Stillness · “Stillness Reveals”
Be Still, and Know
To still the body and quiet the mind so completely that personal activity ceases, and in that stillness to know the I AM presence at one’s own center.
Command the body still — release every muscle until you no longer notice it.
- Command the mind still — let stray thoughts dissolve, don’t fight them.
- Let personal activity subside below awareness.
- In the stillness, know the I AM at your center.
- Return to “Be Still” as a refrain, in sitting or in a single moment.
What it is
This is the foundational practice of Joseph S. Benner (1872–1938), the New Thought writer who introduced the “I AM” teaching in The Impersonal Life (1914), written anonymously as the voice of the indwelling Presence.
The whole book turns on one command, taken from Psalm 46: “Be still, and know that I am God.” For Benner this is not a soothing slogan but a precise instruction: bring the body to complete rest, let the restless mind fall silent, and in the resulting stillness know — directly, not by belief — the I AM at your own center.
The voice tells the reader, “you must first learn to Be Still, to quiet your human mind and body and all their activities“ (The Impersonal Life). Only when personal activity ceases can what Benner calls the “I AM” be felt.
It operationalizes stillness (The Inner Creates the Outer), gathered attention (The Inner Creates the Outer), and witnessing awareness (Life Is a Dream).
The Method
A faithful rendering of Benner’s instruction:
- Take the command literally. Treat “Be still” as an order the body must obey. Benner writes that “ every cell of your body thrills in joyful response to the command, ‘Be Still,’ and instantly obeys“ — so begin by stilling the body utterly, releasing every muscle until it no longer asks for your attention.
- Quiet the mind in the same way. As the body settles, turn the same command on the mind. In Benner’s image, “ every vagrant thought hovering around your mind hides itself off into nothingness.” You do not fight thoughts; the stillness itself dissolves them.
- Let activity drop below awareness. Continue until, in his words, mind and body are quieted “ so that you no longer are conscious of them.” This is the mark of sufficient stillness — personal activity has subsided.
- From the personal to the impersonal. Benner frames the command as the divine in you asserting authority over the personal self: “ the God of you commands and demands of your mortal self implicit obedience.” The personal “I” stops running things.
- Now know. In the stillness, know — Benner’s word for direct, wordless recognition — the I AM that is “your Real Self.” The knowing is the point; the stilling is only what makes it possible.
- Use it as a steadying refrain. Benner has the reader return to “Be Still” repeatedly, almost as a discipline, “ until every cell of your body thrills in joyful response.” It can be invoked in a single charged moment as well as in sitting practice.
Source & Lineage
The Impersonal Life (1914) was published anonymously and presented as dictated by the I AM Presence itself; Benner was later identified as the author. The “Be Still! — and Know — I AM — God” chapter is the operational heart of the book.
The phrasing descends directly from Psalm 46:10. Benner stands in the New Thought stream (Quimby, Trine, Dresser) but gives the “Silence” a distinctively imperative and impersonal cast — the stillness is commanded by the God-Self, not merely cultivated by the seeker.
The teaching deeply influenced later “I AM” currents and was a touchstone for figures from Eric Butterworth to Wally Amos.
Common refinements
Straining to be still. Clamping the mind shut produces tension, not stillness. Let the command invite quiet; if a thought comes, let it “hide off into nothingness” rather than wrestling it.
- Stopping at relaxation. Benner’s aim is not a pleasant calm but knowing. Once still, gently turn toward the felt sense of the I AM at your center; don’t just drift.
- Treating it as positive thinking. This is not affirmation of a desired outcome; it is cessation of personal activity. Keep it bare.
- Refinement — the one-moment use. In a charged situation, silently command “Be still” to body and mind at once; even a few seconds of genuine stillness re-centers you in the impersonal Self.