I was recently attempting this hippy-dippy meditation on my phone that was intended to cultivate a feeling of love and gratitude. Part of this meditation was to contemplate some statements directed, first to yourself, then to any person you care about, then to everyone and everything.
Every minute or so, a soft female voice would come in and remind you what the phrases were in case you were losing focus. I kept forgetting what the final statement was.
“something about peace.”… “Peace be with you?” – no, that can’t be it.
“May you find peace?” – yeah, that was it, right?
“May I be happy, may I be healthy, may I find peace….”
“May you be happy, may you be healthy, may you find peace….”
“May they be happy, may they be healthy, may they find peace….”
Then, the soft voice reminded me that I was saying the wrong thing. – “may you be at peace.”
My memory was doing what my brain always does with this concept. I instantly reverted from being something to finding something.
Searching for it. Hoping for it. Running towards it, but always just short of reaching it.
You cannot “find peace,” for peace is not a destination. Peace is a perspective from which we can view the ever-present, ever-unfolding moment.
The chaos of other people, places, and circumstances; even the universe herself; will always produce disruptions, big and small,
But through it all,
At any given moment, at any given place,
There is PEACE.
Do not seek it.
BE it.
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