10. Cultivating Inner Peace

This week’s exploration is on the cultivation of inner peace.

I’d like to share a quote by my lovely teacher Jack Kornfield. He says, “The human mind can create conflicts, and it can also create peace. To find peace in the world, we have to find peace in ourselves.”

Taking a moment to reflect, when you think of inner peace, what comes to mind? What emotions, or thoughts are arising for you, when you contemplate the idea of peace?

Perhaps it may feel difficult to feel peace in a world that seems to be full of suffering and darkness. Or perhaps it may seem an indulgent to find our own inner peace when the outer world’s sufferings seem so present and intense. However in times like this, each one of our own inner peace is especially important to cultivate and share. Just like how fire cannot be put out by more fire, suffering cannot be eased by more suffering. There would be no peace out there if there’s no peace in here. We can each make huge differences in our own lives and other around us by cultivating our own inner peace and sharing that quality with others.

Peace is not an absence of change or recognizing life’s difficulties, it is not be confused with withdraw or indifference to life. We’ve been talking quite a bit about the spaciousness this practice cultivates. Peace can be seen as a quality of this inner spaciousness. Peace is being ok with witnessing whatever arises within and without, gently allowing with compassion, and flowing through life with ease.

I’d like to invite you to pause for a second , and consider, What would be the benefit of living with a peaceful heart?

What would happen, if more people lived with a peaceful heart?

What would our world be like, if that were the case?

Sometimes the idea of equanimity, or peace may seem abstract. I’d like to share a very practical story. A number of years ago, I had a journaling practice where I tracked my mood everyday. Initially, I tracked my mood using a scale of 0-10. 0 represented feeling down, and 10 represented feeling extremely happy. I aimed for highs like 8s or 9s, and any number below 7 felt like a failure.

However, I noticed that my mood was swinging wildly. I could have a day of 9 and then immediately drop down to a 2 or 3.

Even after 6 months of tracking, I still had no idea what this data meant in relation to my well-being.

During a conversation with a friend, I expressed my frustration with the practice. She suggested that I aim for a 5. Initially, I felt resistance because I associated 5 with being mediocre. However, I kept an open mind and decided to give it a try.

It took 10 months of tracking to realize that my mood had gradually evened out over time. The highs and lows became less extreme, generally my mood undulated between 4 and 6.

At the end of the year, I shared the practice and its scale with another friend, who suggested a different scale with 0 in the middle, +5 on top, and -5 at the bottom.

Now, 0 represents a peaceful, equanimous way of being, and any number above or below it represents the circumstances that momentarily take me outside of equanimity. I orient myself by remembering the equanimity and finding myself back here over and over again.

Before this practice, I only saw my world in two possibilities: good or bad. I didn't realize the importance of the middle ground. Through this practice, I've come to understand that good and bad are labels that I assign to inherently label-less reality of everyday experiences that are always fluctuating.

By aiming for a high number, I fueled myself with dissatisfaction for my current circumstances and emotionally beat myself down whenever I fell below an upward trend. So in reality, my desire to be happy was actually fueled by negative emotions of fear and avoidance. Understanding this fact made it much easier to embrace the beauty of 0, which represents the peaceful inner state that is inherently colorless and formless, while also allowing life to truly happen in the vast space it creates.

What are the practices that cultivate inner peace?

Let’s go back to the 3 levels of mindfulness

- mindfulness of content of experience
- mindfulness of the process of experience
- mindfulness of consciousness itself

To whom do these experiences happen? Turn back to the one who is witnessing.

The practice of mindfulness creates an ever expanding space, and within that space lies the clarity of seeing our reality, and our freedom to choose what is wise and appropriate.

Awareness is always available to us. Try to stop being aware. What happens?

Inside this awareness, we will recognize that all things rise and pass.

Things are created, and they disappear. Companies, civilizations, species, planets, universes…

The rising and passing of all matter and experiences need not be a dire recognition. It’s also a call for us to recognize the preciousness and marvel of our existence. The fact that we get this precious moment once can make it that much magical when we recognize its inpermanance.

How do we tend to this mystery that we’re somehow all a part of.

Instead of withdraw or indifference that can mascarade as equanimity, this is a practice of wisely accepting, letting be, and letting go. It’s not turning away from the world, instead, it’s courageously taking our seat in the middle of it with a spacious heart.

