THE GIFT OF PEACE

I am so thrilled to finally be able to post my first content ever on the platform. As an introduction to what promises to be a very exciting journey with all of you, I wanted to kick things off by writing about something that I consider to be the source of inspiration behind U-NITY, I personally like to call it 'the gift of peace'.

Ever since I was a little kid, I've always had a great fascination for this particular type of peace that I felt inside of me. I describe it as a 'gift' because it is a feeling that very often came to me freely and I don't recall ever doing anything in particular to experience it. It was a feeling of deep inner peace that not only brought me serenity on a mental level but also had a way of making me feel unusually light-hearted. It was a peace that I felt in both heart and mind.

I was far from being the typical happy and carefree kid growing up but every time I felt at peace like that, my heart would be full of appreciation and extreme fondness for life that I would often find myself asking deep down 'Man, why don't I feel like this all the time?'. When the peace dwelt in me, I listened and observed more, I appreciated everything around me a lot more and felt utterly free — free of my sense of self and all its expectations. I felt deeply connected to the life inside and outside of me that I would allow myself to dream without fear or judgement of any kind. It was as though I had no particular agenda in the world, but to be part of it and enjoy what life had to offer in the process.

Often my peace would leave me and I would notice how the zeal that I felt only moments ago would seem to have quickly lost its meaning as if someone suddenly decided to press the delete button and sweep it all away. So, every time I would get my peace back, I would be filled with gratitude, thankful that life has allowed me to delight in it once again. I cherished that peace and saw it as a rare commodity. For me, even at a young age, there wasn't anything that compared to it.

Where does peace come from? Here is what I have learned over the years

Peace resides in balance

Peace always resides in balance, what science would typically describe as a state of homeostasis. Balance is that perfect spot inside ourselves where we feel steady in our centre and have great leverage over every aspect of our being (mind, body and soul). Where there is balance, there is peace and ultimately there is freedom because we are in a place where nothing is holding us down or lifting us up in a rather compromising way. This equilibrium empowers us with the freedom to move in whichever direction we desire without resistance. In a state of balance, we naturally become receptive to peace.

I have realised that the emotional ideal of life isn't to feel happy or ecstatic all the time, but to remain in a state of peace and balance no matter the circumstances. Peace and balance are the very foundation of joy. Unlike happiness, which is often subject to external circumstances, joy is an attitude of inner contentment that is present independently of our external circumstances.

Peace comes from clarity

I have learned that peace comes from clarity (clear reasoning) and it is also maintained through clarity. Finding our peace isn't a matter of simply aligning with thoughts of positive nature. It rather comes as a result of having an all-around level of perception (awareness) of our present circumstances, that the clarity in understanding and accepting said circumstances makes us at peace. Ultimately, lack of peace means lack of clarity!

I found that the remedy against the resistance we often feel when it comes to dealing with 'negative emotions’ is not to reach for positive or uplifting emotions, but to instead seek and find clarity as to the source of these negative emotions through awareness — awareness of the ‘self’ and how it is relating to our present reality. Where there is clarity there is understanding (in the mind), where there is understanding there is acceptance (in the heart), and where there is acceptance there is peace (in heart and mind).

Peace is found by recognising sufficiency of the present moment

Finally, I have learned that peace tends to quickly find our heart when we become free from the burdens (resistant thoughts) of the mind and find sufficiency in the present moment. When the mind is pure and flowing freely, meaning that it is not stuck on thoughts of past and future, peace becomes readily available as we allow clarity to spring forth.

Living in constant union with the present moment and in harmony with the natural flow of life — a state that Japanese literature describes as "Mushin", is living with the gift of peace.