How to Experience Bliss Through Stillness

Lessons from Ekhart Tolle, hummingbirds, and people who control the wind.

When I first heard the word enlightenment my mind conjured up images of a Yoda like figure levitating in yellow light in the locust position. Now I find that the experience of enlightenment is a lot more attainable.

I am not going to promise you enlightenment in this article. Instead, I want to share where I found moments of Satori.

Satori can be described as brief moments of understanding one’s true nature. This is a brief glimpse into the enlightened state.

After experiencing this state of temporary nirvana, I sought out lessons from the great teachers on the subject of satori, enlightenment, and universal oneness. I’d like to share those lessons with you today.

I’m a mortal without answers to the great mysteries of the Universe. The only chance that I have is to listen which I do on occasion. Others have spent their whole lives listening.

My Moment of Satori

I was sitting outside on a rare day off. It was 4:30 in the afternoon. Even though this was a day off, I spent most of it working on house projects. I felt like I was on a treadmill never really reaching the point of relaxation.

As I reflected on my life I realized that I’m constantly in motion. I never allow myself to sit quietly just to feel the wind on my face. At that moment, I put my book down and just observed my dogs laying in the grass. Without intention, I watched that’s when I was overcome with a feeling of bliss.

It felt something like this,

The mind was still, breathing felt easy and natural. I had this sudden realization that everything is connected. The insight hit me in the face in the form of a gentle breeze. The wind went through me as if the Earth wanted to let me know that I am on the right track. It was timeless, yet, fleeting because the feeling disappeared as soon as I tried to capture it.

As soon as I felt this connection I wanted to bottle it up. I wanted this to be how it always is. My thoughts came back. No longer quiet, but excited because for a moment I felt like I had answers. I remember saying to myself, this is what it means to be human. How profound!

The Ideas of Stillness, Being, and Presence From Ekhart Tolle

In his book, The Power of Now, Tolle describes his moment of awakening. At age 29 he woke up in the middle of the night overcome with dread. He then says “I cannot live with myself any longer”. This phrase clued him into powerful life-changing insights.

He realized as we all should, that “I” and “myself” are not separate entities. In some spiritual sects, this is known as non-dualism.

“In spirituality, nondualism, also called non-duality, means “not two” or “one undivided without a second” -Nondualism, Wikipedia

The lessons in Ekhart’s first book are about becoming aware of this central moment. There is no past or present, only now. These teachings help one to access their true being through stillness. It is through this stillness that we become aware of our unconscious thoughts. Throughout the text, the reader is asked to pause and reflect on the concepts.

These ideas aren’t new spiritual concepts. Rather they are accessible iterations of philosophies that have existed for centuries.

“At the deepest level of Being, you are one with all that is” ― Eckhart Tolle, The Power of Now: A Guide to Spiritual Enlightenment

It’s this idea of stillness that struck a chord with me. As I sat outside under the tree I become aware of it all. By awareness, I mean a conscious presence that wasn’t covered up by thinking about what I have to do next.

This feeling was fleeting because my mind wanted to analyze the blissfulness of the moment. As soon as the mind tries to describe the indescribable the magical moment disappears.

To reach states of Satori one has to practice quiet and stillness. Be aware of the present moment but don’t try and capture it with the mind.

The Flightniness of the Hummingbird

A few days after noticing and researching my Satori moment, I had another experience. This time with one of Earth’s quickest creatures, the tiny hummingbird.

A few weekends ago after visiting my parents, my wife and I were saying our goodbyes. Outside on the back deck, we finished chatting with my mom while eager to get home for dinner.

For some reason, there was one small thing I wanted to mention before I left. That extra 30 seconds of conversation blessed us all with a glimpse of a tiny little hummingbird visiting the mimosa tree.

I saw its outline suddenly appear against the blue sky. Quietly, but intensely I directed everyone to slowly look at the hummingbird behind them. After a few seconds of frantic searching, the others confirmed they had a visual.

That’s when that beautiful moment of satori hit me again. There was stillness without thought.

The three of us were quiet as we watched the flight of the small bird. It was about 27 seconds of collective presence and awe for the gifts of this Earth.

I couldn’t leave without pointing this out. I mentioned that if I had left just 30 seconds earlier we wouldn’t of saw that. Mom said “God is good”, my wife and repeated the phrase in unison and left without another word. It was truly a beautiful moment.

The lesson here, if there is a lesson, is how these moments of beauty are fleeting. Or perhaps, it’s that it’s not just the hummingbird that is beautiful but everything Earth provides. The tiny creature observed, the pink flower, and the backdrop of an azure sky. Together they create a picture with individual elements to be appreciated by consciousness.

Aerokinesis, the People Who Control the Wind

The Universe works in mysterious ways. Somehow, someway I came across a group of individuals who believe that they can control the wind. They call this ability Aerokinesis. Countless Youtube videos show demonstrations of practitioners creating gusts with graceful chi like movements.

Do I think we can control the wind? No, in fact, most of the videos I’ve watched seem to prove it wasn’t possible. Rather than controlling the wind, the individuals in these videos seemed to coordinate their movements with the inevitable gusts.

Ironically, this does require some attunement with the elements. If you want to look like you are controlling the wind with movement, you need to focus intently on the environment. At the slightest hint of an oncoming gust, you would need to coordinate your movements to perform what is called a wind blast.

Maybe we don’t the ability to control the elements of Earth, but I do believe connections exist. If there is one thing Nature teaches us, it’s that we must be quiet to truly appreciate it.

It can be hard to find this peaceful presence. By default, our minds are constantly chattering. However, this stillness becomes much easier when you are highly alert to your environment. To ‘feel’ the wind you have to be still, you have to be observant. This is a practice in noticing.

The Take-Away

It is fair to believe that spirituality and new age concepts such as ‘universal oneness” are imaginary. After all, much of the values we hold as absolute truth are no more than mind-made concepts that we all believe.

When you do experience moments of satori, bliss, or whatever you’d like to label it — you realize this isn’t something the mind can hold. No, this is a feeling that is much deeper than though.

The harder you work for it the more likely it will slip. You can’t caffeinate your way to oneness.

My recent experience has led me to believe that our place might be amongst the trees. I’ve experienced moments of bliss by sitting quietly in Nature.