Now that the Peace House sign is up I need to explain what peace means to me. Contrary to popular thought, peace does not mean the cessation of violence or even, on a more subtle level, the end of upsetting circumstances. Just being upset with my wife wanting me to leave my cozy recliner for a chore can be a non-peaceful event and a loss of one’s peace. Peace is like a still pond, and our choice is whether to perceive events as ripples or reflections. Ripples disturb the pond’s peace, reflections don’t.
Peace is being okay with one’s circumstances, whether they are positive or negative. One is at peace with the world when you can accept the world as it is and not rise to battle with it when it doesn’t fit your plans. But in order to be at peace with the world, one first has to be at peace with oneself. When you can accept whatever comes across the face of your mind as just thoughts, when there is space between you and the content of your mind, when you are the witness of your mind, then you have discovered your basic goodness, the ground of your being, and you become the unmoved mover. You respond to the world but you don’t react. You become a reflection and not a ripple.
Peace is simply being okay with who you are in every moment. Peace is being every moment without spliting your self off into a criticizing I-thought that judges every moment to see if you measure up or if the world fits your preconditions. Peace means sitting down with the world without preconditions. (Thank you Obama.)
Posted under meditation help
This post was written by ed on October 27, 2008
Tags: peace house