Why is peace on earth so difficult to achieve?
Geshe Kelang Gyasto … a renowned Tibetan Buddhist monk said, “Without inner peace outer peace is impossible. We all wish for inner peace, but world peace will never be achieved unless we establish it in the mind”.
So before we can make peace in the world, we first must make peace within ourselves and that means we have to tame the mind.
The mind is the source of all negativity such as anger, hate, fear, prejudice, jealousy, greed, blame etc … which manifest as conflict which eventually turn into violence.
The first step to free ourselves from the continuous onslaught of incessant thoughts, is to calm the mind to the point where it is still and silent.
And the first step to calm the mind is to sit in a quiet place with your back erect but not rigid and take three deep breaths.
As you breath in through the nostrils, shift your attention away from your thoughts and follow your breath as it flows into the belly and back out through your mouth.
Thoughts can be so unruly that they often behave like the top branches of a tree tossed about by violent winds.
By following the breath down into the belly, you are actually grounding yourself because the belly acts like the trunk of a tree which solid and stable … a perfect refuge for a weary mind.
After the first three breaths, continue to breathe normally for at least five minutes focusing all your attention on the breathe as it flows in and out.
Epilogue
The practice of mindfulness is quiet simple. Stop everything that you are doing. Be silent. Breath. Still the mind by paying all your attention on your breath instead of your thoughts and stay in the present moment as much as possible.
Eventually, with practice, you will be able to calm the mind anywhere and at anytime.
However, you should not confuse this with meditation. What I described above is an exercise in mindfulness, or more accurately, mindful breathing. It’s an exercise in grounding the mind until it is calm.
However, it also serves as a good introduction to mindfulness for those of you who have never experienced it before.
“The storm may rage without, but it cannot affect us if there is peace within”. James Allen.