The Will to Know Freedom: the Stillness at Our Core by Marlise Karlin
I was afraid of riding horses. I was afraid of getting up to bat. I was afraid of buying my own cigarettes. The only thing I wasn’t afraid of was leaving. On the night my father put his fist through the only locked door in the house to punish me for not obeying him—I knew. I knew I had no choice but to go. I didn’t know where or even how—just that I had to go.
I crept out my window and climbed down the big oak tree all those years ago believing that it was my only hope to find freedom. I guess it was my first taste of wanting something with such will that I could forget, at least momentarily, the many fears I lived with. And maybe it was this focused intention that became a determining factor for so much of the way my life would unfold.
Words can cause hurt that runs even deeper than burning wounds from a well-placed belt. Somewhere between the drinking, the whippings, and the pain that his words made as they chilled my heart, was my search to find out who I was beyond what I’d been told. And I would soon learn that the greatest challenges we face have hidden gifts that lie within them; and mine came in the form of will and focus.
I have much to thank my father for, as he was a constant reminder of what I didn’t have and longed to know. I was clear from a very early age that my life’s purpose was to discover the freedom that no one can ever take away from you; that lies hidden deep inside—the inherent power in knowing our greatness—where we can access the source of all; of true peace.
My life’s journey was filled with an inordinate amount of challenges in my youth—being a runaway, in drug rehab, a single mother, taking jobs that to this day I don’t even want to speak of—that later turned into triumphs: a wife, an interior architectural designer, and an award-winning producer. When that roller coaster seemed to only be going uphill and life became less difficult, the passionate purpose of my childhood momentarily faded into the background—until the day I encountered a debilitating pain in my body and the memories of my intention rapidly returned. I refueled them with my focus, will, and love. I made time for Stillness. I asked to know what I had always dreamt of—who we are beyond those illusory, mesmerizing titles we get in life from what we do to what we own.
On the morning of November 11, 2001, I awoke with a paralyzing sadness that seemed to penetrate every part of my mind and body. The thoughts I kept hearing in my head were: I’m not worthy of forgiveness…I’ll never know the freedom I want…I’m not worthy. Everything I had wanted and dreamt of for so long now seemed impossible. The hopelessness was overwhelming. But in the midst of despair, I suddenly felt all the negativity I was feeling leave me. I experienced absolute peace beyond anything I’d known. It was like the boundless freedom an eagle must feel as he soars through the sky. The sensations of love streaming through my body felt like swimming in a sea of shimmering, translucent water. In that moment, I knew I got everything I’d ever asked for. My perception of life changed. Strengths appeared that allowed me to begin living more in alignment with who I always wanted to be.
As my connection to Stillness grew, I understood with greater clarity what was really important to me and how I wanted to live my life. I was discovering—not from a concept but experientially—what I always wanted to know.
Fear and suffering began to lose their grip on me. I saw how I had judged others, placing blame outside myself when often I was the one who was “stuck” and not able to see. I began to know love, contentment, and compassion. What transpired was a discovery of new ways to find solutions, based on mutual respect and love, at least in my heart.
That was how I could walk away from life, as I knew it, and begin traveling the world inviting other people to rediscover the treasure we all have inside. Throughout my life I was told this gift of grace was a distant dream, highly unlikely to happen in this lifetime; and even though I didn’t know how to begin, I knew I had to share with others that it was time to break those concepts and discover for themselves what lies beyond them.
After seeing how people’s lives from every culture were transformed so simply from what I was guided to offer, I decided to develop methods: The Practices of the Simplicity of Stillness, where more people could touch the heart of true freedom that is our birthright. When people connect to the power of presence, life transforms—it’s as simple as that. If we complicate it, we move it away from our daily experience: if we integrate it, we enjoy life more.
The distractions and workloads most of us are faced with make it easy to feel overwhelmed. When we weave Stillness into every day of our lives, we suddenly realize what is truly meaningful, and what we find is that this simple habit becomes the trigger for finding what brings us into balance.
Over the last few years I have witnessed so many people who had been living in depression and distrust find happiness as their lifelong fears began to dissolve. I have seen young kidss as well as seniors’ lives change through the love flowing through their lives because of Stillness, an experience that so many have in common.
It’s my feeling that more people will soon begin living from the Stillness at their core, and as they do, explosions of peace will spread throughout the world—inner and outer peace. It’s an amazing journey, and it’s infinite. There is no final destination to get to, just a greater enjoyment and appreciation of the ride we’re on—you really won’t want to miss a moment of it.Marlise Karlin is a spiritual teacher who connects people to their true essence by experiencing The Simplicity of Stillness®. After a series of profound experiences shifted her perception of life, Marlise developed simple methods for people everywhere to renew themselves so that the journey of life can be more enjoyable. Countless people from every culture around the world are attesting to the extraordinary benefits that her Stillness Sessions® have brought to their lives, from experiencing a sense of peace rarely felt, to finding balance and wellbeing, and from releasing years of road blocks, to discovering what they really want out of life and how to create it.