“Let there be peace on earth, and let it begin with me.” These insightful words from a popular song show us where true peace begins – within us.
Inner peace begins with the daily discipline of stillness – physical, mental, & spiritual. There are infinite paths to stillness & the right path for each of us is often unique. But the key is to be on the path. Whether by meditation, prayer, yoga, exercise, or another practice, we each need a doorway into inner peace each day.
So there you are, sitting in stillness. What do you do once you sit in stillness in order to create inner peace? One way is to practice listening to your inner voice – your intuition or highest self – for guidance. The message is always there when we listen in stillness. Another way is to observe your current thoughts without judging them. Observation without judgment deeply expands inner peace. Reflect deeply on your life and your choices – again, just in observation, not judgment. Let yourself surrender to peaceful relaxation in this moment. The peace of such release will ripple through the universe.
This all sounds so simple and easy. Actually, the meditative process is quite easy, but the hard part – the place we most struggle – is making ourselves sit down and actually do it!
We recently asked a group of people what they would be doing if they truly loved themselves. Almost everyone realized that they really needed to stop and enjoy life in simple ways. In other words, to stop processing life through events and activities and, instead, do something just for themselves that they really enjoyed. The moments we take to live in love, whether reading an inspiring book, taking a meditative walk, enjoying a garden, or looking deeply into the eyes of someone we love, bring us into inner peace. In such “living” moments, inner guidance often bubbles to the surface. New insights find pathways into our hearts that help us make more conscious and enlightened life choices.
Such inner peace creates core integrity with us – a strength of composed stillness that can face the enormous forces of conflict in our lives and the world. The more we practice inner peace, the more empowered we become as external peacemakers and peacekeepers. Our inner peace flows naturally outward.
One valuable way we can help create more outer peace is to remain calm in the first sign of conflict. The temptation may be to judge, lash out, or feel attacked, but that first moment before we respond is a powerful moment for choosing peace, not conflict. We draw deeply on the inner core peace and let it guide us outwardly.
As situations of potential conflict present themselves to us – perhaps a verbal attack, judgment, belittlement, anger, or harsh disagreement, we can move right back into that earlier practice of inner peace with observation, not judgment. Our attitude of not judging others and choosing instead to observe and seek understanding, speaking the language of inner peace, opens hearts. Such calmness and understanding act as powerful peace tools which can open the door to harmonious dialogue. The environment of peace you create, more than your words, has the power to bring forward resolution.
Sometimes, as peacemakers, the best response is no response. Your calmness and a graceful exit may be the best you can do under certain circumstances. So be it. But even in such conditions, we can leave behind a trail of peace-nurturing footprints.
We are not powerless as we watch news and see daily evidence of conflict or war. Our hearts can embrace all those suffering from such conflict and we can take action by digging our roots even more deeply into inner peace so that our lives can expand peace within the circle of humanity we touch. We know our actions have universal consequences so we make a conscious decision to live as if we had been selected to serve the world as universal peacemakers. And so, again, in humility, we go within and surrender to peace. Yet even in isolation, we are doing this together. Think of all the peacemaking hearts at work right now. The power of our collective peace, right now, is inescapably transforming civilization. Welcome to the heart of Love.
Copyright 2003 by Scott & Shannon Peck
