Peace Begins Within

 

A man in a grassy field with the sun shining on him in a meditation pose

© AlenD/shutterstock.com

 

Most of us would admit that we long to live in a world of peace.  Yet all we need to do to become aware of the hostility, violence, and turmoil within our physical world is to focus on the news and to give most of our attention to the people and situations within our lives that are causing the most disruption. The truth is that if we truly want to experience peace, we need to stop looking for it to appear in our exterior world and begin to create it within our own personal lives.

 

The emphasis is on the word create because peace is a sense of well being that originates from the inside, beginning with the intention of the heart. If we are “looking” for it, we will not be able to find it because peace is not a place that we can find outside of ourselves.  The condition of our physical world is a giant mirror reflecting back to us the collective thoughts of every person who is part of our earth family. Since thought is creative, whatever we focus on expands. Therefore, what we are seeing in the non-peaceful aspects of our world is an indication that a large portion of our human society is predominantly focused on judgment, violence, greed, and crime.

 

We can point a finger of blame wherever and to whomever we want, but it does not change the truth that each one of us has played a part in creating the condition of the world in which we live.  Perhaps it has been in seemingly minor, passive ways, such as getting caught up in the turmoil and conflict of the world by watching and listening to endless news reports of violence and acts of desecration. Or, it could be as intensively aggressive as being a perpetrator in a massive heinous crime.  Judging who is “most wrong” renders us powerless and only creates more separation and discord between us and within our lives.

 

We can only change the quality of our collective personal reality by taking personal responsibility for the part we have each played in creating it. Since all change begins at the level of self, when we change our individual lives, the world around us changes as well. To create peace within your own life, try some of these basic ideas. You will be amazed at your power to create peace within your own life.

 

Meditate – Create a space of at least 20 minutes every day to sit in a place of peace and quiet.  Your meditation can be as simple as sitting on your sofa and focusing on your breath.  The importance of this cannot be overstated, for it is within the silence that you can remember your mind and body connection with Spirit.

 

Pray – Ask for divine guidance as to how you can best bring peace to the world; envision what a peaceful world looks like. Most importantly, imagine the feeling of peace within your own heart.

 

Forgive –  Let go of the need to be right.  All conflicts, whether it be in personal relationships or between countries, originate from the perception that one party is “right” and the other is “wrong.”  Would you rather be right or do you prefer peace? (You may find it helpful to read my blog on Forgiveness, April 23, 2013.)

 

Live Consciously – Align your thoughts, words, and actions with the spiritual values of love, respect, peace, and cooperation.  This requires diligent practice and is the most effective way to live a peaceful life. Be mindful of what you feed your mind – stop watching violent entertainment shows and videos and modify the amount of time you spend following the news. There is a difference between being informed and immersing yourself in the fear consciousness of the world.  Instead, spend more time reading, watching, and listening to information that inspires you and nourishes your soul. What you put into your mind is what it feeds back to you.

 

Commune with Nature – Spend more time outdoors in the beauty of nature.  Nature innately regenerates your body, mind, and soul and balances your energy.

 

Even though the status of the world may seem overwhelming and out of our personal control, we each have the power to contribute to world peace. It begins with our personal lives, starting in this present moment.  Every person makes an enormous difference in creating harmony within the world.  Like a drop of water, every single thought we have ripples out into the massive sea of the collective thoughts of all humanity.

 

By choosing thoughts of love, we automatically unite with other like-minded souls in forming a field of energy that has the infinite power to exponentially create a world of peace.

 

Love and Light,

 

Sandra

 

 

Sandra Brossman is the author of The Power of Oneness, Live the Life You Choose and the featured presenter in Live the Life You Choose DVD.  To learn more about how you can align your life with spiritual truth, order the book or DVD box set at  http://www.thepowerofoneness.com/products/

 

Trying to Make Sense of Violence

This is an image of an indigo candle surrounded by flowers

© TheFinalMiracle/shutterstock

 

 

The bombing tragedy at the Boston Marathon on Monday, compounded by the recent shootings in a movie theater in Aurora, Colorado and the Sandy Hook School massacre in Newtown, Connecticut, has caused many people to ask some very big questions, such as:  “What in the world is going on?”  “What can we do to help?”  and “What is the spiritual message in all of this?”

