Seeing Peace Instead of This

I could see peace instead of this.
ACIM Lesson 34

I talk and I write about peace of mind so often it is probably making all of you a little nauseated. lol

What is Peace of Mind?

I see it as the thing most of us really want when we set out on one of our many quests for this or that; to attain, gain, claim or remove; to do, achieve, win or succeed etc.  Ego tells us we want the "thing" but what we really want is freedom from suffering and that is what we equate with peace of mind.

By doing, we do not have to sit with what Pascal called, "the miserable truth of our existence".  Distraction, goal hunting, activity and diversion takes us away from what we fear will happen if we sit quietly.  We fear we will be overwhelmed with misery and the realization of our own suffering should we just be.  Ugh!  How depressing is that? So we do!

In that doing though we will meet up with obstacles and barriers that seem to stop us from getting to the peace we assume the thing we are seeking or clinging to  will bring.  Life happens, right?  We will lose, we will get sick, we will be hurt by others, "bad things" will happen, and we may find that this idea of "suffering" follows us around like a dark cloud. When we bend over to catch our breaths we may realize that our thoughts are negative  and we will feel anxiety, worry, and/or depression. We are suffering

Do you mean there is no escaping suffering?

Suffering is real, as the first noble truth of Buddhism states.   According to these truths, suffering actually comes from our "craving" for more...in our diversional activity, our pursuit of material gain, selfish pleasure over compassion and when we refuse to accept the world for what it is. As long as we search for peace and fulfillment in these things; as long as we run from our ego-generated  fear of sitting alone... we will suffer!

According to A Course in Miracles we choose how we see the world.  When we fear...the world becomes a place of danger and potential misery.

Where does suffering originate then?

Suffering begins  in our minds.  When we look out at the world we determine what type of world we see.  From there we make our behavioural choices.  Is the world we see, one we can accept and find peace in?  Or is it one to fear and run from the truth of into diversional and self serving activities?

If we see the world through fearful eyes and decide we must escape into our activity and self protection in order to survive...we will indeed suffer. If we are thinking negative thoughts and feeling negative emotions more than likely we will choose behacviours that take us away from peace and into suffering.

Is there an end to suffering?

Yes !  The third noble truth of Buddhism is that suffering can cease once we stop "craving", "attaching" and seeking to find fulfillment in things outside ourselves.

Suffering will end when we learn to sit quietly and face the real truth of our existence.  When we learn to respond and accept the lives we are in and actively choose peace.

We can end suffering by choosing to see peace instead.

Peace is always possible

According to lesson 34 of A Course in Miracles, "Peace of mind is clearly an internal matter.  It must begin with your own thoughts, and then extend outward.  It is from your peace of mind that a peaceful perception of the world arises." (pg 51; 1:2-4)

By  sitting quietly for a few moments each day we can become aware of what we are thinking and feeling.  We can see how this impacts how we see the world and therefor behave.

All we need to do when we catch ourselves thinking thoughts that are fear based and unloving, or encountering situations that bring up these thoughts and feelings is affirm
"I could see peace in this situation instead of what I see now."

We can change the way we think and feel.  we can change the way we see the world.  We can choose to see peace rather than suffering! 

Make it a point to sit quietly and remind yourself of this often.  And when you encounter a less than pleasant situation repeat the above affirmation to yourself until you believe it! 

It works!

All is well in my world!


ACIM (2007) A Course in Miracles: combined volume. Foundations of Inner Peace.

O'Brien, Barbara (2017) The Four Noble Truths of Buddhism . Thoughtco. Retrieved from https://www.thoughtco.com/the-four-noble-truths-450095

http://thewisdomdaily.com/what-i-learned-from-blaise-pascal-about-the-power-of-stillness/