Inner Peace

If only more people were interested in the question, "How does one find peace?" That path begins with finding inner peace. There is a saying in the scriptures (New Testament) which helped me understand it: "Thy will (God's will), not mine, be done." Our desire to defy reality places us in conflict with nature (God), and disturbs our peace. I recommend the book, "Loving What Is [Real]," by Byron Katie, a virtual masterpiece. It is the best I have seen on the subject, though I would advise that you exercise some caution of her very brief, but frequent treatments of Relativism and Knowledge; contrary to her assertions, you do know two subjects for sure 1) The exact natures of yourself, your desires, and feelings, 2) Your observations and experiences (which are not usually completely accurate).

Many people turn to religion to find peace, but instead typically find hate and division, or hopelessness and despair. Peace is the Holy Grail of Beauty and Life. Your beauty will rise to the surface and literally change your physical appearance as you find peace. There will exist no fear or doubt, no regret or anger, no problems or suffering only challenges and opportunities.
It is hard to find peace, especially with oneself, and here is why: Because you want things to be different than they are. In short, you must desire and expect that everyone and everything act according to their natures, regardless of your own personal wishes. The only way that your peace may be violated is when you expect differently.

The key to peace is this (and this is worth more than all the gold in the world): Decide to love and accept every real thing, but focus on the positive and inspirational aspects. See happiness in pain, but here is the hardest part: Accept that it is the nature of others (though not always) to violate their own peace, to disturb the peace of others, and even to sometimes try to disturb your own peace, if they ever get reason to believe that this is possible. Now loving pain is not to say that you desire more pain, but simply that you are deciding to respect and appreciate it while it is with you. As you heal by this process, the pain will and must leave you, but only when it is ready to do so, only when it is the right time.

While in jail, you must love those opportunities to find, embrace, and share peace: to serve, to inspire, and to live a happy life. . When others think poorly of you, there is only one peaceful reply, "I agree that your unrealistic expectations of me are negative, I accept that, and I am at peace with that." This reply is usually best said only to oneself, as other people tend to disturb their own peace even more when the truth of their negative dissonance is established. Disturbing the peace of others is obviously not the peaceful path. Never do it, even when others request it. Instead, find a peaceful and inspiring reply on the subject. If I have said anything which interests you, feel free to let me know.

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Andy Landen
Houston, TX
When there is an income tax, the just man will pay more and the unjust less on the same amount of income.- Plato