Dec 10 2008

Secrets of Inner Peace

By: Tejvan Pettinger
Article Posted by: Janet Schlarbaum
Inner peace is an elusive quality it is something we would all like to have more of in our lives. Inner peace can become a reality in our lives if we make a sincere effort to make this a priority.

Avoid Judging Others.

The nature of the human mind is that we are tempted to constantly judge others and ourselves. When we judge others we are instinctively drawn to their failings and bad qualities. This helps neither others nor ourselves. The world is full of teeming imperfections but if we seek only to judge others we will never have peace of mind. This is why Jesus Christ said to those condemning others “Let him who be without sin cast the first stone” Here Jesus Christ was saying if we have to judge anybody it should be ourselves. Often when we judge others we are doing it out of a sense of subconscious insecurity. By saying how bad others are, we feel that we are comparatively better. If we have real abiding peace we will not feel any necessity to judge others.

Forgiveness.

Real forgiveness means to forget others transgressions. If we constantly harbour past injustices and perceived slights we will feel permanently aggrieved; this can lead to a sense of bitterness, which is completely contradictory to the sense of peace. Forgiveness should also be applied to ourselves. If we have made mistakes we should learn from them and move on. There is no benefit from constantly repeating them in our mind.

Meditation

The real secret of inner peace is the ability to maintain inner silence; inner silence requires us to control our thoughts. If we can have a clear and calm mind unruffled by thoughts then it allows our inner peace to come to the fore. When we enter into real meditation we are unencumbered by the judgemental mind. We bring the capacity of the heart to the fore; it is in the heart we can feel a real sense of peace.

“Why are you moving

From one country to another

To find peace?

The sea of peace is just inside

Your mind’s silence-sky.”

- Heart Songs: Sri Chinmoy

Happiness.

Peace is synonymous with happiness. This happiness is not just the fleeting pleasures of worldly success; it is the inner joy that is the essential part of our real self. We should endeavour to cultivate happiness through ignoring wrong and negative thoughts. When we bring our inner happiness to the fore peace becomes more of a living reality.

Service to Others

When we seek to fulfill only our own needs and desires, peace remains a far cry. If we live to fulfill our own desires we cannot attain lasting satisfaction. The nature of desire is that even when we have some desires fulfilled more desires are generated. However through actively serving others we can find the demands of our own ego are sublimated to a more meaningful purpose.

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Dec 09 2008

Achieving Inner Peace

By: Sharon Marquart
Article posted by: Janet Schlarbaum, Pennsylvania
You mean you have to Work to achieve Inner Peace?? You mean it doesn’t come natural? You betcha!

For most of us, our waking hours are focused on reacting to what is happening in the world outside ourselves. The many activities, the never-ending lists to complete, all the interactions with others can cause us to be tense, worried and anxious. And if you are a parent, your responsibilities are often doubled or tripled. This constant state of “don’t blink or we’ll miss something” hypersensitivity can be very tiring and leave us feeling anything but peaceful! Whew! The chaos that can accompany everyday living explains why we have to put forth extra effort to achieve inner peace.

First we must take responsibility that we are in control of our thoughts and attitudes. Your presence in any circumstance adds to the energy of the situation. If you are in a state of worry and anxiety, you contribute tension. If you are in a state of Inner Peace, you contribute harmony. We are in control of our attitudes and we control what we contribute to any situation. We are in control of stopping ourselves from reacting to the world and instead learn how to respond to the world.

Next it is important that we take time to connect with our Inner Peace. Spending time with a sleeping infant reminds us that Inner Peace is our natural sate of being. Inner Peace is our natural state of health. This can be done through quiet contemplation, meditation, walking in nature and putting ourselves in peaceful environments. Taking time to separate ourselves from the outer world and connecting with our inner world is vital to discovering our Inner Peace.

How do we change our state of being? We live in three phases of time: past, present and future. Release yourself from past regrets, guilt and resentments. It takes a tremendous amount of energy to live in the present while carrying around baggage from the past. There are many healers, therapists and self-help books that can guide you through various processes of clearing old and stale energy. If you take this first step, you will have less worry and anxiety to project into your future. As you become free of your fears, you will be able to imagine your future as fun-filled and joyous. You will have more “presence of mind” to manage the current stress that takes place on a daily basis. You will have more presence to change your reactions to responses.

