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.