If you’d like to join me, I’d like to invite you for a short meditation on cultivating inner peace, or equanimity.

## Meditation

Becoming aware of breath.

Bring your attention to the sensations of the top of the head. Become aware of any sensations that might be arising there. If you notice any tension, feel free to release them. Bringing the attention to the sensation of the face, the nose, the cheeks, the jaw, and the quality of the tongue in the mouth. Notice what is present with a gentle allowance.

Bringing the awareness downwards to the shoulders, sensing the shoulders from the inside out. Notice what is present there, in this very moment. And what is present in the arms, in the wrists, and in the hands, and in the finger tips. Noticing the aliveness that is pulsing through the entirety of the body. And notice the quality of that aliveness in the palms of your hands. Gently bringing the attention now to the chest, and notice what sensations are present in the heart space. Recognize whatever may be arising, with curiosity, gentleness, and openness. Recognizing, and allowing whatever might be present.

Shifting the awareness downwards to the belly, see if it’s available to release any tension you might sense in this area. Letting the belly gently flop, like that of a happy baby, relaxed, and undefended. Notice what sensations might be arising there for you, in this very moment. And perhaps bringing your awareness to the entire back area. Notice your spine, and notice the quality of sensations of your back. What might you be noticing there? Whatever you might notice, whether it’s tension, whether it’s a need for support. No matter what is arising for you, see if it’s available for you to hold whatever is present. Recognizing it without judgement.

And now bringing the attention downwards to the pelvic region, the thighs, the knees, and calfs, and the feet touching the ground. Recognizing the aliveness that is pulsing through these areas. What do you notice there? Simply recognizing and allowing for whatever might be arising in this very moment.

Now, as if you could widen the lens of attention. Recognize the field of sensations in the body all at once. Not stopping anything, not resisting anything. Notice what happens, if you just allow life to be what it is. Let this life flow through you.

Notice this whole field of aliveness, that is enveloping you, and unfolding, moment to moment just as it is. Meeting this life with an intimate, and receptive presence.

Including the awareness of sounds. What’s closely present. including even the most distant sounds. So you’re listening, sense into this changing flow. Allowing life to be just as it is, from moment to moment.

As you expand your awareness, see if it’s available to you to recognize the things you cannot change as part of the ever changing flow of life. Allowing it to be just as it is. Also, notice the things that you can perhaps change, and recognize the courage that is within. Recognize the innate wisdom within yourself to distinguish the difference between the two.

Expanding the awareness, to hold others with a compassionate heart, while recognizing that their happiness and suffering depend on their thoughts and actions, and not your wish for them.

You might take a moment to check in, to see where the attention is at now. If you notice any drifing, let this to be a moment of arriving again, without any judgement. Reorient the attention to the bodily sensations, so you can feel from inside out, what is present in the body now. What is inside the shoulder, in the palms, in the belly, in your whole being… meeting the moment with receptivity, with that allowing presence.

In case you’re feel anything challenging, such as pain, fear. See if it’s possible for that attention to be even more gentle, and see if it’s possible to invite a sense of kindness to be present with whatever is arising for you, from moment to moment.

Peace is this moment without judgement, in all that is. This moment in the heart space, where everything that is, is welcome. In these last moments, you might explore what that means to you, for everything that is in the heart space, is welcome.

Whenever you’re ready, slowly invite movement into the body once again. Perhaps gently rotating the wrists and ankles, and perhaps also the head from side to side. Flutter open the eyes, and becoming aware of the space around you.

Taking a moment to check in, and observe the quality of your being. Do you notice anything that might have shifted since the beginning of the meditation? Like any other practices, inner peace is cultivated over time. Like dying a piece of cloth, the first time a white cloth is dipped into a bucket of dye, it takes on a brilliant colour, and when it’s dried under the sun, the colour fades. So it is dipped into the dye again, and this process is repeated over and over. Until, eventually, over time, the cloth is saturated and colourfast.

Before we go back to our everyday activities, I’d like to offer you an inquiry. How might you want to incorporate the cultivation of inner peace into your everyday life?

Thank you for practicing cultivating inner peace with me today. I look forward to practicing with you next time, may you be well.