Stillness · “Stillness Reveals”
Entering the Silence
Become inwardly still so the noisy surface mind quiets and the ‘still small voice’ of intuition and wisdom can be heard and relied upon.
Withdraw into quiet as often as you can. Let the loud surface mind settle — don’t fight it, just let it quiet. Hold a calm, confident receptivity (“in quietness and confidence shall be your strength”). Wait for the still small voice of intuition rather than forcing an answer. For any decision in the day, briefly retire inward first, then act on the quiet leading. (Useful for clarity and better decisions — but sanity-check what surfaces; it isn’t infallible.)
What it is
Hamblin’s contemplative practice of becoming still and receptive. He distinguishes two layers of mind — the loud “surface, material mind” and the deeper “subliminal” mind that is “one with the Universal Mind” — and teaches that the second can only be heard when the first is quieted.
His clearest statement: “You know that in the ‘Silence,’ having hushed the loud voices of the surface, material mind, you can hear the still small voice of intuition, of infinite wisdom.” The Silence, for Hamblin, is not blankness or trance; it is a quiet, confident receptivity in which wisdom and strength are drawn from within: “Spend as much time as possible in the Silence, for in quietness and confidence shall be your strength.” It is the receptive counterpart to his active “Realizing the Power Within” — first you realize the Power, here you grow quiet enough to listen.
The Method
Faithful to Hamblin (Dynamic Thought, “Spend Time in Silence” / “Look within for Power”):
- Withdraw into quiet, as often as you can. “Spend as much time as possible in the Silence.” Hamblin treats it as a habit to return to, not a single daily ritual.
- Hush the surface mind. The whole move is to quiet the “loud voices of the surface, material mind” — let the chatter of sense, worry, and reasoning settle, without fighting it. Quietness is the practice.
- Become confidently receptive. “In quietness and confidence shall be your strength.” The attitude is calm trust, not strained effort or eager grabbing — a settled openness to what wells up from within.
- Listen for the “still small voice.” Wait for intuition rather than manufacturing an answer: in the silence “you can hear the still small voice of intuition, of infinite wisdom.” Notice the quiet promptings, not the loud demands.
- Use brief silences through the day for decisions. “Whenever, during the day, you have to make a decision, mentally retire into the Silence and gain wisdom and inspiration from the Infinite.” A momentary inward pause before choosing, not only the long sitting.
- Then act on the quiet leading. Bring what you receive back into ordinary life — “light and leading will come” — and act on it. The silence informs action; it does not replace it.
Source & Lineage
Dynamic Thought (1921), the short chapters “Spend Time in Silence,” “Look within for Power,” and “Take Your Difficulties Into the Silence”; reinforced in Within You is the Power (1921), Ch. IX “The Use of the Spiritual or Super-Conscious Mind.” The “Silence” is the central New Thought contemplative practice (Trine, Militz, Fillmore, Haanel, Goldsmith); Hamblin’s “in quietness and confidence shall be your strength” is from Isaiah 30:15, and his “still small voice” echoes 1 Kings 19:12 — marking his characteristically biblical, theistic framing of the silence as listening for God’s intuition.
Common refinements
Straining to make something happen. “Confidence” means relaxed trust; effortful concentration defeats the receptivity. Let the surface mind settle; don’t beat it down.
- Treating every prompting as infallible “guidance.” Intuitions can be wrong, biased, or fearful. Sanity-check what surfaces against reason and reality before acting on it.
- Confusing it with blankness or trance. Hamblin’s silence is alert, quiet listening — and he explicitly warns elsewhere against forcing trance states.
- Refinement: pair with — first realize the Power is present, then grow still and listen; and use when a specific problem is the focus.