Cultivating Inner Peace

Given the tragic events this past week related to the Boston Marathon coupled with the escalation of random shootings over the past several years, combined with the terrorist attacks of 9/11, we as a society are being faced more consistently with painful, life-threatening situations that provoke deep sadness, fear, and often a sense of helplessness.

Perhaps these trying times are an act of evolution calling us to go deeper in our need to reevaluate our current local and world conditions and discern where we, as humanity, need to see, feel and evaluate each of our roles in the world in terms of the choices we make and the beliefs that we carry.

Perhaps we’re being called to transform our consciousness.

Of course, primal fear is a natural response when we’re feeling physically threatened. I’m not suggesting that we deny the fears that surface when life-threatening acts occur. We do, however, have the choice to bring love to painful and fearful situations and explore what insights are calling to be learned from these tragic events.

Healing occurs when we move away from reacting to painful events and choose to be present to what there is to learn, thus bringing deeper compassion to the events at hand. How can we bring love to painful and fearful situations and see beyond the tragic events? Not as an act of denial, but as a way to heal within and in the world.

We must remember that pain drives violence and all acts of violence are a result of others’ acted out pain. At times, the wounded wish to wound and it’s imperative that we not get sucked into that impersonal state of vengeance that only breeds more pain, fear and separation.

Fear breeds fear, therefore…….we’re being called to BE the peace.

We either constrict or expand. When we expand, we’re in an act of awakening. Part of cultivating greater peace is in learning how to make a conscious choice to not constrict into fear when painful events happen (or not stay there for very long). Through practices that deepen our connection to inner stillness, we learn how to transmute the pain into compassion, for compassion always opens the door to expansion.

Seeing the human race as one organism, it’s time that we cultivate a deeper compassion for all of us and catch ourselves when we react from fear and hate. The world is calling us to truly listen and contribute to the needs of others, trusting that it’s possible to live in a world where everyone is heard, valued and cared for.

As one heals, we all do.