At any given time, there seem to be dishearteningly destructive conflicts going on around the world. Having grown up in a part of the world that is not usually included in mainstream news in the USA, I am aware that there are probably human beings fighting, killing, raping, and abducting other human beings in many places that we don’t even hear about.
Most of us, however, seem to long for peace.
That fact is important to notice. Humanity, unless overly stressed and feeling terrifyingly threatened, longs for peace. The question becomes: what causes us to feel so stressed and so terrifyingly threatened?
Most people may immediately jump to the conclusion that it is someone else’s fault that we feel stressed or terrified, or threatened. However, that is not the most helpful spiritual conclusion to draw. An ancient saying teaches us: “As within, so without.” Now, clearly it is obvious that someone who is engaging in violent acts against other living beings has some inner rage, inner fear, and has lost of a full sense of self as connected with the harmonies of Life.
Most people might object to me that this “as within, so without,” would not apply to the victims of conflict. Here is where the human psychological level of understanding Life hits a limit in turning to the idea of victimhood. In a practical, objective, physical and emotional sense, yes, there are “victims” of terrible situations, events, and violence.
In a spiritual sense, there are no victims. Universal spiritual principles teach us that none of us are victims for several reasons: past-life karma, pre-life karmic choices, and current life karma. An example of a past-life karma would be having been a violent, aggressive, raping and pillaging warrior in a past-life, and then experiencing it as a non-victimized “victim” in this life.
An example of a pre-life karmic choice could be choosing to experience being in a violent situation in order to be the hero who helps save people’s lives, or choosing to experience being in a violent situation so a loved one can experience the spiritual growth that comes from losing a loved one who dies young.
Examples of current-life karma are not as obvious, so again, people might object, “But I’ve never harmed anyone else, so why would I be in this situation?” Obviously, there is no one universal answer to why someone is suffering; however, there are universal spiritual principles that can help us see what karmic traces we are putting out there into the world.
For instance, we may find ourselves resenting people who act a certain inconsiderate way, only to get in a car accident with, or robbed or verbally abused by someone who acts “that way.” Notice, if you will, that if we have been carrying around resentment, we have been putting out negative energies – the negative energies of our judgment, the negative energies of our lack of acceptance and understanding for others, the negative energies of our sense of separating ourselves from certain others, the negative energies of resisting what and whom Life is allowing to show up in our everyday experience.
That was a lot of negative energies, right? There is also the emotional level of the negative energy. When we feel resentful, there is an emotional energy state – a felt state – that carries that energy with it. So, while we are busy resenting others, we are putting out a lot of negativity, which in turn karmically draws it back to us. In that sense, we create our own negative circumstances. Even one negative, resentful thought can sometimes have negative consequences, especially if it distracts us from what is needed in the moment.
In order to stop sending out negative karma, which reduces peace for everyone, we need to find peace within, so that we can do our part to create peace outside of ourselves and among ourselves as well.
Having a peaceful heart requires having a non-judgmental approach to everyone, doing our best to listen to them from their perspective, putting ourselves in their shoes, as it were, with compassion for their suffering, empathy for their emotional struggles, and understanding for how difficult changing their own internal and external choices may feel for them.
Having a peaceful mind means letting go of thoughts that include: judgment, disdain, disrespect, dismissiveness, analytical separation and “othering” people rather than seeing our connected wholeness together (our “prior unity”* in Spirit), and categorizing others as different from ourselves in some way that gives us comfort or a sense of superiority.
Having a peaceful body means learning practices that release stress and negativity. Having a peaceful body also means practicing meditative physical and spiritual exercises that enable us to embody love, peace, and a sense of harmony with the world, and even a deeper trust in ourselves and in Life.
Ultimately, from a spiritual perspective, when we are open-hearted, open-minded, and also feel an incredible sense of peace, like an ocean of peace and love around us, then we are experiencing a degree of oneness with Spirit, with the Divine by whatever name you prefer, for the Divine is the Source of all peace, all love, all harmony. When we practice our Universal spiritual principles and practices, we can live in that ocean of love, peace, and harmony in a way that we are sharing it with others.
That is how peace within us flows out into the world, and the world needs it now as much or more than ever. If you would like to learn how to practice peace within, please contact me; my website link is below. Also, please contact me if you would like to attend an online Peace Circle, where we will practice peace together on Sunday November 26, 2023 at 8:30 am Pacific Time for two hours, and also Sunday December 3, 2023 at 12 noon Pacific Time for two hours. Minimum donation: $20.
You Are Peace, You Are Love, You Are Harmony, and each of us can learn to experience ourselves as such through beautiful, loving, peaceful practices that enable us to BE the peace we seek.
Love and Light,
Carol (Anandi) https://www.highestharmony.guru/ (My contact information is available here for signing up for Peace Circles, classes, and to work with me individually for healing purposes as a client.)
*Prior Unity is a term shared by Adi Da in his book Not-Two IS Peace.
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