bodies, what we dwell into and what kind of routine we follow. Ryan takes up an array of ideas like routine, saying no, sleep, solitude and hobby to explain the physical aspect of stillness.

Say No – When we know what to say no to, we can say yes to the things that matter.

Take a Walk – “It is only ideas gained from walking that have any worth.” – Nietzche. Lot of examples stated by Ryan to show how long walks lead to self exploration, great discoveries and treat stress.

Routine – “Complete freedom is a nightmare. Order is the prerequisite of excellence. In unpredictable world, good habits are safe havens of uncertainty.” Routine become rituals.

“You were born free—free of stuff, free of burden. But since the first time they measured your tiny body for clothes, people have been foisting stuff upon you. And you’ve been adding to links to the pile of chains yourself ever since.”

Seek Solitude - In solitude the time slows down. Cultivating moments of solitude, moments alone, moments in silence, moments with only your thoughts are essential. It’s in those moments where clarity and insights are had, where real understanding of ourselves is found, where deep meaning is discovered.

“Everywhere I have sought for peace and couldn’t find it, except in a corner with a book.”-Thomas A Kempis.

Go to sleep - Product of rested mind take care of its body. If you want peace, if you want to be your best there is one thing to do. Go to sleep.

Have a Hobby- Its meditative to put the body in motion and direct mental efforts at conquering our physical limitations. There is a cleaning experience even when it has a bit suffering.

Beware escapism - Leisure and escapism are distinguished by intention. Know yourself and built a life you don’t need to escape from.

Act bravely - Do the hard good deeds. What is on the other side of goodness is stillness.

This book collects the ideas, assembles the examples and portrays how taking up simple ideas which can help you. No matter how good or how bad your day was, it serves as an equalizer. A tool which helps you to revise the essence of life and the need for stillness in it.

The Trilogy has been one of the most read philosophy books. It takes down majority of our problems one by one and presents a remedy, with a different point of view. It drives away the ego, embrace the obstacle and inculcate stillness. I would like to read and re read these books, be it any day – a good or a bad one.