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“When you find peace within yourself, you become the kind of person who can live at peace with others.”

~~~ Peace Pilgrim

Last week we talked about the First Noble Truth from the teachings of Buddha, where he teaches us that we are all caught on a wheel of suffering, and disappointment, and how the fact that since nothing is permanent in our lives can be a major cause of this cycle of suffering. We also took a look at how we seem to spend most of our daily lives seeking ways to make this egotistic identity we call “ourself” happy. The constant struggle to satisfy the hunger of our ego is what keeps us on the wheel.

The past couple of weeks I’ve included a short video to listen to as you meditate. Here is another one (this one’s about 9 minutes long) that will play some quiet, peaceful meditation music for you. I hope you enjoy it. Don’t forget to turn on your speakers. Just click the “Play” button — and then you can continue reading today’s article as you listen. When you’re done reading, play it again as you do one of your meditation sessions for today. (Yes! That is a blatant hint — meditation needs to be an every day practice!)

Here’s the good news, folks — we are ALL inherently peaceful beings. The other side of that coin is that we need to learn how to see ourselves as we truly are. And, as I say in every one of these discussions about meditation — meditation is the one best way to learn how to see ourselves as the peaceful beings that we are — all of us — every one of us — yes, you too!

“Each one has to find his peace from within. And peace to be real must be unaffected by outside circumstances.”

~~~ Mahatma Gandhi

Many practitioners of meditation often refer to their practice as “peaceful abiding”. The object of meditation is to quiet the thinking processes of the ego – the chatter that is constantly happening in our minds — and spend some time “peacefully abiding” in the present moment. That present moment is the place where our mind is no longer drifting about – the place where silence happens.

The way that is usually taught to new meditators (and is also used by experienced meditators – myself included) is to focus on our breath. We place our mind on our breathing and we focus on keeping it there. As we do this, we’ll see that our mind is constantly shifting off our breath and onto a variety of random thoughts. The object is to recognize these thoughts – to see them – then peacefully shoo them away as we gently bring our focus back to the breath.

One other aspect of this is to realize that when we shift our focus to the breath, we are taking that focus away from the “mind-chatter”. When we stop the constant train of thoughts that keep running through our mind and we go to feeling our breath as it flows in and out of our body — we are now in the moment. We are in that place of stillness — that place of peaceful abiding.

I know that for me, I find it easier to focus on the rising and falling of my abdomen as I breathe. For some reason, that seems to help me focus better than if I’m just listening to or feeling my breath.

When I was first starting to meditate, a friend of mine gave me the idea of counting my breaths as a way to see how well I was maintaining my focus. A breath in and out was one. It was a bit more than just counting breaths though – it was counting how many continuous breaths I had before a thought came in. Getting to just 5, or 10, or 15 was a major challenge. As soon as I noticed that I was having a thought about something, I had to start over at “one” again. When I do that these days (I don’t always do this unless I’m having one of those days where I just can’t shut off the mind-chatter), there are still many days when getting to “5″ or “10″ is quite difficult. There are other days when the silence takes over – and those are the special days where I can lose track of the count as I bask in the silence — that amazing place of peace. Even thinking about the count ceases to exist.

(NOTE: I have quite a bit more to say about this concept of peaceful abiding and this posting is getting a little long already. So, rather than wait until next Thursday to write to you again, I’ll finish this thought on either Monday or Tuesday next week. Please check back — and keep practicing every day.)

“To be at one with God is to be at peace … peace is to be found only within, and unless one finds it there he will never find it at all. Peace lies not in the external world. It lies within one’s own soul.”

~~~ Ralph Waldo Trine

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If you’re new to us here, be sure read the other articles about meditation. You can find links for them over in the left sidebar under the “Recently Posted” section. They all have a title starting with the word, “Meditation”. They start with the January 24, 2008 post. There have been 7 of them, including this one, so far.

Don’t forget, spend at least 10 minutes twice each day meditating. Meditate for longer if you can. If you’ve been doing 10 minutes, take it up to 15. The longer you can maintain your focus on just your breath, the better.

“Those who really seek the path to Enlightenment dictate terms to their mind. Then they proceed with strong determination.”

~~~ Buddha

Namaste!

And, as I always say in closing — remember these words …

You are the most precious gift you can give yourself. Every day look in the mirror and say, “I’m available to more good than I have experienced, realized or imagined ever before in my life!” Do this every day while you look into your own eyes.

You are special — and you are loved. You are the greatest gift you can be.

Shanti … (A sanscrit word meaning, “Let there be Peace. Peace, beautiful Peace. Peace within, Peace without. Peace in this world. Peace for all beings.”)

“Peace comes from within. Do not seek it without.”

~~~ Buddha

~~~ DBL-R

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As you know, I do practice sitting, silent meditation every day in my life. Recently, I did a podcast about this for another blog that I read. Take a moment and click this link to hear what meditation means to me and what it does for me.

My Meditation Podcast

In my meditation I use what I truly believe is the most powerful personal growth and mind development tool on earth. It’s the The Holosync Solution. I knew that meditation was a vital element to nurturing my soul — to opening myself to the universe — and this tool has allowed me to achieve and receive the benefits of deep, long-term meditation — and to achieve it much more quickly. If you’re having trouble “getting meditation to work for you” – then the The Holosync Solution is what you’re looking for.

Regular, daily meditation can give you …

(1) Increased intelligence and creativity.
(2) Lower stress levels — and with that — increased ability to handle whatever the world tosses your way.
(3) New levels of self-awareness and inner peace.
(4) The healing of emotional issues at the deepest levels —

— it’s definitely worth taking the time for this powerful practice every day.

With a One-Year 100% Iron-Clad Guarantee, you can now do so with no risk whatsoever — just click any of the links that say … The Holosync Solution

— The Holosync Solution

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