We do not often think of PEACE . . . as being an aspect of Creational Energies. Yet - it is. Stillness. Softness of mind. The Not Doing. It's a rare space for us as humans. Even when we are meditating or practicing stillness - we seem to have made it about DOING. Do it this way, follow this formula or outline, let this blueprint be THE WAY.
The thing is, though . . . each of those ENGAGES our mind. Even the way we try to or intend to use them TO DISENGAGE the mind . . . we engage the mind to do so.
There is another way. I call it . . . "THE OTHER". It's not about sculpting your inner landscape and it certainly does not intend to harness your mind and bridle it into silence or stillness. Rather, this is about a different approach.
You might, at first, think of it as CULTIVATING PEACE. Except . . . you are not really cultivating it. You, instead, allow it.
It's a funny thing. WE have come to see PEACE as something we enact or create or do. Yet, I am finding for - within - myself . . . that's hardly the way. I'm not saying YOU CANNOT CREATE PEACE in that way. I'm just saying . . . that you are then working to craft something, or to instill something, which is already there. Present. Waiting.
So how do we do that? How do we WELCOME PEACE into our world in this new way? A way that asks nothing of us - and actually, prefers we NOT TRY?
It's simple really. Deceptively so. Inner Peace is our natural state of being. IF you go deeply enough into your center - that is all you will see. That is all you find there. That is all you experience. It lives and breathes there within OUR EVERY BREATH.
So if that is true, what is the big "work" of it? I think it is this: as long as we see PEACE as a destination or an achievement . . . we fail to realize it not only comes forth from inside of us MUCH MORE DEEPLY than any doing can create it to be - but it also IS already THERE.
So how do we find it? Isn't that what MEDITATION brings? Yes, it is, usually - and thankfully - and wonderfully. But . . .it does so by pointing you to your deep inner depths as if they ARE something not often able to reach the surface.
Yet, they are THE DEEPEST and THE TRUEST PART OF YOU. That fear your mind is holding onto? It is sailing on top of the DEEPER WAVE OF PEACE which is right below the surface. That constant chatter in your mind? It too exists on the very surface of your being. Believe it or not, your mind is just not that deep. Not in comparison with Your Heart and Your Essence.
So to approach PEACE as if it is something we must DO or CHASE or JOURNEY DEEP INSIDE to find . . . I think, somehow misses the point.
PEACE is our very nature. We are 99.9999999 % essence. The fraction left over is where your mind reigns. If you think of it that way, every time your mind is raging or your fears go thundering through . . . all we really might want to do is simply this: to stop living at the VERY SURFACE of our lives. Of our inner being.
If we do that, if we begin continually simply gazing more deeply into the pool all the time as WHERE WE EXIST - we find that PEACE is not work. It's simply the act of looking past and through the top layer of reflection on the pool's surface. That's where your mind can place it's strongest energies and reflect them to you clearly - your fears - your judgments - your worries.
But think about this: If you are sitting beside a deep and magical pool. And you KNOW you can see your own reflection very clearly on top of it, on the surface of the water - like a mirror. But that is not REALLY what you came to see. You also know THE POOL holds the most amazing creations and jewels and gems just beneath that top layer. What would you do?
You would so quickly look PAST the top reflecting image of you, and get into a position where the LIGHT was coming not down into the pool, but from within the depths of the pool upwards. there, the top image fades from view and you SEE what the pool holds.
I think, if we all think about it :- ), our minds are tired. Tired of the constant searching, and more truly tired of the striving. EVEN within our spiritual practices and intentions and circles.
What If . . . we just let it all go?
What If . . . we simply choose to peer deeply past the surface image reflected by our mind, and look at what is truly there?
WE LOOK PAST images all the time. WE know how. WE are even good at it. Think about it. How many times do you drive by a corner you pass every single day - and never actually SEE the stop sign on the corner? You know it is there . . . it just does not register. You're looking past it. How many times do you walk past a mail box near a store but not actually SEE IT. You know it is there . . . you may have even dropped something in it and used it a time or two. And yet the next time you need to mail something you may not think of it being there. And how many times have you seen an actor or actress on TV who strangely looks about 20 years younger all of a sudden. The thing is . . . you KNOW they did not used to look that way. You know this is artificially created, or at best, simply a surface projection they want to express. But you most certainly do not think they ARE suddenly 20 years younger inside. You know how old they are. And you know their body and skin WAS aging. Until they stepped in to make it seem otherwise. You look past THE ARTIFICIAL IMAGE, the less true one they created, and you look to THE TRUTH which is right there, STILL THERE, beneath it. THE TRUTH YOU KNOW.
Not only can we do this, we are used to doing it. So why would we think DOING SO in our inner landscape is such a constant thing of work and effort? I believe it does not have to be. And, more importantly . . . I think we find a hidden secret when we follow that path, which is this: THE DEEP and TRUE PEACE which is our innate state of being for our essence . . . is much MORE POTENT and POWERFUL than anything WE create or find using our mind or mental constructs or recipes to get there.
In other words, the less doing to get there . . . the more PURELY we experience what we find. I know this may just sound crazy to you. But I'm finding it to be quite true! Try it . . . see what YOUR INNER ESSENCE reveals to you when you do - about who you truly are - about how deep that surface reflection of your mind truly goes (and not far at all, relatively, I assure you) - and about what TRUE PEACE really is.
I Invite You . . . to take a new approach to PEACE in your life. Both your inner world and your outer one. You may just be amazed . . . at how deeply that seemingly tiny shift in perspective - AND APPROACH - can transform you. And your life.
PEACE. That elusive thing in our world. It need not be. Not only does it live inside us . . . it's THE VAST MAJORITY of our being. If we begin living that . . . we will naturally find that PEACE is a whole new thing to us.
Even . . . A Magical Thing!
Enjoy your peaceful selves today . . . both inner and outer. I know I am!