Our Capacity to Make Peace-Daily Meditation 3.28.23
Today’s quotation:
Our capacity to make peace with another person and the world depends very much on our capacity to make peace with ourselves. Suppose we are at war with our parents, family, society, or church. In that case, there is probably a war going on inside us also, so the most basic work for peace is to return to ourselves and create harmony among the elements within us–our feelings, our perceptions, and our mental states. . . . We must recognize and accept the conflicting elements within us and their underlying causes. It takes time, but the effort always bears fruit. When we have peace within, real dialogue with others is possible.-Thich Nhat Hanh
Living Buddha, Living Christ
Today’s Meditation:
We all would strive for inner peace if we could get a taste of it. We have a world that keeps us so busy, though, if we follow its demands, most of us never even realize that we aren’t at peace inside and that finding that inner peace should be one of our primary goals. This is something that’s even more important than that promotion or that new house–with inner peace, we can make a paradise of this world simply by seeing it from a perspective of peace rather than conflict or pressure.
Most of us don’t take time to foster peace, to put ourselves in situations where peace can grow like a flower, at its own pace and in its own time, coming to bloom and bless us with its presence. We may want to improve that relationship, but our own lack of inner peace doesn’t allow us to come to terms with the other person involved because we may be afraid we’re being taken advantage of, or we may need that other person to make certain concessions to make ourselves feel better.
“Harmony among the elements within us”–is a lovely way of expressing what we strive for when we strive for inner peace. I may be feeling happy today, but I may be perceiving that someone else is being unfair to me–and what’s going to happen to my happiness if that’s the case? Our perceptions of the world go a long way towards making our world, and if our perceptions are skewed, our mental states and our emotions can change, too. If my mental state is centered in fear, that changes my perception, too, as well as my emotions.
Before we can make any real peace with anyone else, we must have peace within, and that’s a quality that is worth any and all effort we put into it–though I have to say that much of inner peace comes from letting go of the concept of putting effort into it. It’s a fascinating paradox, but who said that inner peace is supposed to be easy? That said, with the right attitude, inner peace can be surprisingly simple.
Questions to consider:
How much inner peace comes from accepting the world exactly as it is rather than how we wish it were?
How much inner peace comes from letting other people be themselves rather than expecting them to be and act as we think they should?
Why do so few of us develop inner peace before pursuing outer peace?
For further thought:
Few find inner peace, but not because they try and fail. It is because they do not try. . . When your life is governed by the divine nature instead of the self-centered nature, you have found inner peace.-Peace Pilgrim
If you missed our last Daily Meditation, it is right here.
