Peace on Earth
There’s no rest in this world, but it is possible to be at peace on earth. The difference is that the world exists in a condition of flux and conflict, whereas the earth is the creative stillness within the ever-changing moment. Experience, while necessary as a means to navigate the path of life in the practical world, soon attaches the person to the continuity of time as a slave to the enticements of sensual existence. The spiritual challenge is to harmonise both world and earth as a unity of being.
A temporary state of peace is often experienced in the aftermath of a particularly stressful period, or when emotional force is released such as in a heated argument with another. But this doesn’t last long since the lack of conflict soon turns to boredom and, with it, the need to experience more of the stressful condition of normal living. This would be regarded as madness were it not the universal way of life devised by the human race. Peace is neither up nor down, but a state of equilibrium whereby the positivity of existence is neutralised through being conscious in the senses. From this inner and outer connection arises an absence of concern or conflict with the world.
Just as coal keeps the fire burning in a steam engine, so the mind is stoked by emotion which creates a two-way circuit between the mental and emotional body. The more intense the emotional connection, the faster the mind processes the energetic exchange which attaches the person to the craving for experience in the world. Anything that causes movement within, such as fear or anxiety, is of the world. There is never any peace while worrying about the future or dwelling on the past, especially reviving old hurts and resentments. When there’s something to attend to, just looking at the facts of a situation and taking the necessary action prevents any build-up of past. The only obstacle to inner peace is the human mind. It doesn’t matter to the mind what it reflects on as long as it’s active – which affirms its position as the chief of the body system. The mind fears stillness and being disengaged for long since it gains its sense of security from the momentum of the thinking process.
Many people equate peace with having sufficient financial security and material comfort. But contrary to the appearance of things, it’s usually the most affluent who are less able to be at peace. Despite having everything that success and money can bring, there is always more to want as a new experience or, alternatively, the attachment to the fear of loss. Peace on earth is recognisable in those moments when the need for experience is absent. This is demonstrable after an orgasm when all has been expressed through the release of the vital energy of the body. Briefly, the craving for experience as a need is suspended and the person exists purely as a body with minimal desire to take anything from creation – but only for a while.
When people are very close to physical death they are more at peace than ever before. Having faced the inevitable, they have surrendered all hope – the final thread of attachment to existence. This state of peace is sometimes registered in those around the dying, which can be comforting at this time. Humanity’s deepest fear is death, not the truth of death but the concept of the mind that has built up over time as a distortion within the human psyche. Death is the death of the mind’s incessant need to know about tomorrow or the next moment. Peace is the knowledge that life is true to the valiant of heart, even if it be necessary to sacrifice the life of the person to enable another to go on.