Stillness · “Stillness Reveals”
Going into the Silence
Use breath and sustained concentration to still scattered attention and enter ‘the Silence,’ the inner state where one’s deeper power is reached.
Sit, breathe slowly and rhythmically, concentrate on one point until the mind stills, rest in the Silence, affirm your unity with the inner power, then carry the calm into action.
What it is
Julia Seton’s signature inner practice from Concentration: The Secret of Success (c.1912): a disciplined use of breath and concentration to gather scattered mental energy and pass into “the Silence” — a poised, unified inner state she held to be both the secret of practical achievement and the place where the divine power within is contacted.
For Seton, concentration is not strain but the deliberate stilling and focusing of the mind, and the Silence is its fruit.
The Method
Seton gave explicit directions for breathing, for concentration, and for “going into the Silence.” The practice as taught:
- Settle the body. Sit quietly, upright and at ease, withdrawing attention from outer activity.
- Regulate the breath. Breathe slowly, deeply, and rhythmically; let the breath quiet the body and steady the mind. Seton used breath as the doorway into concentration.
- Concentrate on a single point. Fix attention on one chosen idea, word, or image (for Seton, often the indwelling power or the good desired), returning gently whenever the mind wanders. Concentration is sustained, easeful focus, not forced effort.
- Enter the Silence. As focus deepens, let thought grow still and pass into the inner quiet — the Silence — resting in unified, receptive awareness.
- Receive and affirm. In that stillness, hold the conviction of your unity with the inner power and of the good as already real; then carry the poise back into action. (Sourcing note: steps reflect Seton’s documented chapter directions on breathing, concentration, and the Silence; wording is attributed paraphrase, not reproduced text.)
Source & Lineage
Julia Seton (1862–1950), founder of the New Civilization Church, taught “Concentration,” “Silence,” and self-unfoldment widely. Concentration: The Secret of Success (E.
J. Clode, c.1912) is the primary source. The “Silence” is a shared New Thought practice (Quimby, Hopkins, Trine); Seton’s contribution is its concrete breath-and-concentration method.
Common refinements
Forcing concentration. Straining defeats it; Seton’s focus is relaxed and sustained, not gripped.
- Skipping the breath. The breathing step is the on-ramp; rushing past it leaves the mind scattered.
- Chasing experiences. The Silence is a quiet state, not a spectacle; expecting fireworks breeds frustration.
- No carry-over. Seton meant the poise to be carried into action, not left on the cushion.