Silouan of Shropshire
Priest-Monk Silouan of Shropshire is an Orthodox Christian monk. He currently resides at the Orthodox Christian Monastery of St Anthony and St Cuthbert, Shrewsbury, Shropshire, United Kingdom.
Quotes
[edit]- Priest-Monk Silouan (2011). Wisdom Songs: A Book of Wisdom Chapters in Five Centuries. New York: Sophia Institute. ISBN 978-0-9835867-1-5.
Stillness is neither thought nor the cessation of thought. Stillness stands steadfast as wisdom when the heart is luminous and clear. Uncontrived and unfabricated, wisdom is overlooked by blind oblivion.
Stillness is not one state opposed to another. It is not an external phenomenon. It is incomprehensible and ineffable because at root, it is uncreated and unconditioned. It unifies, so as to ground what is integral. It illumines, so as to clarify what is translucent. It glorifies, to liberate the glorified. It deifies, to transfigure the deified.
- No. 40, in "A Century on the Wisdom of Stillness"
- Stillness does not come and go. It is we who come and go. Stillness abides, like a vast evenness, limpid and pure. It is a transcendent realm of infinite clarity.
- No. 60, in "A Century on the Wisdom of Stillness"
Stillness is neither dissipation nor dislocation. She is neither exclusion nor suppression. She is neither addiction to confusion nor fixation on separation.
Stillness is ineffable freedom. Everything is ineffably free in true stillness. She is inexhaustible. She is endless. ‘After fire, a still small voice.’
- No. 66, in "A Century on the Wisdom of Stillness"
So, true stillness is of God, from God, and wholly in God. With this we begin to enter into our rest. We begin to rest in peace. We begin to taste the bright mysteries of holy dying, that overcome death through death.
Stillness is resurrection. It overcomes death by death. It reveals glory to wisdom. It unveils vision and wonder. Such wonder binds confused, divided thoughts. It is serene.
- No. 79, in "A Century on the Wisdom of Stillness"