Lasting Inner Peace

Dear Reader,

I have been thinking a lot lately about inner peace. To be clear, I am not talking about everyday feelings of inner calm. I mean a deep, lasting feeling of inner peace that comes from your core and never leaves. Today, I want to focus on what it really is, and how to cultivate it.

What is lasting inner peace?

I was up early this morning here in Shetland, watching the first rays of the sun light up the beautiful green fields and little white houses dotting the countryside. I felt peaceful, relaxed, and accepting of the day as I settled in with a cup of coffee and my morning journal. Those feelings of contentment, at one of my favorite times of day, felt restorative.

But by “lasting inner peace,”  I mean something far, far deeper.

I first noticed this “something deeper” a few years after the events of 9/11, while I was still living in New York City. I had also recently experienced a painful breakup, and I wasn’t happy with my job or larger career.

I had a lot going on in my life.

But slowly, over time, I began to notice that I felt ok anyway. I felt a continual sense that I could be myself, no matter what. Strong emotions came and went, and I remained more steady than I used to, and more resilient. What really made me take notice of my experience was that this feeling never seemed to leave, regardless of whether I felt connected to it or not.

What could it be?

A deeper look

In both Buddhist practice and in some forms of yoga, “equanimity” is considered one of the four sublime attitudes. According to Gil Fronsdal, from a talk at the Insight Meditation Center:

“Equanimity is one of the most sublime emotions of Buddhist practice. It is the ground for wisdom and freedom and the protector of compassion and love. While some may think of equanimity as dry neutrality or cool aloofness, mature equanimity produces a radiance and warmth of being.”

Equanimity is profound, and profound ideas are often difficult to describe.  You will no doubt find many variations of the definition included here. When I refer to lasting inner peace, am I talking about the same thing?

I don’t think so.

If not equanimity, then what?!

Equanimity is a feeling state, a centeredness, that keeps you grounded even as life swirls around you. In the same talk cited above, Gil Fronsdal refers to several human qualities, including integrity, faith, and a sense of well being, that you can cultivate to develop equanimity.

“Lasting Inner Peace,” as I experience it, is the source of all that. It is an experiential, lived awareness of something within you that is eternal and unchanging. It can never be disturbed, and is always present and available for you to experience. It is something you hold in common with all human beings.

If you are beginning to get the feeling that I am moving closer and closer to something that remains just out of reach, at least in words…

You are probably right.

The opening line of the Tao Te Ching states that the way that can be named is not the eternal way.

I’m good with that. Knowing that words can only get me close, I’m content to say that lasting inner peace is the lived awareness of your eternal, unchanging/ever-changing self.

A few tips for finding inner lasting peace

• A good teacher can point you in the direction of lasting inner peace, but you must find it for yourself.
• It is always there, waiting for you to step into it.
• Although it may come in a flash, it is more likely to grow over time, until you finally recognize it for what it is.
• You may see it best when you realize, as I did, that things that used to upset you, even big things, no longer do.
• For me, it didn’t just happen by itself, and that may be true for you as well. I did a lot of work to arrive at a place where I realized its presence.
• The work you do may include some combination of meditation, yoga or some other movement discipline, therapy, spiritual inquiry, the practices of developing your intuition, being genuine, following through, being vulnerable, and acting from your deepest values and desires.
• In other words, you practice being more truly yourself and accepting the person you are.

You are unique, and how you arrive at lasting inner peace is up to you. It won’t solve all of your problems, nor will it eliminate the experience of pain in your life. But it will be there for you, always.

I wish that for you, dear reader, and so much more.

I honor your loving heart,

John