Peace

Zen Garden, Kyoto, Japan

Can we find peace in the turmoil of the city? Regardless of where we live, we are deluged with information nearly every moment of the day. The media tells us what we should be worried about and envious of. Corporations inundate us with ads confirming that who we are and what we have is not enough. Our friends and family want us to think and believe the same things that they do. Our churches, temples, clubs and schools instill their dogma in us and charge a mental and emotional price for belonging to each of the groups that we belong to and identify with.

The onslaught of information and conditioning is continuous and omnipresent. Never before in history have we been presented with this much information.

We can find peace. It does not require effort. However, it requires a determination to surrender all of our thoughts and beliefs and be open to what is. The information and advertising rolls off us and is never absorbed into our psyches. We consistently bring our attention to the present. We reject all thoughts and belief systems which we do not consciously choose to enhance our lives. We receive more joy from being present with Source than we can ever receive driving a new car or wearing new clothes. When we realize that, material things lose their pull over us.

We are immune to the overt and subliminal advertising and the thoughts of others. We have no need to convince others that what we believe is correct. We are fine with other people believing that we are wrong (or worse).

We find peace in the simple things of life. The simple act of breathing consciously makes us feel whole. Peace is not something that we have to find. All that we have to do is shed all of the extraeneous material clogging our minds. Peace is never far from us because peace is what we are. We only have to recognize it.

Let's surrender to peace.