Many paths lead to the Inner Life, and though there are many reasons why individuals choose to take the journey within, we might all agree that the impetus, in part, includes a search for a deeper meaning to life and a longing to experience an unmoving and peaceful place from which to view and interpret the ever-changing world.
There’s so much talk these days about peace. There are plenty of negotiations going on in the name of peace and a number of peace summits planned for the future. There’s even been a “Road Map” for peace that’s been tossed about by various factions around the world. But, in spite of all the plans, and even with the cartographic assistance of a map, our world still has not “found” peace.
So, the question each of us might ask our self is “Does peace exist in a place that can be found in the world?” Is Peace contingent upon the opinions of those who hold world power? Could true peace actually dwell in the hands of whomever is the most politically influential and/or financially powerful in any given moment? Or, could it be that I am looking for true Peace in all the wrong places?”
Kipling wrote in his wonderful poem If: “If you can keep your head when all about you are losing theirs and blaming it on you…” It is such a wonderful statement of the potential power that dwells within each of us to take possession and control of our responses to life.
He might have said, “If you can keep your peace when all about you are losing theirs…” whether they’re blaming it on you or their neighbor or a particular ethic group or another country, then perhaps you’ve discovered where the real “Road Map” for peace ultimately leads…
When we observe nature, it is so much easier to see that Peace, true Peace, unconditional Peace flows through life — in, above, beneath, and as creation. The joyous vibration of life at sunrise and the rest and deep contentment when sunset falls. In Its primal and original state, Peace flows through every creature, large and small, unimpeded by opposition, undisturbed by conflict, and unregulated by result.
Peace in Its pure state is Perfect Peace, a Center unmoved by analysis and consensus. It is a Peace that exceeds circumstance and condition; a Peace that is not contingent upon humanity’s personal conditions for Its existence.
Because Peace is ever-present, we do not need to seek It, as if It were somewhere else. It isn’t necessary for us to set up outer conditions for Its appearance. Often outer conditions depend upon personal, political or ethnic conditions, which are only transient mind sets in an ever-changing creation. All that is required of us, so to speak, is our recognition of the Presence of Peace. If we want to experience the harmonizing effect of Peace in all our affairs, if It is ever to manifest as the State of our personal experience or as the human condition at large, each of us must acknowledge Its Power and Presence, here and now, no matter what may be going on personally or in the world. This is not a suggestion to look at life through rose-colored glasses. This is encouragement to reach deep within ourselves and bring forth the Pure Energy of Life the dwells at the center of our being.
When people and events appear disharmonious, often, rather than our recognizing Peace as the only true Power and Presence in spite of appearances, we frequently attempt to change the behavior, opinions, and attitudes of others in order for “clear the way” for Peace to appear. Control, manipulation, coercion, and force become instruments of a peace that must be achieved rather than experienced. Recognition is the instrument of that Peace that already Is…that Peace that is already in you.
Throughout the ages, and in our world today, the human race has attempted to bring about peace through war and conflict — both sides seeking to overpower their enemy, convert their opposition, and control the situation in order to achieve “peace.” You might agree that the horrors humankind has carried out against itself in the name of God are only surpassed by the battles it continues to wage in the name of Peace.
Though we personally may not agree with war and may feel that there are more spiritual ways to resolve social conflicts, we may unconsciously, or even self-righteously, hold the same points of view that beget war and violence. Many of us, in one way or another in our daily life engage, mentally and/or verbally, in personal battles of our own.
When we bump up against the hardened assumptions of differing points of view, ideas that seem “foreign” to our own, we may not always recognize that Peace is the only Presence no matter the human opinion, but instead we may perceive differences as a sign of disunion. We might seek personal peace of mind through our attempts to convince others of the rightness of our position or the correctness of our way of doing things. Or, perhaps, we might even try to achieve peace by suppressing our own true nature and sense of what is right in order to appease another, losing any chance of true peace in the process.
It is important for each of us to notice our patterns of belief. We can ask our self: When something appears to go wrong, do I look for someone to blame before the situation can be resolved? Do I justify my temporary expressions of irritation, aggravation, and anger because of the behavior of another? Do I recognize Peace in every moment or do I look for a moment’s peace?
When we live our life in “reaction” to outer circumstances, it is easy to feel separate from others and from our own true Center of Peace. We look out through eyes that are framed in what feels like an isolated self and look into a world where diversity frequently appears to deny unity.
How often have we listened to the news, read a newspaper, or talked with a friend about the disharmony, violence, hate, and destruction in the world today and then shook our head with a verbal “tsk-tsk” to emphasize how different the world is from us? But, is it really possible for anyone to be completely different from the world when each one of us is a part of the world?
The world that we see– the good-bad-beautiful-ugly-just-unjust — is us, personally and collectively. We affect the world through our thoughts, words, and actions.
There may be no boundaries to Peace, but our individual experience of Peace is dependent solely upon our own awareness of It. The more we agree with what we see “out there” — or attempt to separate our self from the world out of fear — the more susceptible we are to the subconscious persuasions of the human race…whether that human mindset has been hardened through generations of confirmation or is as fleeting and fickle as the next political election.
If we want to see Peace, we must choose to be Peace. We cannot allow our self to mindlessly accept the ideas of exterior, narrow, hostile, greedy, or self-important forces in the world, for such automaton acquiescence can pull us away from our own inviolate Center of Peace and may place us in harm’s way.
If the subjective state of our thought creates our objective experience of the world (and many believe this is does), and if the subjective state of our thought is the sum total of our thinking and knowing, then we cannot afford beliefs, notions, concepts, and actions that are un-peaceful, that are engendered by fear, and fueled by separation and disharmony, and then walk out into the world of our creation and expect to be safe. Our thoughts and words of doubt and fear, our anger, blame, judgment, and sense of separation from others, personally and globally, energized by the intensity of the feelings behind them, are as powerful as our silent longings and spoken professions of peace.
The Peace that we can claim as our innate “center” is not a place we must get to, but rather a moment-to-moment state of being from which we can choose to live. Spiritual Peace, lasting Peace, the Peace that passes understanding, is not only our Center, but Its also the Circumference of all life. Unconditional Peace requires nothing at all (not even a deep breath) for it to appear to us.
It may be easier for us to feel peaceful when we turn away from the chaotic objects of creation and turn, with our eyes closed, to the Pure, Formless Peace we believe exists “somewhere.” But it is vital for us to remind ourself that Peace IS — eyes open or closed, in our quiet centerings, in our silent meditations, when we speak our words in silent prayer, and when we speak our mind in the world.
When we recognize that Peace IS ALWAYS — unchangeable and unfailing — we will feel It and express It no matter what, no matter where, because Peace is all there Is, and Peace is what we are.
Ghandi said: “But for my faith in God, I should have been a raving maniac.” As a spiritual leader in one of the nondenominational Flint churches, I hear people talk about our “crazy world” all the time. It would certainly seem that the world, indeed, has gone insane. Countries warring against countries, religions warring against religions, ethnic groups warring against other ethnic groups, and political ideologies warring against each other. If this truly were all there is to life, what would be the point in living at all? That is, to get up every day to “fight the good fight” would still be a fight, right? As Motown’s, Edwin Starr, would sing, “war, what is it good for…absolutely nothing!”