I was talking with a friend recently about Peace on Earth. We want Peace on Earth…right? It’s been around for a long time, this idea…heck, it’s a Biblical reference! But this time it really struck me just how many people “want” Peace on Earth…So why are so many people suffering?
What came out of my mouth next was this: We need to shift our attention and expectation from having Peace on Earth OUT THERE, in an external and future sense, and focus on experiencing Inner Peace While on Earth. Because I honestly don’t think that just wanting Peace on Earth will get us there, no matter how much service work we do. I don’t mean to sound fatalistic, my intention is to be real. How can we war with each other in our own homes, in our cars, in our community, at work, and with ourselves on a daily basis, and expect that the world will reflect peace? It just doesn’t work that way.
But I think those who have traveled far on the road to Peace can say that it is worth the inner dedicated work, and that it is absolutely possible to feel inner peace while living in a chaotic world. Why? Well, it goes back to another saying of Jesus, something like “I am in the world but not of it.” There are vibrational fields, frequencies, that we dwell in and which create our world. At times it can defy that which we see around us. Maybe you’ve experienced it. Feeling Joy in the middle of a challenging time. Feeling grateful during a time of loss. Feeling happy for no reason. This happens when we have an elevated understanding that isn’t myopically fixed in the circumstance itself and what society has said that means. As you go deep within yourself, you experience how true this is. It is multi-layered, it is a fascinating journey, it is not based on any “formula” but is nuanced differently for each person. But this is the cool thing about it. Because as we each learn how our own relationship to all of this works, we begin to recognize just how precious and unique we are, and therefore how precious and unique everyone is. The process itself organically moves us out of conditioned stagnant thought forms and into the realm of possibility, the realm of creativity, the realm of choosing with more freedom. This is what is so empowering. We don’t start by just claiming that we are empowered, though we are. We come into a full bodymind experience of empowerment, which is really just being in coherence and alignment with the natural flow of the Universe and realizing we are not separate from it. It is not an ego-driven exercise, but an understanding of unification at a non-personal level.
So how do we get there? Step by step. Through our commitment to experience inner peace, we travel down our own path of healing, reframing our experiences and perceptions, feeling and taking responsibility for our judgments and letting them go, establishing for ourselves what it is to be a spiritual being having a human experience, and making choices that align with the peace we say we want. What I know from experience is that although it can seem overwhelming at first, with intention and trust the process takes on a more expansive and deeply meaningful sensibility, and things begin to happen without efforting. The cycle of trust, intention, action without struggle, and life-affirming outcomes takes over and this is where inner peace shows up. This cycle breeds a higher vibration of being within us, and of course we want this for everyone.
A person at peace is a world at peace. We will never get there if we don’t take it on ourselves. Every day, every moment, catching ourselves when we go off the rails and beginning again, honoring the growth, staying committed to the process.
I know many people who have successfully found inner peace and live vibrant, soulful, truthful lives, in the world but not of it. They are greatly in service to others while living fulfilling lives themselves. They trust deeply. Their inner happiness is grounded and consistent. They allow feelings to emerge while knowing the truth of their being. They see suffering happen while knowing other choices can be made. But as with any addiction, they cannot convince anyone who suffers to just let it go and get there. Each person must choose the path themselves. Is it worth it? A thousand-fold YES! It leads us to the truth that sets us free, as Michael Beckwith likes to say.
And if you are reading this and agreeing from a place of having made this commitment, I profoundly bow to you with moist eyes. Thank you…
Warmly, Melanie
Need help finding the path to peace? I can help. Email me at melanie@innertegrity.com, or visit my website at www.innertegrity.com/sessions.