Achieving Inner Peace does not mean that un-peaceful things stop happening. It’s how you respond to them that allows you to live in a more peaceful state of being as you move through your day. You begin to radiate Inner Peace. Your responses to the tensions of the day uplift any situation. You will notice the difference; your family and friends will notice the difference, your coworkers will notice the difference and anyone you interact with during the day will be reminded of the Inner Peace that lies within them simply by observing your sense of peace and tranquility. Will you reap the rewards of your work? You Betcha!

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Dec 05 2008

The Rational For Establishing World Peace

By Brian Ankner

We can logically assume that World Peace is something that 99.9% of the 6.5 billion People in this world would want and support if there was a way to achieve that World Peace that was practical, logical, morally right, non-violent and serves the good of All People and their governmental structures equally.

Achieving World Peace would be nothing more then civilizing this world by establishing a system of international law and order. Lets face it; we cannot realistically expect to live in a peaceful world until it becomes a civilized world.

A civilized world would be one that functions within a system of International Law and Order that provides guidelines for how all governmental structures and others including religions and corporate structures operate within that international system. A civilized world would be a world that holds the value of all human life up to the highest of standards and would have the means and legal authority to prosecute anyone that took a human life for any reason.

By no means does a civilized world create a perfect world, but living in a civilized world that is functioning within a system of international law and order would be more natural, peaceful, and humane way to exist for All People and their governments.

Civilizing is something the human race has instinctively done since the beginning of time because The People have always understood that if they were going to live together there was going to have be some rules to live by.

Today, all societies have functioning systems of law and order from the local, state, and federal levels and have systems of government to enforce the laws and maintain the civil order. There would be no need for governmental structures if The People choose not to live in civilized systems.

The big problem the world faces today is the fact that it has evolved to a multicultural globalized society that does not function in a totally civilized manner. To correct that problem, it is essential that a system of international or global law and order be established that sets the guidelines for how our governmental structures or other structures that operate on an international level function, therefore, the human race has one more civilizing job to do before it can be totally civilized and peaceful.

The natural instinct to survive in a peaceful manner is the main reason humans have developed the theories of being civilized.

What you are witnessing in the world today in regard to all of the dissension and anger by The People all over this world that is directed towards those who cause the wars, atrocities, death, destruction, and violence in this world is the natural human response to the uncivilized acts carried out by uncivilized governmental, religious, and corporate structures or individuals that threaten the natural human desire of All People to survive in a peaceful and civilized manner.

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Dec 04 2008

World Peace

By Dorothy M. Neddermeyer, PhD

It is nearly impossible to listen to TV/ Radio news or read a newspaper without noticing the outside world is seemingly in a state of disorder and chaos. You might feel compelled to do something to remedy the situation and bring peace, yet you are overwhelmed and unable to know what to do or where to start. One reason for this is that one cannot bring to the world what one does not have as a foundation from which to approach the situation.

Peace starts in your heart, mind and soul, not outside yourself. Until peace is rooted in your life, you can not affect it externally. When you have created peace within, you can share it with others, your community and the world. Those who have personal peace of mind—Deepak Chopra, Neale Donald Walsch, James Redfield, James Twymann, Marianne Williamson, Louise Hay, Caroline Myss, the Dali Lama—to name the most recognized peace troupedors—are working to bring world peace.

The first step in creating world peace, is looking within and evaluating the state of your relationship to peacefulness within.

• Thoughts Create Your Reality

• Peace of Mind—Claim It

People who create personal peace of mind are no different than anyone else. They are ordinary people, who have disciplined themselves or sought professional help to clear out the negative thoughts and troubled emotions. They avoid focusing their thoughts and subsequent feelings on whatever creates a state of personal disorder and chaos. Everyone has the ability to choose how one focuses their thoughts, and practice enables one to grow increasingly more serene as you choose thoughts of peace versus thoughts of conflict. As you practice creating peace you will begin to recognize your thoughts and feelings are in your control, versus in the control of outside influences.

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Dec 02 2008

I Choose Peace

By Jeff S. Baker
Posted By Janet Schlarbaum Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Each day is filled with opportunities to make choices. We begin choosing at the precise moment we awaken each day. How will I approach today? What are my issues or concerns? How will I deal with them? How will the decisions I make now affect the rest of my day? And how will they affect others?

