Obedience brings stillness. Not the stillness of any movement, but the stillness of everything moving in the right direction naturally. It is like the tide pulled by the moon to turn. There may be all kinds of movement and unrest in the water, but the tide will always turn because of the moon.

Obedience is when the rebellions of the mind turn back on themselves like waves, and retreat because of the strength of spirituality moving them. It is not force, but the creation of a natural rhythm. From noise into quiet, questioning to silence.

Where there is disobedience within oneself, there is great danger. There is the danger of an ocean breaking through a wall, drowning within one go the careful creation of thought; whole homes and families of ideas gone. There is the danger of impulse and dreams. There is so much danger.

The story of the tide turning is absolutely precise. Look at a chart and you know when it is safe to set sail. An obedient mind can be relied on in the same way. It is not boring to be obedient to one - it is the landing strip for the most challenging of flights. Keep to the rules and you are totally free. You are trusted and beautiful. It is very rare to find someone with an obedient mind.

Steps towards obedience are the steps of a dance. They move in stages. The first step is practiced alone. A constant attention to one movement over and over again. This is the obedience of the mind. The rhythmic retreat and advance of troubled thinking. You start to think, extend, and then with gentle precision, withdraw the thought, before it hurts. The withdrawing isn’t a sign that there is something wrong. It is part of the step.

The second stage is learning the dance, putting the steps together. And that starts with bowing to the teacher, accepting something or someone to learn from. Obedience is following the dance of the teacher. Practicing alone and then watching, with intensity and exhilaration as the steps become a dance.

The first two stages demand no more than attention and dedication. The last step takes courage. This is obedience to circumstance. And this is when the slow, private dance of love becomes public. To be still inside, to be obedient to your own principles is one thing; to follow the teacher, silently harmonizing is also one thing, but to be obedient to circumstance is another.

This is when the world is blaring, demanding, impinging and yet you maintain your rhythm, maintain precision, keep dancing, but not in a vacuum. You give to life. Instead of inner discipline being a withdraw al, it becomes a source of pleasure. Ultimate obedience is when you’ve learnt the steps, you know the dance and however unmusical the situation, whatever the danger of collision and hurt, you invite others to dance with you. Not just invite, but the dance of obedience becomes your religion.