Stillness · “Stillness Reveals”
Realizing Omnipresence
Sit quietly and turn the mind from wanting toward recognising — to realise that the one Presence (the All-Good) is wholly here, now, everywhere, and ‘has already been given,’ so the work of the sitting is acceptance and recognition of what already is, not petition for what is absent.
Realizing Omnipresence: Sit, still the mind, and stop asking. Turn instead to recognising that the one Presence — the All-Good — is wholly here, now, everywhere. Rest in James’s insight that we “have received” already: the good is not coming, it is here, “waiting only to be accepted.” When the mind slips back into lack, return to the recognition — already given; here now. Close in quiet sufficiency, without outlining how good must appear. Recognise the Presence — and still act in the world.
What it is
For Fannie Brooks James, the foundation truth of Divine Science was that “limitless Being, God, is equally present everywhere and is the all of everything.” This practice is the felt recognition of that truth in stillness.
It is not a request and not a listening-for-guidance vigil — it is a deliberate turn of the mind away from wanting and toward recognising what is already so: that the one Presence, the All-Good, is wholly here, and (in James’s striking phrase) that we “have received” already and have only to accept.
The whole work of the sitting is a change of stance — from petition (“please give me”) to acceptance (“it is already given; I open to it”). Where her sister Nona Brooks’s “Entering the Silence” rests in and communes with the indwelling Presence and listens for guidance, James’s emphasis here is specifically on realising the omnipresence as already-given, so that the practice ends not in having heard something but in having recognised that nothing was missing.
The Method
From Truth and Health (faithfully described; short quotes only):
- Settle and grow still. Sit comfortably, let the body relax, and let the surface chatter quiet. (Divine Science assumes the student also knows the Statement of Being; you may begin by recalling it — God is all; one Presence is all.)
- Turn from wanting to recognising. Deliberately drop the posture of asking. James’s teaching is that “the purpose of our prayer changes — it is not to induce Divine Love to grant us anything — everything has already been given.” So stop pleading and start recognising.
- Realise the Presence as here and everywhere. Hold the simple recognition that the one Presence is not far off or future but all-enveloping, everywhere at the same time, including right here. Let “God is omnipresent” stop being a sentence and become a felt sense of being surrounded and constituted by the one Life.
- Accept what is already given. “When our eyes are opened to Omnipresence, we see that we ‘have received’ — that the All-Good is waiting our recognition, waiting only to be accepted.” Rest in that acceptance: the good is not coming; it is here, awaiting your recognition.
- Stay with the recognition, gently returning. When the mind drifts back into lack or into figuring-things-out, return — not to a petition, but to the recognition: already given; here now.
- Close in quiet acceptance, not in expectation. End by simply resting in the sense of sufficiency, without “outlining” how any good must now appear. (Sourcing note: the quoted phrases are from Truth and Health; the numbered structure is an attributed paraphrase of James’s teaching on realising Omnipresence.)
Source & Lineage
Fannie Brooks James (1854-1914) co-founded Divine Science with Malinda Cramer and her sisters, served about fifteen years as president of the Divine Science College in Denver, and set out the movement’s doctrine in Truth and Health (1917).
The recognition of God’s omnipresence as the ground of healing and life is Divine Science’s foundation truth, taken up from Cramer’s “Divine Science and Healing” and shared with the wider New Thought stream.
The Traditions' versions
The move — grow still and recognise an already-present, all-pervading divine fullness, rather than petition for an absent good — recurs widely; James’s version is distinctive in foregrounding omnipresence as already-given sufficiency (“we have received”): - Nona Brooks, Entering the Silence — the sister practice in the same tradition: withdraw into stillness, commune with the indwelling Presence, and listen for guidance; James’s stress falls on recognising the Presence as already-given rather than on listening.
- Dresser, Realization of the Immanent Spirit — New Thought contemplation of the indwelling Spirit.
- The Infinite Way contemplative meditation (Goldsmith) — resting in the recognition of an omnipresent God as the only reality.
- Brother Lawrence, practising the presence of God — continual awareness of God’s nearness through the day.
- Gratitude/sufficiency reframing (psychology) — shifting from “what I lack” to “what is already here” to lift mood and lower craving.
Common refinements
Smuggling the petition back in. If the sitting becomes “I’m recognising omnipresence so that I’ll get X,” you’ve returned to wanting. Drop the outcome; rest in the recognition.
- Straining for a feeling. You don’t have to manufacture bliss. A quiet sense of “here, enough, held” is plenty; let it be simple.
- Treating sufficiency as passivity. “Already given” is an inner stance, not a reason to stop pursuing real needs. Recognise the Presence, then act.
- Confusing it with listening for messages. This practice’s aim is recognition of what already is, not receiving instructions; if you want guidance/communion, that is the Entering-the-Silence emphasis instead.
- Pushing through distress. If stillness brings up anxiety or dissociation, shorten the sitting, open the eyes, ground in the body, and stop if needed.