Do you ask yourself questions like that? Have you given thought to how the way you start your day dictates your attitude towards everything else that happens from that point forward? For instance, the phone rings an hour before you are ready to wake up, and by the time you find the phone, the other party is gone. So, you lie back down and try to recapture your dream of winning the lottery or whatever. Just as you begin to drift back out onto the astral plane, the alarm sounds. I’m sure you get the point.

Whatever you had planned just got placed under a dark cloud if you’re like a lot of people. For some of us who enjoy sleeping, it can really be a bummer to lose that precious time, and we pout all day looking for sympathy. (at least I do) But wait. What if you took another minute, only a small moment before you actually got out of bed? What if, in that moment, you reclaimed your power to decide for yourself how your day is going to go? Instead of falling for the illusion of a bad day, decide to be thankful for another day and get up with a smile on your face.

Well, I know it’s easy to talk about and maybe not so easy to do. But I have found that by doing so, I have become a gentler person in noticeable ways. When I refuse to yield to the impression of a bad day and decide that I am satisfied with myself and my world, I am at an advantage in my effort to have a good day. My days are not perfect in some ways. Some might even say that I am faking it. They know I should feel bad because they also happen to know my circumstances.

I have learned a very important thing in my quest for personal peace: There is a difference between gratitude and appreciation. Gratitude is something I feel after having come through something or after receiving something. Appreciation is a choice I make no matter what is going on with me. I can appreciate my excellent health, my family and friends, my successful business, etc. I might be facing issues that are less than ideal, but when I am in a state of appreciation, it is ok. All is well. I will allow the gratitude to flow after I pass through this valley of uncertainty.

For now, I will choose appreciation as my main focus. It is helping me to be at peace. It is helping me to be peace. If I want peace for myself, I must be willing to offer peace to others. In offering peace, I avail myself of the Divine Peace that cannot be explained; it can only be experienced.

May your path be clear of debris. May you always have perfect peace without having to search for it. And may you experience appreciation for all you have… always.

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Oct 24 2008

Peace in Relationships – A Christian Perspective That Works

By Steve Wickham

Do you ever notice that in certain relationships we find a comfort within ourselves being with a certain person or group, and this can be described as “peace” — when we’re truly able to be free to be ourselves? And then in certain other relationships, for some reason there is not this same comfort, we don’t feel ourselves i.e. we can lack peace. We feel impinged by a vexatious spirit which does not foster a flow of peace-filled communication to occur.

Jesus mentions this to his disciples and gives us some hints on retaining our peace — this applies even to the non-Christian; to everyone in fact.

“When you enter a house, first say, ‘Peace to this house.’ If a man of peace is there, your peace will rest on him; if not, it will return to you.” (Luke 10:5-6)

“Whatever town or village you enter, search for some worthy person there and stay at his house until you leave. As you enter the home, give it your greeting. If the home is deserving, let your peace rest on it; if it is not, let your peace return to you. If anyone will not welcome you or listen to your words, shake the dust off your feet when you leave that home or town. I tell you the truth, it will be more bearable for Sodom and Gomorrah on the day of judgment than for that town. I am sending you out like sheep among wolves. Therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves.” (Matthew 10:11-16)

The essence is this: if we feel comfortable with a person or people and there’s a mutual interest, good communication, compassion or empathy, then our peace should be able to rest on the situation and over the people involved. In other words, spiritually, our peace can be allowed to float from being with the self, and to merge with the other person; this elucidates trust.

However, if we find that the interaction we’re involved in is somehow not comfortable we should protect our peace by retaining it. This means we need to be prudent in guarding our peace and hearts, from those wolves who might seek to steal it from us. We are allowed, and indeed should, ’shake the dust from our feet’ as is the Jewish saying, and surreptitiously extract ourselves from the situation. As soon as we sense a wolf, our peace ought to return to us.

And what is this peace? It is Jesus’ peace of faith. It is a peace of assurance that is able to endure much in the spirit of life and the uncertainty of life. If it meets with more peace, more peace flows, but like a telephone call it is so easily ‘disconnected.’ Jesus explains:

“Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.” (John 14:27)

The final charge of Jesus in Matthew 10:16 is a key. The Christian life is a two-edged sword of purity and prudence — ‘wise as serpents, yet innocent as a dove’ — a balance difficult to achieve, though not impossible. Furthermore, it is a balance necessary to truly grow in wisdom.

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