 

 

As we all attempt to make some sense of these violent acts, let’s walk through these questions together, one at a time.

 

 

“What in the world is going on?”  

 

Humanity is in the process of an enormous transformation, beyond what we have ever experienced.  We are being called upon to create a new physical reality based on the spiritual truth of unconditional love. The opposite of love is fear.  The violence we are seeing is not being forced upon us by a vengeful God. We have been given the gift of choice – we can choose to focus on love or we can choose to focus on fear.  Our thoughts create our reality, so whatever we are thinking and doing that is not in alignment with unconditional love is now coming to our attention in a gargantuan way.  Violence is is a symptom of a social disease much the same as cancer is a symptom of a major malfunction of the physical cells.  Of course, it is only human to have strong feelings of deep grief and anger when we experience and witness these atrocities.  We need to feel these feelings to move through the pain.  But ultimately, as much as we would like to blame external circumstances and perpetrators of crime as the sole reason for violence, this does not get to the root of the healing. Because humanity is interconnected through Spirit, the true healing lies in each one of us taking responsibility for the fact that every one of us plays a part in forming the condition of our society.

 

 

What can we do to help? 

 

First and foremost, we need to look within our own lives. As Malcolm Gladwell states in his famous book, The Tipping Point, “the smallest things make the biggest difference.”  Resolving our personal conflicts in peaceful ways, being compassionate and non-judgmental, exercising random acts of kindness to friends and strangers, helping others in time of need, and honoring the divinity within all people by respecting our differences, are but a few of the ways we can personally make an enormous impact on the healing of the entire world.  We don’t have control over what others think, say, and do, but we do have control over how we conduct our own personal lives.  Just as one person can start an epidemic of disease, so also can one person start a movement of spiritual healing.

 

 

On a larger level, we can forgive ourselves and each other.  Yes, I said forgive.  Forgiveness does not mean we condone another person’s behavior, or that we agree with someone, or that we have given up. Far from it! When we forgive we stop judging, and we exercise the grace of surrendering our attachment to the pain and suffering of this world to a Higher Power. We can do this every day in every way by consciously choosing kind words and actions that are aligned with what we want to see, saying prayers, and meditating.  In other words, get in touch with practicing anything that allows you to connect with your Soul.  We don’t have all the answers, but we always have the opportunity to choose love over fear – and forgiveness is the highest form of human love.  When we forgive, we transition ourselves from being a victim to that of being in a position of strength and compassion.  From this higher perspective, we are in a position to genuinely be a support system to those who are the victims of violence. It is through forgiveness that we can bridge our present reality of fear to a new world of unconditional love.

 

 

What is the spiritual message in all of this?  

 

Because we are human and we live in a world of separation, we need to see what separation (fear) looks like in its extreme form in order to comprehend the crucial need to come together as ONE. Have you noticed the extraordinary capacity people have to help one another during tragic events?  Some of the ways in which we see this are:  medical professionals tend to show up out of nowhere, police and fire officials immediately respond, spectators jump in to help anyone they can, even at the risk of their own lives, strangers volunteer to rebuild lives and properties, and people reach deep into their pockets to make financial contributions.  During these trying times, we have learned that we need each other.  We have also learned that prayer is much more than a religious experience – it is a human experience to connect with a Higher Power.   Never before have so many people of different faiths, age, race, and nationalities come together to unite in prayers for the healing of humanity.  When we are in desperate need, we tend to put aside our differences and get down to what really matters.

 

 

We ARE getting it!  The common denominator for all of humanity is LOVE.

 

 

Love and Light,

 

 

Sandra