Peace

Like water drawn to the ocean, peace beckons us toward its palpable presence. Peace bears its own substantive, positive quality, not merely an absence of non-peace. But the practice of letting go of non-peace dredges the river of our inner and outer actions, so we more readily flow toward the ocean of peace. Peace offers the perfection of contentment, freedom from wanting. When our contact with the higher confronts and dissolves our attachment to the lower, the reconciling embrace of peace warms our heart and suffuses our soul.

The paths to peace include both action and non-action. Care for our body through proper nutrition, exercise, and relaxation, while not indulging in the harmful, removes roadblocks to a peaceful body. As-is acceptance of oneself, others, and the world, builds the foundation for a peaceful heart. Accepting the inevitability of change releases our grip on the non-peace of fear and desire. This does not preclude working for positive change, but such efforts occur in a context of tolerance, not rejection. Awareness of thoughts as thoughts, while not being lost in them, leads us out of our mental morass and toward a peaceful mind. Thoughts float by like clouds in the sky, but the sky itself remains unperturbed. Being rooted in open, accepting, non-identified awareness of body, heart, and mind, ushers us into the peace of presence.

Peace of body, heart, and mind sets the stage for meditation leading to contact with the ocean of blissful ease, within and beyond all sensory experience. This peace of being supports us in seeking peace of will through right action and surrender to the higher. We earn a clear conscience by invariably doing the right thing, fulfilling our duties to family and society, keeping our promises, giving our best by practicing excellence,and persisting in our spiritual practice and prayer. All this brings a deep sense of purpose, true satisfaction, fulfillment of spirit, and the peace of conscience.

Inner peace leads to outer peace. Our personal attitude of non-harming and acceptance of others creates an atmosphere of peace. While fear, hatred, and violence are infectious, so is peace. The surest way toward a peaceful world, a world without war, without violent crime, is for each of us to manifest our own aura of peace.

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