The big silence

This inner peace of mind occurs on three levels of understanding. Physical quietness seems the easiest to achieve, although there are levels and levels of this too....Mental quietness, in which one has no wandering thoughts at all, seems more difficult, but can be achieved. But value quietness, in which one has no wandering desires at all but simply performs the acts of his life without desire, that seems the hardest."
Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance(Robert Pirsig)

I'm currently fascinated by The Big Silence - BBC2's antidote to reality TV, as five ordinary people take on the challenge of an eight-day silent retreat. The starting point of their faith seems to make almost no difference to the outcome of their experience, with the self-confessed lady of 'no faith' finding the experience as deeply spiritual and enriching as the Christian who's aim was to deepen her faith.

It seems if we can convince ourselves to slow down, any one of us can encounter the living God. So why is it, when I know this that I continually allow the world to spin me up to it restless pace? Thank you once again, Christoper Jamison for making me not just stop and think, but simply stop.