MUSIC: “Harmony” by Alexander Bell

Can you imagine a fish being afraid of water? What would happen to it? What suffering it would undergo, being immersed in that which it fears!

Yet this is the situation that many humans on earth are currently experiencing. They are afraid of life, afraid of the dangers of existence, the suffering that surely awaits them around the next corner… It is a state of perpetual anxiety, an ongoing sense of dis-ease that saps all the joy and beauty from life, leaving a cold, grey, harsh and uncaring reality.

The good news is, that even for the most determinedly unhappy and anxious person, the sun still shines, the birds still sing, the life-giving rains still fall, encouraging us, gently and patiently, to open our eyes to the beauty of life and the benevolence that is the essence of Reality.

But humans are complicated creatures. They may say they want to be happy and to be free of suffering, yet they cling to their unhappiness, they cherish their problem-creating mental attitudes as if they were valuable treasures. Why?

Because of energy and our learned ways of expressing our energy (which must be expressed). All energy must flow, and if your energy is mostly in your mind, in your thoughts, how do you express it? What form of expression does mental energy usually create? Look around you, look at how people are generally relating to eachother and you will see. Conflict, hostility, aggravation, impatience, intolerance… These are the hallmarks of a mind-created energy field. 

So what is the alternative? What happens when our energy is flowing through our body, through our lungs, through our heart? How do we feel? Inspired, enthused, energetic, passionate, creative… These are the hallmarks of an energy field created by the heart.

Creativity is as natural as sunshine. It is all around us in the natural world, and it is an essential part of life on Earth. But what happens when creativity is absent? You get consumerism. 

It is the difference between the energy-giving nature of the Sun (creativity), and the energy-absorbing nature of a ‘black hole’ (consumption). It is our nature to be like the Sun, radiating the kindness and warmth that comes from our heart, inspiring each other with our ideas and enthusiasm, yet look at how we live. Who can deny that we are living in a consumerist society? 

However, among the relentless pursuit of more, more, more, of one desire after another, there is something right here, already within us that resides beneath the surface of the hungry mind, something that is perfect, complete, all-fulfilling, and we only have to create a little gap, a little space between our thoughts to become aware of it. It is Peace. 

What does this word mean to you? The Peace that I am speaking of is more than just deep relaxation, or some quiet time in nature; it the fulfilment of the Soul, a transformation from mind-oriented living into heart-based living. It may sound quite grand but in fact is as effortless and as close to you as your next breath. It is the flowering of the divine, within your heart, and it is your natural state.

So let us take your next breath, as if we were taking a train, and see where it leads you. Take it slowly, gently and with full awareness. On the out breath, let your body relax, especially your shoulders, arms and your facial muscles. Then, again, take your next in breath with full consciousness, slowly and calmly, and relax even more on the next out breath. Already you will notice a change in how you feel. This is meditation, a movement from your mind, toward your heart.

So continue to do this as you read, because the journey to Peace is not something which has an ending, it is not finite, it is an endless journey into a wonderful realm. The mind likes Peace to be something you can attain, because then, when Peace had been attained, it can get busy with something else, but there is nothing else to get busy with. Peace is the way, it is the pathway which awaits all and it needs more feet to tread it smooth for those that follow. 

This is your job, as you become more attuned to Peace; share it with others, and invite others to walk the path. As they do so, Peace on Earth becomes a few steps closer for us all. It becomes tangible, something we can taste on the breeze, and you are helping to bring it about. Thankyou. 

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