Stillness and Inner Peace

Mar. 9th, 2003

Aloha and Good Morning,

         After a frantic scramble to do everything that needed doing, I found myself taking a moment for reflection. My thoughts slowed, my breath deepened and a sigh of contentment escaped my lips for while everything in life may not be as fully perfect as I might wish it, yet I can find a perfectly peaceful place within me if I remember to go looking for it. Then my thoughts flowed to my family and friends, to all of you.

       When the gale force winds of political chaos and emotional uncertainty beat against you – stand in the sure foundation of your own inner peace and be not moved. Allow joy to spontaneously burst into your being, to enliven and enlighten your soul. The garden meadow of serenity and inward calm is a place best visited frequently, and yet how do we find it?

         Go within. Turning within, to the still heart-space inside, turns away the outward pressures that beset us daily. It really is as simple as that. It requires a willingness to let go of our attachments. It requires a conscious reassessment of what we really desire and therefore attract to us. It calls for an awareness of the emotions and energies we are projecting; an awareness that what we see in others often mirrors our own projections.

         I promise you this place lies within each of us. We seek it instinctively. We long for it. We look for it in our relationships, our jobs, our families, our sports and hobbies. Yet sooner or later, all those things inevitably fall short  and disappointment sets in. With disappointment comes doubt and with doubt, fears and uncertainly follow – All from looking to the wrong source to find the fulfillment of our needs, looking outside of ourselves, looking to others rather than developing the habit of looking within, the ability to become self-sourcing.

         Our partners can’t provide it, so we shouldn’t demand it of them. Rather let’s celebrate the joy of companionship and the sharing of strength and abilities. Let’s remember all the blessings and talents they bring to our shared table.

       

Two connected possibilities both bring us back to our birthright of peace, the kind of peace that is so fundamental that even when confusion, urgency, or the million distraction of life arise in our lives and our surfaces emotions are riled up -- the peace that abides is undisturbed. Our thoughts and emotions, our hearts and bodies may be boiling in the flaming oil of the encroaching army of life's circumstances, while eternal peace yet lies awaiting in our center place. You can sink deeper into your self until you get there. Or, inner peace can be found by reaching the hands of your heart and desire upward and grasping your own divinity, the divine part of your nature that is constantly looking down upon you and awaiting your call, awaiting its chance to pull you up into a space of unconditional love, a space without expectations or attachments. 

         Whether you gaze upward into the heavens of your own divinity, or sink downward into the still center of that divinity, it is the same.

         So as another day dawns and another week turns the pages of our calendars let’s all remember to simply love each other and our selves. Let's remember to nurture our inner child and look to our divine natures, thereby finding the peace within our selves that calls out to be celebrated, to laugh, to love, to dance, to sing, to simply appreciate all that is.



With love and aloha,
Holman

Today's Reflection and Response, May 20th, 2014   Experiencing these words again inspired an entire new post:  Black Holes and Happy Places . I can only hope they inspire you as well.