The idea for our latest podcast episode, Discovering Peace, came out of a discussion with our local meditation group. People were feeling agitated about the election and felt they were losing their center. One person said "I want to be able to rise above this and find peace". Ultimately, a guided meditation much like the one we just published came out of our discussion, but first we talked about the idea of "rising above" something. Many of us are being affected now with the turmoil in the economy and a heated election going on. In the midst of all of this we long for a sense of peace. Often people envision that as arriving at a place that's not only peaceful but completely removed from the difficult feelings. That's what "rising above" sounds like to me. While we can find moments of time in which there is only peace, this isn't always possible, and, when we try to get away from the fray, that creates a conflict in and of itself. What's more realistic and achieveable is to find the peace within that's there even in the midst of conflict and struggle.
In many ways this new guided meditation is like the Beyond Pain meditation. Even though pain may not go away, we can still find a sense of peace with it. It has to do with stopping fighting what's bothering us and relaxing into the difficult feelings. Even more important it has to do with discovering that peace is always with us -- in the breath, in the silence of our own awareness.
Just yesterday I was out walking with lots on my mind. Thanks to all the years of meditation, or simply thanks to grace, I recognized a sense of peace that seemed to be there in the air around me -- in the blue sky, the sounds of birds, colors of flowers. It was even there in the sounds of the traffic. At that moment, I could see that life could seem really, really difficult if I focused solely on the challenges in my life, but much more simple and sweet if I also acknowledged that peace. Sometimes I do that, and sometimes I don't. And part of the process of growth on the spiritual path is letting that be OK too.
What about you? How do you find peace in your life?