Stillness · “Stillness Reveals”
Retiring Into the Silence
To withdraw inward into the Silence and there commune with the indwelling I AM — listening to be taught and guided directly by the Real Self within.
Retire inward to the Consciousness deep within.
- Still the personal mind so the soul can hear.
- Turn receptive — listen, don’t talk.
- Commune with the Real Self; ask, then wait for the quiet knowing.
- Let yourself be taught, test the guidance, and carry the stillness into the day.
What it is
This is Joseph S. Benner‘s practice of the inward Silence: a daily withdrawal from the outer world into the still depth of one’s own being, there to commune with — and be taught by — the indwelling I AM.
Where his “Be Still” practice quiets body and mind to know the Presence, this practice goes a step further into relationship: having grown still, you turn receptively inward and listen, letting the Real Self instruct and guide you directly.
Benner describes “your own Real Self, the God-You, that is always back in that Consciousness deep within your soul, where you can retire any moment you will“ (The Way to the Kingdom, 1931), and speaks of the deepest spiritual work as “mental work — in the Silence,” when the mind is still enough for the soul to hear.
It operationalizes stillness (The Inner Creates the Outer), inner gnosis (All Is One), and the deeper Self (All Is One).
The Method
A faithful rendering of Benner’s instruction:
- Retire inward. Set aside the outer world and turn attention back and down into “that Consciousness deep within your soul.” Benner stresses this is available “any moment you will” — a place you go, not a state you manufacture.
- Grow still. Quiet the personal mind so it stops talking. The Silence opens only as personal activity subsides; Benner’s “mental work in the Silence” presupposes a hushed mind “so the soul can hear.”
- Turn receptive. Shift from doing to listening. Rest attention on the felt Presence of the Real Self and wait, open and expectant, without forcing words or images.
- Commune, then listen. Address the I AM within as your own deepest Self; bring the question or need, then fall silent and let the answer arise — as a knowing, a settling, a clarified sense of what is true, rather than as the chatter of the personal intellect.
- Let yourself be taught. Benner’s frame is that the Real Self instructs directly; the practice is to receive, not to figure out. Trust the quiet knowing that comes from depth over the noisy reasoning that comes from the surface.
- Return to the day from there. Come out of the Silence carrying its steadiness and any guidance received, and let it inform action — re-entering briefly whenever you need to re-center.
Source & Lineage
The Silence is a continuous thread in Benner’s work: present in The Impersonal Life (1914) as the inward turning that reveals the I AM, and developed in The Way to the Kingdom (1931) and The Way Out (1930) as a daily discipline of communion and guidance.
It belongs squarely to the New Thought “Silence” tradition (Trine’s In Tune with the Infinite, Dresser’s The Power of Silence, Hamblin’s “entering the Silence”) and resonates with Christian contemplative listening.
Benner’s distinctive stamp is the interlocutor: the Silence is communion with the impersonal I AM that is one’s own Real Self, who teaches directly.
Common refinements
Filling the Silence with petition. This is listening, not lobbying. Ask once, then go quiet and receive.
- Mistaking surface chatter for the Voice. The personal intellect will offer plenty of “answers.” Benner’s mark of genuine communion is depth and stillness; let the quiet knowing distinguish itself from mental noise.
- Skipping the stilling. Without real quiet there is no Silence to enter; do the stilling first.
- Treating impressions as infallible. Receive guidance humbly and test it against reason, conscience, and outcome before acting — especially on consequential matters.
- Refinement — same time daily. Benner frames this as a discipline; a regular hour deepens the sense of an open inner door you can return to “any moment you will.”